With millions forced to work from home this year, offices and shops closing as part of containment measures, and travel severely curtailed everywhere, it was inevitable that the economy would suffer. In part five of our look back at 2020, we focus on the seismic effect that COVID-19 has had on the global economy.
Even before the virus had officially been declared a pandemic, it was clear that the shutdowns, travel bans and other restrictions on movement would be serious.
Back in March, the UN trade agency, UNCTAD, was forecasting that around $1 trillion would be lost to the global economy over the year, and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank arranged for a multi-billion dollar injection of UN-back global funds to be made available to low-income and emerging markets.
UNDP, UNFPA, UNICEF and UN Women host joint online discussions from 18 December 2020 to 17 January 2021 on engagement platform SparkBlue
For the first time in the history of the United Nations, four agencies – the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) – will host a joint public consultation to inform their new Strategic Plans to be implemented during a four-year period, 2022-2025.
The online discussions will be open from 18 December 2020 to 17 January 2021 on the engagement platform SparkBlue. Anyone with access to the internet can join these discussions, including UN agencies’ Executive Board members, Member States and donors; National Committees; other UN entities and development actors; private sector and civil society partners; supporters; and the general public.
The COVID-19 pandemic has turned the world of work upside down and employers are faced with challenges never seen before. Recognizing the need for comprehensive yet generic guidance on protecting staff while continuing to function effectively, ISO occupational health and safety (OH&S) experts quickly got to work, delivering in record time.
While the average ISO International Standard takes three years to develop, the newly published ISO/PAS 45005,Occupational health and safety management – General guidelines for safe working during the COVID-19 pandemic was developed in just three months in response to the urgency of the situation and the need for such information now.
Em 2015, Bill Gates alertou para a possibilidade de um vírus poder lançar o caos no mundo. Depois de ter adivinhado a catástrofe sanitária que assolou o globo em 2020, o milionário e filantropo deixa as suas previsões para o próximo ano.
Num artigo intitulado “Estes avanços vão fazer 2021 melhor que 2020”, publicado no seu site, Bill Gates deixa duas boas notícias e uma má para o próximo ano.
Em jeito de balanço, o fundador da Microsoft lembra que nunca a Humanidade tinha conseguido produzir uma vacina em menos de um ano e que esse é, por si só, um marco importante de evidenciar.
Na Huawei AppGallery encontra as apps da Domino's, do Burger King e do H3. Mas há mais.
O mau tempo dos próximos dias quase parece um sinal ou incentivo do clima para os portugueses permanecerem em segurança. A verdade é que ainda estamos numa fase decisiva do controlo da pandemia e é em casa que devemos passar o máximo de tempo possível.
Aproveite para descansar, pôr os episódios das suas séries favoritas em dia e, claro, encomendar as refeições dos seus restaurantes favoritos. Para isso, só precisa de pegar no smartphone e descarregar as suas apps, que estão totalmente preparadas e otimizadas para fazer encomendas, acumular pontos e ter acesso a ofertas especiais.
The coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) is a highly transmittable and pathogenic viral infection caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), which emerged in Wuhan, China and spread around the world. Genomic analysis revealed that SARS-CoV-2 is phylogenetically related to severe acute respiratory syndrome-like (SARS-like) bat viruses, therefore bats could be the possible primary reservoir. The intermediate source of origin and transfer to humans is not known, however, the rapid human to human transfer has been confirmed widely.
For the first time, the organizers of NeurIPS required speakers to consider the societal impact of their work.
After a year of heavy scrutiny and seemingly endless controversy around artificial-intelligence (AI) technologies, the field’s most prestigious conference has tried to set a good example. For the first time, the Neural Information Processing Systems (NeurIPS) meeting, which took place completely online this month, required presenters to submit a statement on the broader impact their research could have on society, including any possible negative effects.
In March, when cases of COVID-19 began to overwhelm hospitals in the United States, I told my 90-year-old mother that she had to shelter in place. She lives alone in Los Angeles, and to keep her company, I FaceTimed her every night. In the role reversal that happens with time, I became the forever-worried, nagging parent, and she was the ever-doubting, defiant child.