The coronavirus pandemic represents the biggest shock to the world economies since the great depression. COVID- 19 is/ was a seismic social shock even for families that lost no income due at least in part to abrupt school closures and the widespread threat of illness and death. In many instances, the school closures substantially increased the time that parents, especially mothers, spend with their children. For school children, school closures and learning interruptions could threaten children’s learning and adjustment but the effects will depend on the quantity and quality of parent-child…
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DRONE WARFARE AND INTERNATIONAL LAW
Under the United Nations Charter, states agree to “settle their international disputes in a peaceful manner” and “refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state.” This is generally viewed as a blanket prohibition on the use of force by one state inside the borders of another sovereign state. Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter outlines just two exceptions to this prohibition. First, if the Security Council identifies “any threat to the peace, breach of the…
Read MoreDIGITAL AUTHORITARIANISM AND ITS EFFECTS ON HUMAN RIGHTS AND DEMOCRACY
Digital authoritarianism is “the use of digital information technology by authoritarian regimes to surveil, repress, and manipulate domestic and foreign populations”. Essentially it refers to the use of digital and technological means to increase control and limit the freedom and rights of citizens. For example, digital authoritarianism entails actions such as; limiting internet freedom, internet access and free speech online, collecting personal data for illegitimate purposes, surveillance and tracking of online activities, especially those of regime critics. We can sums up digital authoritarianism in six different techniques: surveillance, censorship, social…
Read MoreCLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION COSTS AND PROSPECTS IN THE DEVELOPED WORLD : INCORPORATING CLIMATE CHANGE INTO LONG TERM POLICIES
At higher temperatures, the climate change costs of adaptation will rise sharply and the residual damages will remain large. The additional costs of making new infrastructure and buildings resilient to climate change in Organisation For Economic Cooperation And Development (OECD)Organization For Economic And OECD countries could range from $15 – 150 billion each year (0.05 – 0.5% of GDP), with higher costs reflecting the prospect of higher temperatures in future. In the developed world, some sectors may experience benefits from climate change for moderate levels of warming up to 2…
Read MoreDIVORCE EFFECTS ON CHILDREN’S BEHAVIOUR AND DEVELOPMENT
Nowadays, one in four children will have to face their parents’ divorce and one in ten children live with only one of them, usually the mother. For all families, the divorce can trigger a series of changes potentially stressful for each member. The child and family tasks where before guided by two parents, now are responsibility of one, such as family roles and functioning can become chaotic. In the preceding months to divorce, many families face financial problems that could result in changes of home, school, and job. According to…
Read MoreCLIMATE DISPLACEMENT: GAPS IN THE LEGAL FRAMEWORK FOR SMALL ISLANDS/ARCHIPELAGO
Despite the existence of numerous international instruments addressing forced migration, internal displacement and climate change, international law does not offer ad hoc protection to people affected by climate displacement. The unprecedented nature of the challenges posed by sinking islands is one of the causes of this legal vacuum. Nonetheless, international law will have to react and the ways in which this could happen vary substantially. One possible solution could consist in adapting the existing legal frame work to the peculiarities of climate-induced displacement. The specific needs of climate-displaced people could…
Read MoreGLOBALISATION AND WORLD POVERTY: IT’S EFFECTS AND RELATIONSHIPS
Globalisation is the growing integration of economies and societies around the world. It ranges from the issues of trade and services, movement of capital, growth and poverty of the world population, international migration to easier transportation and communication around the world. It is a complex process that affects many lives and above all, increased economic interdependence among countries. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) outlined four basic aspects of globalisation – capital and investment movements, trade and transactions, dissemination of knowledge and the migration and movement of people. The process of…
Read MoreRELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PARENTAL STRESS AND CHILDREN TEMPERAMENT
A child’s activity level was correlated with the level of stress a mother experiences. Parents can describe their children as having distinct and recognisable patterns of behaviour as young as in infancy. Even at birth, some children are much more challenging to parents while other children are notably more easygoing and carefree. Since parenting involves the relationship between a child’s temperament(personality style) and the parent’s response, the relationship is a reciprocal process in which parent and child are constantly affecting each other. It was hypothesised that child activity level would correlate…
