The Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) are currently negotiating the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework, scheduled to be completed this October in Kunming, China. As one of the negotiations’ several thematic consultations, the Parties will consider “transparent implementation, monitoring, reporting and review” on February 21-22 in Kunming. The following Policy Brief by UN Foundation Senior Fellow, Sue Biniaz, focuses in particular on “what” a review mechanism should review.   Download PDF: The Post-2020 Global Biodiversity […]

With 2019 behind us, 2020 is already testing how we work together to address critical challenges at home and across borders. Support for international cooperation hangs in the balance at precisely the moment when robust collaboration is needed most. From promoting climate change and sustainability, to averting conflict within and between nations, to confronting the systemic forces that create unequal societies, in 2020 we must answer the question: How resolved are we to confront the

Memo to World Leaders: Half of your country’s people are subjugated, less visible, and undervalued.  This year begins the final decade to deliver the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs); it marks 25 years since the UN’s landmark Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing pushed for more progress on girls’ ands women’s rights and equality; and in the U.S., 2020 is the 100th anniversary of women finally earning the right to vote. Despite years of striving,

Coronavirus Update: February 27, 2020 Editor’s note: All facts and figures in this blog are current as of February 27, 2020. We will regularly update this blog as the situation evolves and new data becomes available. The outbreak of novel coronavirus, now officially known as COVID-19, continues to grow. For the first time since it began in December 2019, more new cases have been reported outside of China than inside. A total of 46 countries

Slovenian tennis player, Dalila Jakupovic, was about to serve during the first round qualifying match of the Australian Open, when she fell to her knees in a coughing fit. The air quality in Melbourne, where the tennis tournament is held, was deemed “moderate to hazardous,” because of smoke from bushfires that have burned 16 million acres in Australia — an area about the size of West Virginia. She later had to withdraw from the match,

The alarm bells are ringing again. A new infectious disease is spreading internationally, and the world is working to prevent another potential pandemic. Memories of earlier global health threats – from SARS to H1N1 to Ebola to Zika – come to the fore as we deal with the novel coronavirus (now known as COVID-19) emanating from Wuhan, China. While much progress has been made in improving global health security since SARS in 2003, everyone recognizes

On a recent trip to Bangalore, India, I visited a garment manufacturer called Laj Exports that supplies fabric to brands like Lee, Wrangler, and Guess. Roughly 70% of the factory’s workers are women, each of whom stitch, sew, cut, and package clothing items that are exported globally — some of them landing right in my own closet. This is typical of the apparel sector in India, which employs 8 million people, more than half of

In this time of uncertainty, one thing is clear: We can’t stop the COVID-19 pandemic without a coordinated, global response. Right now the World Health Organization (WHO) is on the frontlines of this fast-moving crisis — providing everything from personal protective equipment for health workers to the latest safety guidelines so governments and citizens alike have accurate, up-to-date information about the virus. Yet this pandemic is unlike anything we’ve ever faced before — and will