United Nations : UNCTAD to hold e-com week amid COVID-19 (PRIV)
(D. Ravi Kanth, Geneva)
The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), amidst the COVID-19 pandemic and lockouts, is to hold week-long virtual meetings beginning on 27 April, on a range of issues about e-com trade in a world under the COVID-19 pandemic.

Finance : Cross-border lending slows in last quarter of 2019, says BIS (PRIV)
(Kanaga Raja, Geneva)
Global cross-border bank claims contracted by $703 billion during the fourth quarter of 2019, a decline in growth to 6% from 9% at end-September 2019, the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) has reported.

United Nations : SDGs threatened by a world economy facing recession (PRIV)
(IPS, New York)
The UN's 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), described as an integral part of its highly-ambitious development agenda, may be in deep trouble.

United Nations : Children under lockdown get a "Learning Passport" (PRIV)
(IPS, New York)
Soon schools in Timor-Leste, Ukraine, and Kosovo, where some 6.5 million children are currently at home, will hopefully start teaching their children once again - albeit online.

COVID-19 : Autonomous resourcing - the engine room of feminist work (PRIV)
(IPS, Brisbane)
Feminist responses to COVID-19 have been swift, insightful, and numerous. There have been webinars (so.many.webinars), twitter threads, illustrations, press releases and policy recommendations, and online house parties.