By:PATRICIA SCOTLAND (Commonwealth Secretary-General) Waking up to screams, thuds, angry shouting and the sickening sound of someone crashing into a wall, a table, a door. This is the cruel reality of many children and young people across our Commonwealth. As economies, institutions and social welfare sectors continue to buckle under the strain of the unprecedented…
By PATRICIA SCOTLAND (Commonwealth Secretary-General) Today in India and Bangladesh, millions of people are hunkered down in shelters, many with masks on their faces – a chilling reminder of the COVID-19 outbreak that still grips the densely populated countries. Forced to flee their homes, families, some migrant workers who have only just arrived from the…
By: FEMI OWOEYE No nation, including China expected a pandemic. But it came. It caught the entire human race unaware. However, there is a major lesson to learn. The fact that, at a time like this, unusual and unexpected gains and helps could come from a least expected sector. As the pandemic ravaged even through…
By:PATRICIA SCOTLAND, Commonwealth Secretary-General The widespread destruction wreaked by Tropical Cyclone Harold in several Pacific countries just days ago has been nothing short of heart-breaking. At least 32 people have died, while more than 45,000 men, women and children in Vanuatu’s hardest-hit province, Sanma, are now homeless. In Tonga, hundreds of businesses and homes were gutted,…
