ROME, 12 DECEMBER 2019 (FAO) — Three million undernourished people in Asia and the Pacific must be lifted out of hunger each month from now on, if the region is to meet the SDG 2 Zero Hunger goal by the end of 2030, says a new report released today by four United Nations agencies. With […]
Category: Opinion
Posted inOpinion
Op-Ed for Local Placement on Human Rights Day, December 10
In today’s splintered world, it would be easy to think that there is nothing upon which all nations can agree and all cultures can embrace as an integral part of their communities. But International Human Rights Day, celebrated on December 10, reminds us that it wasn’t so long ago that the world came together to do […]
Posted inOpinion
Papua New Guinea faces cash crunch as China repayment schedule ramps up
PORT MORESBY,02 DECEMBER 2019 (REUTERS) — Papua New Guinea’s annual debt repayments to China are forecast to increase 25% by 2023, new budget figures show, at the same time as the Pacific nation falls to its largest ever deficit. The resource-rich archipelago, which is at the centre of a diplomatic tussle between China and the […]
Posted inOpinion
Samoa measles death toll now reaches 53
APIA,02 DECEMBER 2019 (SAMOA GOVT/FSMPIO) — Samoa’s Ministry of Health has confirmed a total of 3,728 measles cases have been reported to the Disease Surveillance Team, since the outbreak started. There were 198 recorded in the last 24 hours. To date, 53 measles related deaths have been recorded, with five fatalities in the last 24 […]
Posted inOpinion
Catalysing change for gender equality
BANGKOK, 28 NOVEMBER 2019 (UNESCAP/UN WOMEN) — Great strides have been taken to empower women and girls in the Asia-Pacific region since the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing adopted an ambitious global agenda to achieve gender equality twenty-five years ago. Gender parity has been achieved in primary education. Maternal mortality has been halved. […]
Posted inOpinion
Pacific islands avoid China’s ‘debt-trap’ diplomacy for now
SYDNEY,28 NOVEMBER 2019 (ASIA NIKKEI.COM)—In October, the New York Times reported that China had leased the island of Tulagi, prized for its deep-water harbor, from the Solomon Islands, which lie northeast of Australia. While the Solomon Islands government has said such a lease is illegal, it set alarm bells ringing internationally, coming less than a […]