Read MoreCORPORATE RESPONSIBILITY TO RESPECT HUMAN RIGHTS
The UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs) do not make explicit mention of specific rights such as the right to health or to responsibilities of business in emergency or other crisis situations. However, it is clear that the UNGPs expect businesses to undertake due diligence and assess impacts of their operations and conduct in terms of respect for all rights, including the right to health; to take all possible steps to mitigate any harms; to ensure that conduct does not cause or contribute towards harms; address risks…
Read MoreDOHA DECLARATION : A GUIDE TO IMPLEMENTATION FOR PUBLIC HEALTH EMERGENCY
Though the Doha Declaration was initially received very well, anxiety again was widespread as about the interpretation of Paragraph 6 of the Declaration specifying when countries can import drugs produced elsewhere under compulsory Licensing(CL). A decision regarding the same was announced in 2003 and was adopted in the form of waiver of Article 31 (f) (that the compulsory Licensing(CL) would be predominantly for the supply of domestic market) in December 2005. As per this waiver, a country could issue a compulsory license on the basis of public health need either…
Read MoreUNPLANNED SCHOOL CLOSURES : IMPACT AND EMPIRICAL REVIEW
In rich and poor countries alike, measures restricting movement or even outright confinement have had significant impacts on education systems. Within days, schools and universities closed in many countries around the world, leaving pupils and students but also parents and teachers, facing major challenges. Differences in the economic levels of countries, the energy and telecommunication capacities, the skills of teachers and the dynamism of educational teams have led to the Covid-19 pandemic emergence of a highly heterogeneous map of how this educational crisis has been handled with a deepening of…
Read MoreGARDENING: WELLBEING FOR MENTAL HEALTH
It has commonly stated that “Mental health and wellbeing” can positively affect almost every area of a person’s life: education, employment, family and relationships. It can help people achieve their potential, realise their ambitions, cope with adversity, work productively and contribute to their community and society. Promoting mental health and wellbeing has multiple benefits. It improves health outcomes, life expectancy, productivity and educational and economic outcomes and reduces violence and crime. Estimates from 2006 put the wider economic costs of mental health problems at over £110 billions per year. We can define wellbeing as “a positive…
Read MoreCOUPLES ATTACHMENT INSECURITY IN STRESSFUL COVID-19 CONTEXTS
The COVID-19 pandemic represents an acute, challenging event that puts to the test whether models in relationship science help identify whose relationships are vulnerable to disruption in the wake of this unprecedented global event. The current longitudinal study leveraged to examine whether pre-existing vulnerabilities (attachment insecurity) assessed prior to the pandemic and stress during a mandated quarantine predicted residual changes in relationship functioning. Partners’ attachment anxiety emerged as a consistent vulnerability that, along with stress, increased the risk of poor relationship functioning, including greater relationship problems, a more chaotic and less cohesive family environment and lower relationship quality. These results uniquely emphasize that the potential…
Read MoreNEEDFULNESS HUMAN RESOURCE POLICIES AMENDMENT DURING COVID-19 PANDEMIC AND UPCOMING PANDEMIC OUTBREAK
The nation faces an unprecedented public health crisis, businesses are grappling with how to support their workforce, implement emergency policies and sustain their businesses amidst economic uncertainty. As of millions of workers especially frontline workers paid low wages are facing dire extremes: either experiencing layoffs or reduced hours, or working under demanding and often unsafe conditions. Many workers lack emergency protections and benefits to meet the needs of this moment. We must encourage companies to adopt multiple practices and focus on applying them as broadly and equitably as possible, to…
Read MoreEPISTEMOLOGY ON COVID-19 VACCINE AND IDEAL VACCINE CHARACTERISTICS REQUIREMENT FOR COVID-19
Vaccination is the process of administering a vaccine, i.e., a biological substance intended to stimulate a recipient’s immune system to produce antibodies or to undergo other changes that provide future protection against specific infectious diseases. Immunization is the stimulation of changes in the immune system through which that protection occurs. These two concepts differ slightly in that administration of a vaccine may not always result in satisfactory immunization (protection) and that immunization may sometimes occur as a result of processes other than administration of a vaccine, e.g., through the body’s…
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