KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, Jan 29 2019 (IPS) – Owing to our varied circumstances and experiences, there are contradictory tendencies to either exaggerate or underestimate the power and importance of artificial intelligence (AI) in contemporary society.
Nor should we uncritically legitimize everything AI can be used for, even if it has been hailed as the main frontier of the Davos-proclaimed Fourth Industrial Revolution. AI, more than other elements of Industry 4.0, is transforming humanity’s understanding of ourselves in novel ways the world has neither experienced nor conceived.
Jomo Kwame Sundaram
AI unfettered
The AI market is already huge but still grow…
Among the major drivers of the Antimicrobial Resistance crisis is the misuse and overuse of antibiotics in livestock and feed. Credit: Germán Miranda/IPS.
UNITED NATIONS, May 21 2019 (IPS) – Antimicrobial resistance is quickly becoming a global crisis and risks reversing a century of progress in health. Some organisations have already geared up and are tackling the issue from its roots.
In a new , the United Nations Interagency Coordination Group (IACG) on Antimicrobial Resistance estimates that antibiotic resistance could cause 10 million deaths each year by 2050.
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Dr. Ifeanyi Nsofor is a medical doctor, the CEO of EpiAFRIC, Director of Policy and Advocacy for Nigeria Health Watch
Winnie Byanyima. Credit: Marianela Jarroud/IPS.
ABUJA, Sep 13 2019 (IPS) – Two African women were recently appointed to top global health positions: as the Executive Director of UNAIDS and reappointed as the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Director for Africa.
Already, Ms. Byanyima is focusing on as a way to end the AIDS epidemic, and Dr. Moeti’s include ensuring more Africans have universal health coverage, preventing and managing disease outbreaks and promoting good health.
In these powerful role…
We need to empower young people to sustain our planet, and let peace and prosperity thrive says UN’s Resident Co-ordinator in Kenya, Siddharth Chatterjee speaks to IPS on reflections on the ICPD25 Summit.
Young people at ICPD25 youth session. Credit: Mantoe Phakathi / IPS
NAIROBI, Kenya, Nov 15 2019 (IPS) – Q: At ICPD25 we heard that women and girls are still waiting for the unmet promises to be met? DO you think this time around there is a commitment to ensure that these promises are met?
The Nairobi Summit is about the Future of Humanity and Human Prosperity.
We all have an opportunity to repeat the message that women’s empowerment w…
NEW YORK, Jan 24 2020 (IPS) – Every year hundreds of immigrants leave their homes and trail to a land of dream and hope where they aspire to find peace, happiness and sometimes a little bit of safety compared to what they leave behind.
Migrations can be for asylum-seeking, for work, study, visa lottery, investing, etc. Another widely popular way to migrate is by marriage and by family-based immigration. People from developing countries strive to get their children married to someone who is from developed countries such as Australia, Canada, The United Kingdom, The United States and so on, in hope of someday making their way into these countries by forming fa…
In Iran, which has seen some of the highest COVID-19 infection and death rates in the world, a number of reporters are now facing jail after being detained earlier this month for challenging official statistics about the outbreak of the disease in the country. People in Rasht, Gilan Province, Iran, taking precautions to prevent infection by wearing masks in public.
BRATISLAVA, Mar 20 2020 (IPS) – Growing intimidation and repression of journalists reporting on the coronavirus is threatening public health in some countries, press freedom monitors have warned.
Repressive regimes desperate to control the narrative around the disease’s spread ha…
KATHMANDU, May 1 2020 (IPS) – This year’s World Press Freedom Day on 3 May falls during COVID-19 lockdowns in many of our countries. Restriction on movement means journalists all over the world are facing obstacles in getting interviews and data, and verifying stories before publishing.
In addition, the global pandemic has been used by many governments to control not just the people’s …
As a nationwide lockdown has confined a record 1.3 billion Indians to their homes since Mar. 24, one of the hardest hit communities has been that of Indian farmers.
Agricultural markets or mandis have few buyers due to the coronavirus lockdown across India. Credit: Neeta Lal/IPS
NEW DELHI, Apr 24 2020 (IPS) – Heartbreaking images of Indian farmers standing amidst swathes of rotting vegetables, fruits and grain have been flooding newspapers and TV screens lately. Crashing prices and transport bottlenecks due to the 40-day coronavirus lockdown in India, on till May 3, have driven some to set their unsold produce ablaze.
As a nationwide lockdown has confined a …
BERLIN and KUALA LUMPUR, Jun 4 2020 (IPS) – The world economic contraction so far this year is largely due to measures, especially at the national or local level, to contain or prevent Covid-19 contagion, particularly those restricting business operations, thus reducing economic activity, output, incomes and spending.
Vladimir Popov
Lower business and worker incomes have reduced spending, for both consumption and investment, and thus overall or aggregate demand. While there has indeed been much ‘’ in the last decade, responsible for its dreary ‘recovery’, and financial circumstances will retard recovery, the cruel public health dilemma posed by the viral …
Credit: Marcin Jozwiak on Unsplash
BANGKOK, Thailand, Jun 18 2020 (IPS) – The world before COVID-19 looks very attractive right now. In light of the disease, mass unemployment and social distancing, a return to pre-pandemic normality seems appealing. Yet we should remember what normal was.
Normal was obtaining 85 per cent of our energy and losing 7 million people a year to air pollution. Normal was careening toward a global temperature rise of over 3.5 C by the end of the century, with island nations facing obliteration. Normal was 1 in 8 species threatened with extinction, continued squeezing of wild spaces into smaller and smaller corners, and the rampant illeg…