Covid-19 has accelerated the adoption of technologies and pushed the world faster into the future. As businesses and organisations look towards the post-pandemic era, what lessons can be learned about innovation?
Chapters
00:00 - How has covid-19 boosted innovation?
01:20 - Drone deliveries
04:20 - How crises lead to innovation
06:47 - How restaurants have innovated
09:29 - Inequality between companies
10:48 - Some start-ups have thrived
12:57 - Working from home
14:15 - E-learning: benefits and challenges
FORUM: Commemorating the contribution of Cangjie, the "ancestor of Chinese characters". Chinese Language Day 2021
On Tuesday, 20 April 2021, the UN Chamber Music Society of the United Nations Staff Recreation Council (UNCMS) will present a virtual concert in celebration of UN Chinese Language Day, which will celebrate the linguistic and cultural diversity of humanity, particularly through Chinese language and music. Chinese Language Day has been set as the "Gu Yu" of the twenty-four solar terms of the lunar calendar, to commemorate the contribution of Cangjie, the "ancestor of Chinese characters". Over the years, the UN Chinese Language Day has become a window for people to understand Chinese culture.
As music is a universal language, the concert’s all-Chinese music programme symbolizes the spiritual connection between music and the Chinese language, one of the most widely spoken languages in the world – and will provide a window for people to understand the richness of Chinese culture and way life. The ancient text of the “Tao Te Ching” states that the Tao is the eternal, changeless spirit that runs through all life and matter. It further says that the task of life is to bring ourselves into attunement with the Tao, so that we are always moving in harmony with the universe, and not in dissonance against it. The music programme will help provide inspiration to the beauty of Chinese Taoism, which treasures 3 things in human beings: compassion, economy, and humility.
Art, in all its diversity, is an essential component of a comprehensive education for the full development of the individual. Today, the skills, values and behaviours promoted by arts education are more paramount than ever. These competencies - creativity, collaboration, and imaginative problem solving - develop resiliency, nurture appreciation of cultural diversity and freedom of expressions, and cultivate innovation and critical thinking skills. As a vector of dialogue in the loftiest sense, art speeds up social inclusion and tolerance in our multicultural, connected societies.
Art brings us closer together. A painting, an artefact, a piece of ancestral music speaks volumes about the history of civilizations and the ties that bind them. It makes us to feel and to understand what unites humanity in the diversity of its cultures and expressions and thus contributing to our bright and sustainable future.
The awareness of art can be acquired from an early age and maintained throughout life. It is with the conviction that creativity and the arts, and learning about them, contribute to the building of prosperous and peaceful societies that UNESCO encourages its Member States to support arts education, at school and beyond. Arts education is a key to training generations capable of reinventing the world that they have inherited. It supports the vitality of cultural identities by emphasizing their links with other cultures, thus contributing to the construction of a shared heritage. It helps to form tolerant and dynamic citizens for our globalizing world.
According to the decision of the 36th session of UNESCO’s General Conference in 2011 (Resolution 36/C55), the 4th week of May was proclaimed as the International Arts Education Week.
Since 2020, World Chagas Disease Day is celebrated every 14 April, after the approval and endorsement received by the World Health Assembly at WHO, in May 2019. One of the objectives of this event is give visibility and attention to the importance that this disease has in the public and individual health of the countries affected by it, and at the same time, give the opportunity to people who have Chagas disease to express their voice and needs, in addition to raising awareness to society about the disease and describe the resources needed to prevent, control and eliminate it when possible.
Chagas disease, also known as American trypanosomiasis, has been classified as a "silent and silenced disease", not only because of its slow and frequently asymptomatic clinical course, but also because it mainly affects disadvantaged populations with restricted access to health care and other basic services. It is estimated that, in the Americas, there are about 6 to 8 million people infected with the parasite that causes the disease, most of whom are unaware of their condition. It is also estimated that in the Americas there are more than one million women of childbearing age who could be infected and who run the risk of perpetuating the annual occurrence of thousands of newborns who arrive in the world already infected by congenital transmission.
