Gender Central to Parliamentarians ’ Programme of Action
Cooperative members in southern Lebanon make a rare, traditional bread called Mallet El Smid to be sold at the MENNA shop in Beirut. Women are central to meeting the SDGs, say parliamentarians. Credit: UN Women/Joe SaadeBy IPS CorrespondentJOHANNESBURG, Feb 23 2023 (IPS) The post-COVID-19 period has been a crucial one for members of parliament who have their work cut out to ensure that issues that arose during the pandemic are addressed, especially concerning the ICPD25 commitments and programmes of action for universal access to sexual and reproductive rights, gender-based violence and building peaceful, just and inclusiv...
Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - February 23, 2023 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: IPS Correspondent Tags: Asia-Pacific COVID-19 Development & Aid Gender Gender Identity Gender Violence Middle East & North Africa TerraViva United Nations Women & Economy Women's Health Asian Population and Development Association (APDA) IPS UN Bureau IPS Source Type: news
BRAC ‘Resets’ Program Aimed at Empowering Adolescent Girls in Africa
A girl reads a story book with lessons on life skills at an ELA club in Uganda. Credit: Uganda/BRAC By Naureen HossainUNITED NATIONS, Feb 22 2023 (IPS) BRAC’s Empowerment and Livelihood Program (ELA) has benefitted tens of thousands of girls, and its recently released report shows an organization willing to adapt to the circumstances to continue to ensure adolescent girls and young women receive meaningful sexual and reproductive health rights support.
The report titled Adolescent Empowerment at a scale: Successes and challenges of an evidence-based approach to young women’s programming in Africa was launched on Februa...
Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - February 22, 2023 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Naureen Hossain Tags: Africa Development & Aid Editors' Choice Education Featured Gender Headlines Health Human Rights Humanitarian Emergencies Population TerraViva United Nations BRAC IPS UN Bureau IPS UN Bureau Report Source Type: news
Pakistan ’s Free Healthcare Insurance Benefits Women, Poor
Universal Health Care priorities in Pakistan have been boosted by free healthcare insurance for the poor. Credit: Ashfaq Yusufzai/IPSBy Ashfaq YusufzaiPESHAWAR, Feb 22 2023 (IPS) A free health insurance initiative started in Pakistan has benefited poor patients, especially women who have outnumbered men in using the cashless health services under the Sehat Card Plus programme.
“The initiative is in line with the ICPD25 Programme of Action, under which 4.5 million people have received free services, with 62 percent of them women. In the last three years, we have been able to cut down maternal mortality rate from 186 d...
Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - February 22, 2023 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Ashfaq Yusufzai Tags: Asia-Pacific Development & Aid Featured Gender Headlines Health Humanitarian Emergencies Population TerraViva United Nations Women's Health IPS UN Bureau IPS UN Bureau Report Pakistan Source Type: news
Fear of Population Ageing
The ageing of populations poses mounting challenges for governments that will require changes in national policy priorities, country institutions and social arrangements. Credit: Maricel Sequeira/IPSBy Joseph ChamiePORTLAND, USA, Feb 21 2023 (IPS) Fear of population ageing is all over the news media and in government offices of country capitals worldwide. Planet Earth is becoming “planet ageing”.
Population ageing is being described as a demographic time bomb, a humanitarian crisis, a growing burden, a national security threat, ticking towards disaster, a significant risk to global prosperity, a silver tsunami, an unpr...
Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - February 21, 2023 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Joseph Chamie Tags: Global Headlines Health Labour Population TerraViva United Nations Source Type: news
Role of Regional Economic Cooperation in Inclusive Digital Transformation in Asia
Farmer using tablet to contact customer/ iStockBy Hsiao Chink Tang and Anne CortezBEIJING, The People’s Republic of China, Feb 21 2023 (IPS) Digitalization is a key driver of competitiveness and development. As the world takes the path to unprecedented digital advancement, Asia continues to be a powerhouse of digital transformations in a wide range of areas from microchip manufacturing to electric vehicles, from digital currency to e-commerce.
Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has accelerated digital transformations, but not all countries have benefitted equally. For example, rural farmers in the People’s Republic of Ch...
Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - February 21, 2023 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Hsiao Chink Tang and Anne Cortez Tags: Aid Asia-Pacific Climate Action COVID-19 Development & Aid Economy & Trade Energy Environment Food and Agriculture Global Green Economy Headlines TerraViva United Nations IPS UN Bureau Source Type: news
Driven by the War, Russian Women Arrive en Masse to Give Birth in Argentina
Two of the six Russian women who were detained by the Argentine immigration authorities when they reached the country on Feb. 8 and 9 sleep in the Buenos Aires airport. A federal judge ruled that they were placed in a situation of vulnerability and ordered that they be allowed to enter the country. CREDIT: TV CaptureBy Daniel GutmanBUENOS AIRES , Feb 16 2023 (IPS) They began to arrive en masse in Argentina in the second half of 2022, a few months after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. They are pregnant Russian women who land in the capital to give birth, with the hope of gaining an Argentine passport, given the fact that s...
Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - February 16, 2023 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Daniel Gutman Tags: Development & Aid Editors' Choice Europe Featured Gender Headlines Health Human Rights Human Trafficking Latin America & the Caribbean Migration & Refugees Regional Categories TerraViva United Nations Women's Health Argentina Source Type: news
World ’s Deadliest Earthquake Leaves over 33,000 Dead
“A child in North Syria passing by the ruins, after the earthquake hit his town.” - Credit: Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC)By Sania FarooquiNEW DELHI, India, Feb 13 2023 (IPS) Almost over 33,000 people have been killed and thousands injured by the 7.8 earthquake which struck south-eastern Turkey and Syria in the early hours on Monday, February 6th. The first images that came out were of collapsed buildings, rubble strewn across streets, people trapped under rubbles, screaming for help. What followed was the unusually strong aftershock – including one quake which was almost as large as the first.
Rawan Kahwaji wa...
Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - February 13, 2023 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Sania Farooqui Tags: Aid Featured Headlines Health Human Rights Humanitarian Emergencies Middle East & North Africa Migration & Refugees TerraViva United Nations IPS UN Bureau IPS UN Bureau Report Source Type: news
Food Industry Exposes Five Billion People to Toxic Chemicals that Kill
Industrially produced trans fat is responsible for up to 500,000 premature deaths from coronary heart disease each year, according to WHO. Credit: Shutterstock.By Baher KamalMADRID, Feb 10 2023 (IPS) The food industry continues to intensively use toxic chemicals in their products, some of them provoking heart diseases and death. Trans fat is just one of them, adding to contaminating fertilisers, pesticides, microplastics and a long etcetera.
“Trans fat is a toxic chemical that kills, and should have no place in food,” warns Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), informi...
Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - February 10, 2023 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Baher Kamal Tags: Food and Agriculture Global Headlines Health TerraViva United Nations Source Type: news
The Opioid Addiction Crisis & U.S. National Security
Methadone Maintenance Therapy is offered in Thailand to reduce harm for people dependent on injected opioids, like heroin. Credit: World Bank/Trinn Suwannapha
Opioids are a class of drugs that includes the illegal drug heroin as well as power pain relievers available by prescription, such as oxycodone (Oxycontin), hydrocodone (Vicodin), codeine, morphine, fentanyl, methadone, and many others.By Geetika Chandwani and Purnaka L. de SilvaNEW YORK, Feb 10 2023 (IPS) The opioid addiction crisis in the United States is an acute public health emergency and a profound threat to national security – which is caused by the...
Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - February 10, 2023 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Geetika Chandwani and Purnaka de Silva Tags: Crime & Justice Development & Aid Economy & Trade Featured Global Headlines Health Human Rights TerraViva United Nations IPS UN Bureau Source Type: news
Mental Health Must Be Addressed in Medical Facilities and in Communities
It is imperative to identify symptoms when they are present and provide timely care. Asking routine questions at primary care visits is an effective way to achieve this. Credit: Unsplash /Melanie Wasser. By Ifeanyi NsoforABUJA, Feb 9 2023 (IPS) Patients who visit public clinics in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, are asked mental health questions to detect signs of stress and depression early. The process starts with a basic checklist, with patients referred to a nurse, doctor, or specialist. Asking these questions at primary care not only can identify issues early on, but it also helps decrease the stigma often associated...
Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - February 9, 2023 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Ifeanyi Nsofor Tags: Africa Headlines Health TerraViva United Nations Source Type: news
How Covid-19 Proved an Opportunity for Youth in Small-Town India
Young people from small towns are now able to work close to home thanks to co-working spaces that opened up during the COVID-19 pandemic. Credit: Rina Mukherji/IPSBy Rina MukherjiPUNE, INDIA, Feb 8 2023 (IPS) While a 2017 study by the Confederation of Indian Industry Jones Lang LaSalle India and WeWork noted the potential in India’s co-working segment, it took COVID-19 for people to transition to co-working spaces close to home.
The study, Future of Work – The Co-working Revolution, which saw the potential market size of the co-working segment standing at 12-16 million, anticipated 400 million USD in investments by 201...
Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - February 8, 2023 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Rina Mukherji Tags: Asia-Pacific COVID-19 Featured Headlines TerraViva United Nations Trade & Investment India IPS UN Bureau IPS UN Bureau Report Source Type: news
In Latin America ’s Aging Population, 17 Percent Will Be Over 65 by 2050
Nelly García is 65 years old, and for 30 years she has been selling flowers at a market in Lima because she was unable to return to her profession as a nurse technician after taking a break from work to raise her children when they were young. She says sadly that “if the government does not care about children, it cares about us even less. They must think ‘let these old people die because they’re no good for anything anymore’.” CREDIT: Mariela Jara/IPSBy Mariela JaraLIMA, Feb 6 2023 (IPS) Latin America and the Caribbean is no longer a young region and it will be one of the regions with the largest aging populati...
Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - February 6, 2023 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Mariela Jara Tags: Development & Aid Economy & Trade Editors' Choice Featured Global Governance Headlines Health IPS UN: Inside the Glasshouse Labour Population birth rate demographic Peru United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Source Type: news
US Policies Slowing World Economy
By Jomo Kwame SundaramKUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, Feb 2 2023 (IPS) Few policymakers ever claim credit for causing stagnation and recessions. Yet, they do so all the time, justifying their actions by some supposedly higher purpose.
Now, that higher purpose is checking inflation as if it is the worst option for people today. Many supposed economists make up tall tales that inflation causes economic contraction which ordinary mortals do not know or understand.
Jomo Kwame SundaramInflating inflation’s significance
Since early 2022, like many others in the world, Americans have been preoccupied with inflation. But official US da...
Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - February 2, 2023 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Jomo Kwame Sundaram Tags: Armed Conflicts COVID-19 Development & Aid Economy & Trade Energy Financial Crisis Global Headlines Labour North America TerraViva United Nations IPS UN Bureau Source Type: news
Senior UN Leaders Show Their Support to Afghan Women and Girls, Urge Taliban to Reverse Their Bans
Women receive food rations at a food distribution site in Herat, Afghanistan. Credit: UNICEF/Sayed BidelBy Naureen HossainUNITED NATIONS, Jan 31 2023 (IPS) Recent visits to Afghanistan by senior-led UN delegations underscore the urgency to protect the rights of women and girls, including their access to humanitarian aid and their right to work.
The first delegation was led by Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed, who called for the Taliban to reverse its decisions that have limited women’s and girls’ rights.
The delegation, led on behalf of the Secretary-General, also included senior leaders from the UN; Executive D...
Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - January 31, 2023 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Naureen Hossain Tags: Education Gender Headlines Health Human Rights Middle East & North Africa TerraViva United Nations IPS UN Bureau IPS UN Bureau Report Source Type: news
“ I Was Blind, But Now I See ” – Celebrating Malawi’s Progress on World NTD Day
Vainesi, a former trachoma trichiasis patient, cheers in celebration knowing that trachoma has been eliminated in Malawi. Vainesi had suffered with the pain caused by trachoma for 10 years before a local disability mobiliser encouraged her to go to the hospital for treatment. By Lazarus McCarthy ChakweraLILONGWE, Jan 30 2023 (IPS) “I was blind, but now I see.” This is what Vainesi, from Salima District in Central Malawi, said after surgery to treat trachoma. A mother of three, Vainesi had been unable to work or provide for her family once the disease began to affect her eyesight.
Vainesi is one of millions of Malawians...
Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - January 30, 2023 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera Tags: Africa Development & Aid Headlines Health Poverty & SDGs Source Type: news
