“The beautiful thing about learning,” the great blues guitarist B.B. King once wrote, “is that no one can take it away from you.” Born and raised in poverty, King understood the value of education as a force for change. If only political leaders responding to the COVID-19 pandemic had an ounce of his insight. COVID-19 is now mutating into a global education emergency.
The coronavirus pandemic does not discriminate. The deadly COVID-19 virus infects anyone exposed it regardless of age, ethnicity, gender or living conditions. When it comes to the impacts of the crisis - livelihoods, local industries, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and even large corporations are severely affected.
The coronavirus pandemic inflicted a "swift and massive shock" that has caused the broadest collapse of the global economy since 1870 despite unprecedented government support, the World Bank said Monday.The world economy is expected to contract by 5.2 percent this year - the worst recession in 80 years - but the sheer number of countries suffering economic losses means the scale of the downturn is worse than any recession in 150 years, the World Bank said in its latest Global Econom
Diverting the scarce healthcare resources of developing countries to the rapidly expanding COVID-19 pandemic could see a 45 percent jump in child and maternal mortality before the end of the year, an international health consortium warned Thursday (23 April).Unless poorer nations in Africa, Asia and Latin America get a rapid infusion of drugs, medical oxygen, protective equipment and on-the-ground assistance, the global South is likely see 1.2 million children and 57,000 mothers die over the
When pandemics strike, world leaders and health responders must adapt quickly to the looming threat. Often the last factor they consider – if it makes their to-do lists at all – is gender. As advocates for the health and rights of girls and women, we’ve heard the excuses time and time again: “Gender isn’t a priority right now,” leaders say. “Maybe when things calm down,” they claim. “It’s not the right time,” they insist.
ASEAN countries have collectively achieved remarkable economic growth, however, when it comes to fertility rates, the region has been drifting. The total fertility rate (TFR) of Southeast Asia has dropped from 5.5 in 1970 down to 2.11 in 2017. At the Future of Work Conference in Singapore in April 2019, Singapore’s Minister for Manpower, Josephine Teo stated that more than half of the world’s population live in countries with a TFR that is below the replacement level of 2.1.
Getting business done in the Philippines has just become a whole lot easier.Jumping 29 spots in the World Bank’s Doing Business 2020 study – the biggest mover in ASEAN – the Philippines can attribute its rise from 124th to 95th to a variety of factors. Thailand and Myanmar were Southeast Asia’s other big movers after both shifted up six spots, while Singapore remains the best Southeast Asian nation in second.Released yesterday, the study is the 17th in an annual series that
Nations rich and poor must invest now to protect against the effects of climate change or pay an even heavier price later, a global commission warned Tuesday.Spending US$1.8 trillion across five key areas over the next decade would not only help buffer the worst impacts of global warming but could generate more than US$7 trillion in net benefits, the report from the Global Commission on Adaptation argued.“We are the last generation that can change the course of climate change, and we are the
Half a million Cambodian farmers could possibly be looking at empty rice bowls if the European Union (EU) pushes through with the withdrawal of its Everything But Arms (EBA) trade preference.While the garment and footwear sectors stand to lose the most if the EBA trade scheme – which gives 49 of the world’s least developed countries tax-free access to vital EU markets for all exports except for arms and ammunition – is removed, Cambodia’s rice industry could be staring at tough times
Malaysia’s target of becoming a high-income economy looks to be on track. Recently, the World Bank reaffirmed its confidence that Malaysia should become a high-income nation by 2024, as long as the country’s gross national income (GNI) per capita continues to grow at a range of four to 4.5 percent.But a talent shortage in the country can slow down progress.
With 7.7 billion humans inhabiting our crowded planet, forests have mostly disappeared, animal species have gone extinct and the Earth’s atmosphere keeps getting dangerously warmer by the day. The number of humans is expected to grow to nine billion people by 2050 and reach 11 billion by 2100, according to the United Nation’s (UN) 2019 World Population Prospect report.
ASEAN countries have collectively achieved remarkable economic growth, however, when it comes to fertility rates, the region has been drifting. The total fertility rate (TFR) of Southeast Asia has dropped from 5.5 in 1970 down to 2.11 in 2017. Half of the region is already facing a ‘baby bust’, where there are insufficient children to maintain the population size.
