Opinion

Building Back Better Amid A Pandemic

The latest United Nations (UN) Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) progress report on ASEAN SDG Baseline highlights that ASEAN member states are already lagging behind on the sustainable development goals (SDGs).

10 May 2020
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EXCLUSIVE: Can The EU Recover From The Pandemic?

In this ASEAN exclusive, Francesco Alberti speaks to Vincenzo Amendola, Italian Minister for European Affairs to better understand the European Union’s response to the deadly coronavirus pandemic that is sweeping Europe and the rest of the world.The European Union (EU) is facing a pivotal moment in its history.

8 May 2020
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Does Indonesia Need Better Policies In Virus War?

The COVID-19 virus first appeared as a local outbreak in Wuhan, China, and turned into a pandemic within months, hitting all parts of the world unprecedentedly. Indonesia is no exception; as per 5 May, the country has reported over 12,071 COVID-19 cases, resulting in 872 deaths according to data from the Indonesia COVID-19 Task Force.

7 May 2020
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Press Freedom In A Pandemic World

I had been captive in Afghanistan for about two weeks when the government of my home country, Canada, contacted those attempting to negotiate my release. They told negotiators to get me on the phone the next day, when the United States (US) military would be flying a drone over where they thought I was being held, in order to determine my whereabouts.The negotiators were unable to secure that concession.

7 May 2020
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The Best Weapon To Fight Pandemics

The COVID-19 crisis has brought economies around the world to a standstill. Huge swaths of manufacturing have been idled, and sectors such as aviation and tourism are largely shuttered. Amid all the economic ruin, some have pointed to a supposed silver lining: cleaner air.

6 May 2020
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Biodiversity Or Bust

The blame game has begun. The number of COVID-19 victims is still unknown, but there is a stream of hate and misinformation pervading timelines. The damage of disinformation and the virus itself to families and communities is equal to our failure to ensure that science, not rhetoric, shapes policy.Studies show that it is more common for viruses to be transmitted from animals to humans. Some erroneously say this is due to innocuous human errors.

5 May 2020
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Indonesia’s child prostitution problem

Since the early 2000s, child prostitution has become an increasingly difficult issue for Indonesia. This issue particularly affects the party islands of Bali and Batam where tourists exploit the child sex trade. As “sex tourism” rises worldwide, Indonesia has become a major “destination country” for human trafficking.

4 May 2020
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Avoiding A W-Shaped Recession

“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it,” George Santayana famously quipped in 1905. It is a phrase that has been repeated for over a century, but rarely heeded. As COVID-19 decimates the global economy, our understanding of history could be the difference between a V- or U-shaped recession and a W-shaped one, in which incipient recovery is followed by successive relapses.As recently as March, V-shaped recoveries in individual economies seemed plausible.

4 May 2020
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A Lack Of Humanity In A Pandemic World

It has now become evident that the COVID-19 pandemic is much more than just a global problem for the healthcare sector. The pandemic has triggered a chain of events that has affected other sectors and has led to immense issues such as economic and social security. Furthermore, the COVID-19 pandemic has revealed a morality flaw in our society.

3 May 2020
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Indonesia’s Forgotten Amidst The Pandemic

The COVID-19 coronavirus has spread across the globe at an alarming pace with ominous consequences. The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the COVID-19 outbreak as a global pandemic, where approximately 210 countries have been affected. The COVID-19 virus has infected over 3.4 million people, with more than 230,000 deaths globally. In Indonesia, the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases have crossed the 10,000 mark with 800 coronavirus-related deaths.

2 May 2020
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China’s South China Sea Moves Raise Concerns

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) should show some urgency regarding China’s latest actions in the South China Sea and hold a virtual meeting with member states to discuss this matter.Amid the spread of the COVID-19 virus in Southeast Asia, ASEAN member states are busy battling the virus while China is actively building its presence in the occupied territories.In March, China launched two new research stations on the Chinese-built artificial islands at Fiery Cross Re

1 May 2020
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