Quality of life, access to clean water, basic sanitation, decent living conditions, and good education remain far from the reality of the population. In October 2016, with the sanction, by the President of the Republic, of Decree No. 8.892 of October 27, 2016, Brazil officially adopted the 2030 Agenda together with other UN member states,…
It has been a hot, unbearable summer in the Northern Hemisphere. Wherever the temperatures are not breaking new records and the forest fires are not filling the air with suffocating smoke and other pollutants it is the floods that are hitting the high mark, including in places where water is becoming worryingly scarce over time….
The effects of climate change usually fall heavily on marginalized populations, including millions of persons with disabilities (PWDs) worldwide, especially those living in rural areas and poor communities. Almost 13 years ago, at COP16 of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the 2010 Cancun Agreements identified PWDs as disproportionally affected by the climate…
Authors: Dimitra Panagiotatou, Stella Ladi, and Angelos Angelou* Vaccine hesitancy has alarmed governments anxious to return to normality for economic and political reasons. Unlike other vaccination programmes, the Covid-19 one has been subject to extraordinary levels of politicisation. Conspiracy theories disseminated via fake news have transformed the universal fight against a global health threat into a controversial…
The nuclear safety standards of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) do not contain guidance or recommendations in the context of warlike scenarios. Since the beginning of the war last February, several Ukrainian nuclear facilities have suffered or are suffering from the effects of military operations taking place in their vicinity. Such operations have taken…
The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UCNFCC), the world’s first climate change treaty, is 30 years old. It was adopted on 9 May 1992 and opened for signature at the Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro on 4 June 1992. Should the world be celebrating? Looking back Personally, I take…
Historically speaking we, humans, are known for our ability to move, for our ability to migrate and adapt to new environments whatever those may be. Recent technological and economic advances have increased dramatically our ability to travel. These factors are valuable to us as they promote cultural, linguistic, and even economic exchanges. However, for years,…
We marked the International Day of the Elimination of Racial Discrimination this year with the theme ‘Youth standing up against racism’. It seems only right, therefore, to acknowledge the Black Lives Matter demonstrations that erupted across the world in 2020. Research shows that Generation Z and Millennials were at the forefront of the movement and…
On March 20, 2021, we celebrate the 9th annual International Day of Happiness, a day commemorated by the General Assembly of the United Nations to acknowledge the inextricable connection between well-being and human development around the globe. On this day, the international community – including world leaders, policymakers, and economists – are reminded that well-being must be measured through determinants far more complex than income and wealth accumulation. This idea is not modern in any sense. Quoting Aristotle from his book Nicomachean Ethics, “wealth is…
As the Covid-19 pandemic continues its stranglehold over societies and economies the world over, it is becoming increasingly clear that widespread vaccination of whole populations is one key to re-opening the door to some semblance of normality. Part one, the rapid development of safe and effective vaccines, was a triumph for science, however it is…
