Stand Tall, UN Humanitarians

By Trevor PageLETHBRIDGE, Canada, Jan 5 2021 (IPS) Most people around the world were glad to see the back of 2020: From the devastating bushfires in Australia to the plagues of locusts through East Africa stretching across Arabia to Pakistan, extreme weather, melting ice sheets at the poles, and Covid-19 that still engulfs the globe. Trevor PageBut 2021 threatens to be even worse than 2020: The economic impact of lockdowns, inward-looking, wall-building governments with self-interest trumping internationally agreed values. And then to quote David Beasley, Executive Director of the World Food Programme: “We could be facing multiple famines of Biblical proportions” and “We’re on the Titanic and the iceberg is ahead”. He was referring, of course, to the world’s hotspots in Africa and Asia. But like the pandemic, we’re all in this together. No one is safe till everybody’s safe. We live in a totally interdependent world. But how prepared is the world for the year ahead? Not very well, is the short answer. The change of the Administration in the U.S. will not close the gaping hole it has torn in world order. Despite a last-minute Brexit trade deal, Europe is still unravelling. Russia is no longer a major actor on the international stage. But China marches on relentlessly, implementing its traditionally long-term plans. And what of the United Nations: the UN Charter to which nations subscribed after World War II to preserve peace, as well as the organizations they ...
Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Tags: Armed Conflicts Climate Change Development & Aid Economy & Trade Environment Food & Agriculture Global Headlines Health Human Rights Humanitarian Emergencies Migration & Refugees Peace Press Freedom TerraViva United Nations Source Type: news