News headlines in 2020, page 24

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, Oct 13 (IPS) - Milton Friedman was arguably the most influential economist of the second half of the 20th century, associated with promoting ‘neo-liberal', free-market, shareholder capitalism.

Friedman's monetarist economics is now widely considered irrelevant, if not wrong, especially with the low inflation associated with ‘unconventional' monetary policies following the 2008-2009 global financial crisis.

UNITED NATIONS, Oct 12 (IPS) - The coronavirus pandemic has affected the safety and sense of community for many women in Mali given the travel restrictions and lockdowns in place, Bassirou Gaye, an assistant researcher for a 2019 report on the role of Mali women in peacekeeping, told IPS this weekend.

WASHINGTON DC, Oct 12 (IPS) - One enduring lesson from the COVID-19 pandemic is that any lasting economic recovery will depend on resolving the health crisis.

IBADAN, Nigeria, Oct 12 (IPS) - Africa's hopes of feeding a population projected to double by 2050 amidst a worsening climate crisis rest on huge investments in agriculture, including creating the conditions so that women can empower themselves and lead efforts to transform the continent's farming landscape.

Oct 11 (IPS) - As the threat of a COVID-19 pandemic emerged earlier this year, many felt a sense of apprehension about what would happen when it reached Africa. Concerns over the combination of overstretched and underfunded health systems and the existing load of infectious and non-infectious diseases often led to it being talked about in apocalyptic terms.

NEW YORK, Oct 09 (IPS) - Out of global crises spring opportunities for change. In crisis, change is not an option. It is a necessity. And, as Plato famously noted: "Necessity is the mother of invention." Education Cannot Wait (ECW) is an invention that sprang out of crisis and was borne of necessity.

UNITED NATIONS, Oct 09 (IPS) - With the 2020 Nobel Peace Prize bestowed on the Rome-based World Food Programme (WFP), the United Nations and its affiliated agencies continue to hold a monopoly of one of the world's most prestigious annual awards.

MEXICO CITY, Oct 09 (IPS) - Sporadic but spectacular acts of violence remind the global public of how deeply parts of Mexico have slid into lethal conflict over recent years.

NAIROBI, Oct 09 (IPS) - "We need to build back better."  This has been the rallying call on the COVID-19 response by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres to leaders and communities around the world. It has been echoed in conference rooms and in the numerous Zoom meetings organized to discuss the pandemic. It will be especially important to apply the idea to women working in the agriculture and food sector. 

GENEVA/ PARIS/ NEW YORK, Oct 09 (IPS) - The International Day of the Girl Child on 11th October is a call for us to reflect on our responsibilities. Twenty-five years ago, governments adopted the historic Beijing Declaration and the Platform for Action.