COVID-19 : International response, cooperation needed to address seafarer crisis (PRIV)
(Kanaga Raja, Geneva)
Border closures, restrictions and other measures taken by countries to contain the spread of COVID-19 have caused a humanitarian crew change crisis, according to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).

COVID-19 : Disrupts UN & threatens potential cash crisis in world body (PRIV)
(IPS, New York)
The 22-month-old coronavirus pandemic - which has claimed over 5.4 million lives worldwide, devastated economies and reduced an additional 100 million people to poverty - has also disrupted the work of a partially locked-down United Nations triggering a potential cash crisis in the world body.

UN : Disparities in Arab region - hunger doubles, recovery uneven (PRIV)
(IPS, Madrid)
The panorama is bleak: hunger in the Arab region continues to rise, with more than a 90% increase since 2000, while indebtedness is growing, and the economic recovery is tenuous and uneven.