The media can be great allies in the dissemination of truthful information to different groups of the population, including people at risk of infection. Chagas is a neglected disease, and therefore goes even more unnoticed than other diseases that are on the agenda of the media, either due to the political, economic and social situation, such as the current COVID-19 pandemic. .
That is why PAHO, with the support of allies such as the Chagas Coalition, Florida International University, University of Chile, the What are we talking about when we talk about Chagas group? and the Medicines for Neglected Diseases Initiative, considered it necessary to carry out specific activities aimed at exchanging information, opinions and experience with journalists, so that they, in turn, can better recognize and disseminate the importance of covering this disease as a problem. of public health in our Region.
Key messages / call to action
• The general public: young people, patients, etc .:
Sensitization:
1) 2021: focus attention on Chagas disease, the suffering it causes, and advocate for comprehensive and universal care for all those affected by the disease.
2) The prevalence of Chagas disease mainly among the poor populations of continental Latin America; it is being detected more frequently in other countries and continents. It is estimated that worldwide between 10,000 and 12,000 people die a year.
3) Chagas disease is often called "a silent and silenced disease" since most of those infected are asymptomatic (or have mild symptoms). Furthermore, it mainly affects the poor who have no political voice and no access to health care. Currently, 67 million people in the Americas are at risk of infection.
4) It is time to end the stigmatization and discrimination of people affected by Chagas disease.
Call to action:
5) Chagas disease is often undiagnosed or diagnosed at an advanced stage. If you live or have traveled to an area with risk of transmission of Chagas disease, or if you have any symptoms, consult your doctor.
6) To prevent infection, protect yourself and your home from insects known as vinchucas, bed bugs, chirimachas, or Triatominae.
7) Please show affection and love towards infected people. Do not discriminate!
• Health workers and health collaborators
Sensitization:
1) Chagas disease patients need equitable access to safe treatment and care.
2) Joint efforts should be made globally to raise awareness of the extent of disease, suffering, disability and death associated with Chagas disease.
Call to action:
3) Early diagnosis and effective life-saving treatment.
4) Chagas disease patients should be prioritized for vaccination against COVID-19.
5) The implementation of control measures can eliminate domiciliary, transfusion, organ transplant and congenital vector transmission.
• Decision makers
Sensitization:
1) It is estimated that more than 10,000 people die each year due to the clinical manifestations of Chagas disease, and about 75 million people in the world are at risk of contracting the disease. In the fight against Chagas disease, achieving universal health coverage is essential.
Call to action:
2) Countries should increase capacity and resources to invest in diagnosis, control, prevention, surveillance, treatment, and clinical care.
3) Patients with Chagas disease should be prioritized for vaccination against COVID-19.
1. Chagas: there are many more stories to tell Dialogue with journalists
Informative meeting and dialogue with selected journalists on Chagas disease in its different aspects (epidemiology, impact on health, multidimensionality, affected countries, etc.). The objective is to present to the participating media and journalists the challenge of visibility that Chagas disease faces in the current situation to increase the knowledge and visibility of this disease from updated and multidimensional approaches that do not deepen the stigmatization of people and contexts mainly affected. Update and generate spaces and resources to optimize the work of communication in the media on issues such as Chagas, through a call for journalists
Participants:
Selected journalists from Latin American media specialists in Chagas disease, Florida International University, Chagas Coalition, What are we talking about when we talk about Chagas group? University of Chile, DNDi and the Pan American Health Organization.
Virtual meeting, to be held on April 13, from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. (US Eastern time) and aims to generate ideas that help better coverage of the subject as a priority of international public health, so that the population in general and health providers, obtain more accurate and quality information to participate more actively in advocacy and communication on Chagas. To register for the meeting access:
2. Educational Video on Chagas: launched April 14 on the web and social networks
In 2011, the UN General Assembly declared 12 April as the International Day of Human Space Flight to celebrate “the beginning of the space era for mankind, reaffirming the important contribution of space science and technology in achieving sustainable development goals and increasing the well-being of States and peoples, as well as ensuring the realization of their aspiration to maintain outer space for peaceful purposes.”
