COVID-19 : WHO DG calls for triggering of TRIPS waiver at WTO (PRIV)
(D. Ravi Kanth, Geneva)
The World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has called for triggering the TRIPS waiver at the World Trade Organization on grounds that it would help many countries "with manufacturing capacity" to produce their own vaccines by waiving intellectual property rules as provided for in the WTO's TRIPS Agreement.

Trade : WTO DG exhorts Secretariat staff to deliver results (PRIV)
(D. Ravi Kanth, Geneva)
The World Trade Organization's director-general Ms Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has exhorted the Secretariat's staff to produce results and overcome their innovation deficit in the work culture, said people familiar with the development.

United Nations : Food commodity prices rise for ninth consecutive month (PRIV)
(Kanaga Raja, Geneva)
The international prices of a basket of key agricultural food commodities rose for the ninth consecutive month in February, mainly driven by sugar and vegetable oils, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has said.

COVID-19 : Why gender parity & diversity are paramount to just recovery (PRIV)
(IPS, Nairobi)
To commemorate International Women's Day, the United Nations has called for "Women in leadership: Achieving an equal future in a COVID-19 World," as the day coincides with the dark week when WHO declared the virus a global pandemic.