ROME, Jun 14 (IPS) - Italy, as other countries, has been struggling to balance the health and economic challenges posed by COVID-19. Controlling the spread of the virus implied restrictions on economic activity, on school and college attendance, and on personal movement. It also had to deal with the economic and social implications of a fall of almost 10% in GDP. This has been hard for a country which, even before the pandemic, was one of the slowest growing economies in Europe, with unemployment, especially among young people in the South of the country, at alarming levels.

Immediate action is required now to initiate critical reforms and lay the groundwork for credible elections in Mali, where the security situation is as worrying as ever, the Head of the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) told the Security Council on Monday.

Stepping up global efforts to combat land degradation is the only way to safeguard food and water security, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and ward against future threats to health and the environment, the UN General Assembly President told ambassadors meeting in New York on Monday. 

As Lebanon endures one of its worst financial and economic crises ever, the UN estimates that over the next eight months around $300 million is needed to provide vital aid to around 1.5 million Lebanese and 400,000 migrant workers living there.

The number of new COVID-19 cases reported to the UN health agency has declined for seven weeks in a row, in what the top official there called on Monday “the longest sequence of weekly declines during the pandemic so far”.

Senior UN officials have condemned a deadly attack on a hospital in Syria this past weekend, underlining the need for accountability for crimes committed in the country’s decade-long war. 

With “entrenched ageist attitudes” already undermining the autonomy of elder persons in making their own choices and decisions, the COVID-19 pandemic has brought into sharp focus further violence, abuse and neglect against them, a UN independent expert said on Monday, marking World Elder Abuse Awareness Day. 

ARLINGTON, Virginia, USA, Jun 14 (IPS) - August of this year will mark the one-year anniversary of the end of South Sudan’s civil war, yet recent surges of violence suggest that peace is far from being realized. These attacks by armed groups include instances of sexual violence against women and girls.

A senior UN official welcomed on Sunday, the Group of Seven (G7) leading industrialized nations’ commitment to immediately share at least 870 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines, supporting global access and helping to end the acute phase of the pandemic. 

Due to the ever-increasing demands of the global economy, the resources of the planet are being used up at an alarming rate and waste and pollution are growing fast. The idea of a more sustainable “circular economy” is gaining traction, but what does this concept mean, and can it help save the planet?