Directly or indirectly, space applications contribute to several Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). For instance, space technologies can help optimize crop production and make the use of land, water, seeds, fertilizers and other resources more efficient, advancing Goal 2 on ending hunger.
Such innovations are all the more crucial given estimates that the coronavirus pandemic could push a further 132 million into hunger, adding to the 690 million globally who already do not have enough to eat.
In a message, Simonetta Di Pippo, Director of the UN Office for Outer Space Affairs (OOSA), said that 60 years ago, “a new era for humanity began – with sky no longer the limit”.
“Astronauts are envoys of humankind in outer space, embodying talent, skills, and bravery; and stretching the boundaries of what we can achieve as a civilization.”
“Human space flight has changed our perspectives about the Earth, the universe and ourselves”, Ms. Di Pippo added.
FAO envoy to bring ‘unique perspective’
To highlight the importance of world’s agri-food systems, and help make them more resilient, inclusive, efficient and sustainable, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) designated European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Thomas Pesquet as its Goodwill Ambassador on Monday.
An advocate for climate action, Mr. Pesquet highlighted the effects of climate change and called for more respect for the environment during his 196 consecutive days on board the International Space Station (ISS) in 2016 and 2017.
The ESA astronaut brings “a unique perspective, from the vantage point of space”, Qu Dongyu, FAO Director-General said.
“Over the years, Thomas has helped raise awareness of the impact of climate change on agriculture, of the importance of access to nutritious foods, and of how critical it is for us to manage our natural resources wisely and reduce food loss and waste”, Mr. Qu added.
‘Earth is also a spaceship’
Accepting the nomination, the French ESA astronaut said his first space flight drastically changed his perception about the challenges the world is facing, drawing parallels between planet Earth and a spaceship.
“After all, Earth is also a spaceship, flying through space with limited resources. The problems are the same - a hostile environment that you have to deal with, limited resources that you have to share and there is a need to get along with crew members and work together to achieve your goals”, he said.
Mr. Pesquet is preparing for his second mission to ISS, which is scheduled to be launched on 22 April and to last for six months.
This year marks 27 years since more than one million people were systematically murdered in less than three months in Rwanda.
They were overwhelmingly Tutsi, but also Hutu and others who opposed the genocide.
Those days in 1994 remain in our collective conscience as among the most horrific in recent human history.
On this Day, we honour those who were murdered, we reflect on the suffering and we recognize the resilience of those who survived.
As we join in solidarity with the people of Rwanda, we must take a hard look at today’s world and ensure that we heed the lessons of 27 years ago.
Today, around the globe, people are threatened by extremist groups determined on boosting their ranks through social polarization and political and cultural manipulation.
These extremist movements represent the principal security threat in many countries.
While the technology and techniques that extremists use are evolving, the vile messages and rhetoric remain the same.
The dehumanization of communities, misinformation and hate speech are stoking the fires of violence.
The Covid-19 pandemic underscores the urgency of addressing deepening divides.
The global health crisis has profoundly affected the entire spectrum of human rights in every region, further fueling discrimination, social polarization and inequalities – all of which can lead to violence and conflict.
We saw what happened in Rwanda in 1994, and we know the horrific consequences when hate is allowed to prevail.
Preventing history from repeating itself requires countering these hate-driven movements that have become a transnational threat.
We must redouble our efforts, and forge a Common Agenda, to renew and reinvigorate our collective actions going forward.
In doing this, we must defend human rights and continue to push for policies that fully respect all members of society.
Rwanda experienced one of the most painful chapters in modern human history, but its people have rebuilt from the ashes.
After suffering unspeakable gender-based violence and discrimination, Rwanda’s women now hold more than 60 per cent of parliamentary seats – making Rwanda a world leader.
The people of Rwanda have shown us the power of justice and reconciliation, and the possibility of progress.
On this solemn Day, let us all commit to building a world guided by human rights and dignity for all.
