Monika Singh
1 April, 2021, 9:30 pm
SPTO chief executive offi cer Christopher Cocker, standing second from left, deputy chairman and CEO of Tourism Solomons Josefa Tuamoto,
standing third from left, with delegates at the workshop yesterday. Picture: MONIKA SINGH
REGIONAL tourism organisations and stakeholders yesterday had the opportunity to have a genuine dialogue on how tourism products, experiences and services can be developed sustainably within the Pacific as part of the recovery process.
Pacific Tourism Organisation (SPTO) deputy chairman and CEO of Tourism Solomons Josefa Tuamoto said the pandemic had put a halt on growth and the socio-economic consequences continued to take its toll on the small economies and people, as they await the reopening of borders.
Direct and indirect effects of COVID-19 pandemic and response in South Asia
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Disruptions in health services due to COVID-19 “may have contributed to an additional 239,000 child and maternal deaths in South Asia” - new UN report
Kathmandu/Bangkok/New Delhi, 17 March 2021: Drastic cuts in the availability and use of essential public health services across South Asia due to COVID-19 may have contributed to an estimated 228,000 additional child deaths in 2020, according to a new United Nations report. Around 11,000 additional maternal deaths are also expected.
Clinics and other health facilities have been closed and many vital health and nutrition programmes halted as the region battles to contain COVID-19 cases, which numbered 11 million by the end of 2020.
How the integration of health and disaster risk reduction can set Asia-Pacific on a path towards resilience
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Author Omar H. Amach
The COVID-19 pandemic was in many an unexpected event that caught the world off guard. The World Economic Forum s 2020 Global Risks Report, for example, did not include pandemics in its list of 10 most likely risks.
However, while the pandemic was unexpected, it was not unavoidable.
A number of global framework and guidelines were developed in recent years to prevent and manage the occurrence of such disasters.
Key among them is the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030, which includes biological hazards, such as pandemics, as one of the main risks that countries ought to plan against in line with the International Health Regulations (2005).
New research in Asia probes links between climate, health, livelihoods
Format Country assessments in Afghanistan, the Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal and Pakistan on linkages between climate and health and livelihoods are something new and will contribute a wealth of knowledge and understanding for our work on resilience.
That was the view put forward by Juan Daniel Reyes, Finnish Red Cross Asia-Pacific representative, at an online workshop organized by the IFRC and the Climate Centre last week to share recent research findings.
The country-level assessments are a joint initiative of the Finnish Red Cross and the IFRC Asia Pacific Regional Office. I want to recognize the commitment of the five National Societies in engaging with the process and involving national stakeholders, said Gwendolyn Pang, APRO Acting Deputy Regional Director.