NEW YORK, Mar 04 (IPS) – The following opinion piece is part of series to mark the upcoming International Women’s Day March 8.In 2020, progress on gender equality stalled or regressed in many countries in large part because of the far-reaching impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. According to a recent analysis, by 2021, around 435 million girls and women will be living on less than $1.90 a day, including 47 million pushed into poverty as a result of the pandemic. Global lockdowns contributed to a surge of gender-based violence worldwide, and estimates show that sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), the bedrock of gender equality, have been severely disrupted, resulting in an additional 49 million women at risk of experiencing an unmet need for modern contraception. Our most pressing global issues have seldom been so daunting, and fault lines in existing social, political, and economic systems have never been so deep.
BRAZIL: ‘Resistance Is Intergenerational, and Art Is How Energy Gets Renewed’ 
The Dollar-Gold Standard’s Lingering Demise 
The Global Leaders Network Pushes to Protect Women’s and Children’s Health 
The Takeaway: UN General Assembly debate Day 5 
Lavrov issues call for new Eurasian ‘security architecture’ 
Cuba warns against ‘law of the jungle’ as Foreign Minister denounces US pressure