Young women in Sub-Saharan Africa are more than twice as likely to become HIV positive as young men. Credit: Nastasya Tay/IPS
UNITED NATIONS, Jun 2 2016 (IPS) – When Lebogang Brenda Motsumi was 16 years old she fell pregnant, terrified about what her life would look like, she went to a backdoor clinic for an abortion.
The abortion failed, and she gave birth to a baby who later passed on.
Motsumi knew that she needed to be more careful so she went to a health clinic to get contraception and learn about prevention.
“Instead of supporting me the nurse interrogated me about why I was having sex, this discouraged me from ever goi…
Women wait to immunize their children at the Kisugu Health Centre in Kampala, Uganda, where free vaccinations take place. The nurse in the foreground is Betty Makakeeto. Credit: Amy Fallon/IPS
KAMPALA, Jun 29 2016 (IPS) – Patience*, a Ugandan maid, planned on taking her three-year-old son for polio immunization during the country’s mass campaigns a year ago, until her landlord’s wife told her a shocking myth.
“The medicine they are injecting them with means the boy whe…
Martin Khor is Executive Director of the South Centre, a think tank for developing countries, based in Geneva.
Panoramic view of a neighbourhood in southern Mexico City, with buildings semi-hidden by air pollution. Credit: Emilio Godoy/IPS
PENANG, Nov 14 2016 (IPS) – As evidence mounts on the threats posed by air pollution to both human health and the environment, action must be urgently taken to address this problem.
At the global level, the Paris Agreement that came into force on 10 November aims to get countries to signifi…
There is still need for better educational opportunities, housing, medical care, and everything that is extended to other citizens in the Caribbean. Credit: Bigstock
PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, Mar 23 2017 (IPS) – Visually impaired Kerryn Gunness is excited about the possibilities offered by a new free app that would serve as his eyes and enable people like him to enjoy greater independence.
The Personal Universal Communicator (PUC) app is part of a new generation of cheaper assistive technolo…
Dr. Hanif Hassan Al Qassim, is Chairman of the Geneva Centre for Human Rights Advancement and Global Dialogue
GENEVA, Jun 4 2017 (IPS) – On 20 February 1997, the United Nations General Assembly adopted Resolution 51/77 to promote the rights of children. This Resolution was considered a milestone in promoting and advancing the right of children in conflict and wars.
Dr. Hanif Hassan Al Qassim
The resolution was also seen as a further acknowledgement of the growing number of States that had signed and ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child that entered into force on 2 September 1990. To this day only one State has …
A view of the Zaatari Refugee Camp in Jordan, where nearly 80,000 Syrian refugees are living. Credit: UN Photo/Sahem Rababah
UNITED NATIONS, Aug 1 2017 (IPS) – Jordan’s Zaatari camp, which opened in 2012 as a makeshift camp to house Syrian refugees fleeing the war, marked its fifth year on June 28.
The camp was opened by the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) and the United Nations (UN) to cope with the humanitarian crisis in Syria—which has recorded the world’s refugee movement since WWII—with a clear goal to house refugees temporarily.
Between then and today, more than 80,000 Syrian refugees have settled in the camp, making it the world’s largest Syrian refugee…
UNITED NATIONS, Nov 13 2017 (IPS) – A vibrant global campaign to ban the use of mercury in dentistry is shifting direction: moving from Europe to the developing world.
Charlie Brown, Attorney President of the World Alliance for Mercury-Free Dentistry, an organization which is spearheading the campaign, told African and Asian delegates at a meeting in Geneva late September: When you return to your home countries, please do as the European Union has done: phase out amalgam for children now, for one simple reason: The children of your nation are equally important as the children of Europe.
President of World Alliance for Mercury-Free Dentistry, Charlie Brown (2nd right), Do…
Children from rural areas and disempowered homes are ideal targets for trafficking in India and elsewhere. Credit: Neeta Lal / IPS
UNITED NATIONS, Feb 21 2018 (IPS) – A new initiative aims to use data to shed light on a pervasive multi-billion dollar criminal industry: human trafficking.
Created by the International Organization for Migration and Polaris, the Counter-Trafficking Data Collaborative (CTDC) is the world’s first human trafficking data portal.
It collects data from various counter-trafficking organizations around the world in order to help stakeholders identify and respond to trends.
“We are really just starting to see the b…
Africa has been transformed from a net food exporter into a net food importer, while realizing only a small fraction of its vast agricultural potential. Credit: Busani Bafana/IPS
KUALA LUMPUR AND SYDNEY, May 21 2018 (IPS) – Agriculture is critical for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). As the Food and Agriculture Organization () notes, ‘From ending poverty and hunger to responding to climate change and sustaining our natural re…
Fruit and vegetable prices in South Africa have increased to the point that poorer people have had to remove them from their grocery lists. Credit: Nalisha Adams/IPS
JOHANNESBURG, Aug 10 2018 (IPS) – Every Sunday afternoon, Thembi Majola* cooks a meal of chicken and rice for her mother and herself in their home in Alexandra, an informal settlement adjacent to South Africa’s wealthy economic hub, Sandton.
“Vegetables is only on Sunday,” Majola tells IPS, adding that these constitute potatoes, sweet potato and pum…