News headlines in 2020, page 22

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka, Oct 19 (IPS) - The impact of Covid-19 on supply chains and food security has dealt a blow to the already faltering global development ambition of ending hunger.

Oct 19 (IPS) - World Food Day, a day dedicated to tackle world hunger, is annually celebrated on October 16, 2020 globally. To commemorate this day, the North East Slow Food and Agrobiodiversity Society (NESFAS) along with its partner organisations — Society for Urban and Rural Empowerment (SURE) and North East Network (NEN), Nagaland — hosted several programmes across 27 communities in Meghalaya and Nagaland. It may be mentioned here that all government SOPs and measures were followed during the events.

PRETORIA, South Africa, Oct 19 (IPS) - Many countries in sub-Saharan Africa commit resources to promote agricultural innovations. This is based on the assumption that rural livelihoods are mainly agricultural and that the innovations will increase agricultural production and household income.

UNITED NATIONS, Oct 16 (IPS) - Despite the World Food Programme (WFP) being awarded the 2020 Nobel Peace Prize for its work in addressing global hunger, sustainable food systems expert Emile Frison believes a lot more needs to be done. This includes the rethinking of approaches to agricultural production, establishing deeper relationships between consumers and producers, and taking a wholistic approach towards socio-economic factors.

RIJSWIJK, the Netherlands, Oct 16 (IPS) - Food is high on the political agenda. The need to make food systems more resilient to external shocks like climate change and Covid-19 is now well acknowledged among states and other actors. Green, healthy, and inclusive food systems should become the new normal. But to make this happen we need to reshape the entire food system, with citizens driving bottom-up innovations.

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, Oct 16 (IPS) - More than half a year after the World Health Organization declared the COVID-19 outbreak a pandemic, governments are continuing to waste precious time and energy restricting human rights rather than focusing on fighting the virus.

Oct 16 (IPS) - Nine months into the pandemic, Europe remains one of the regions worst affected by COVID-19. Ten of the 20 countries with the highest death count per million people are European. The other ten are in the Americas. This includes the US, which has the highest number of confirmed cases and deaths in the world.

UNITED NATIONS, Oct 16 (IPS) - As the United Nations plans to commemorate its annual UN Day, come October 24, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is presiding over a world body which has remained locked down since last March because of the spreading coronavirus pandemic.

NEW YORK and SUSSEX, Oct 16 (IPS) - This week the world's Ministers of Finance and Central Bank Governors meet virtually at the 2020 Annual Meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank and decide on the fate of the world.

This year's gathering is particularly important, given that the world is confronting an unprecedented crisis. Governments are struggling to finance emergency care and urgent socioeconomic support to cope with the COVID19 pandemic.

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, Oct 15 (IPS) - In the glitzy Dolby Theater in Hollywood Heights, with stars dressed in hundred thousand-dollar garbs, Parasite—a film about inequality, class tension and the fault lines of capitalism—won big. I couldn't help but recall South Korean director Bong Joon-ho's earlier 2013 film, Snowpiercer.