News headlines in July 2020, page 3

MUMBAY, India, Jul 27 (IPS) - Secure property rights are fundamental to the economic and social development of any country. However, in India, we are faced with a curious conundrum where more than 70 percent of a household's assets are held in land and housing, yet there is insufficient data and research on people's property rights.

NEW YORK, Jul 27 (IPS) - The Charter of the United Nations is not only the constituent instrument of the United Nations as an organization. It is a multilateral legal manifesto encompassing a set of basic principles and norms aimed at ensuring peace, freedom, development, equality and human rights throughout the world. These principles and norms reflect the shared values proclaimed in the preamble on behalf of the "Peoples of the United Nations". As such, it is the most innovative and trailblazing multilateral treaty ever concluded among States. Today, it is a universal instrument by which all States have solemnly accepted to be bound in their international relations.

UNITED NATIONS, Jul 27 (IPS) - "Social cohesion is built over years and is the result of policies that allow everybody in society to share in its sustainable prosperity," Ahunna Eziakonwa, Director - UNDP AfricaAs COVID-19 cases continue to rise in Africa, countries are simultaneously dealing with the health and socio-economic impacts of the pandemic, and how and when to ease lockdowns and curfews imposed to stop the disease spreading and get onto the path of recovery.

BANGKOK, Thailand, Jul 27 (IPS) - As lockdowns ease in countries across Asia and the Pacific in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, one thing is clear—a return to business as usual is unimaginable in a region that was already off track to meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The virtual High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development recently convened governments and stakeholders across the globe to focus on the imperative to build back better while keeping an eye on the Global Goals.

NEW YORK, Jul 27 (IPS) - "What do you think happens to kerosene when it is poured on your head?" Surya stumbles as she speaks to IPS. "It goes down, it goes trickling down."

When someone speaks to a burn victim, one naturally feels shocked, sad, and sympathetic. But in talking to Surya, who has the major part of her body burned, the feelings were of hope and inspiration. How is it possible to survive this trauma and still have so much love and joy to share?

UNITED NATIONS, Jul 27 (IPS) - When the coronavirus pandemic delivered a mortal blow to the United States, grounding the country to a virtual standstill and throwing its economy into a deep recession, hundreds and thousands were forced to work "remotely" while offices remained shuttered, beginning late March.

UNITED NATIONS, Jul 24 (IPS) - Rohingya women are coming together to feature their own work, plight and stories in mainstream conversations about their community — a space they say they've been left out of.

"If we think of revolutions or liberty or think of any ways to liberate ourselves from the shackle of suffering and being dubbed as 'the most persecuted minority on earth', women have to be part of it," Yasmin Ullah, president of the Rohingya Human Rights Network, told IPS.

KAMPALA, Jul 24 (IPS) - There is no shortage of technological innovations designed to boost animal agriculture in Africa. These range from GPS tracking systems which identify and trace pastoralists' herds to livestock vaccine SMS services that alert farmers to disease outbreaks.

GENEVA, Jul 24 (IPS) - Dr David Nabarro is Special Envoy to the World Health Organisation on COVID-19 and Strategic Director of 4SD. He sets out his challenge to leaders to use COVID-19 as an opportunity for radical change that responds to the needs and the interests of all of humanity.

1. Countries must work together
2. Focus on equity
3. Effective local action

NEW YORK, Jul 24 (IPS) - I, like many of my fellow Americans, am extremely concerned about Trump's dictatorial tendencies. Given his behavior – what he said and did over the past four years – he may well act on some of these tendencies, especially if he loses the election by a narrow margin.