Gregory Chen is Managing Director of BRAC’s Ultra-Poor Graduation Initiative The Graduation approach’s impact goes well beyond that of the individual participant. Not only does the household greatly benefit from its various interventions, but now studies show subsequent generations are able to stay out of the poverty trap. (Rangpur, Bangladesh). Credit: BRAC/2021 WASHINGTON DC, Oct […]
Category: Wellness
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 […]
Population Growth is Not Good for People or the Planet
According to the United Nations, the world’s population is more than three times larger than it was in the mid-twentieth century. The global human population reached 8.0 billion in mid-November 2022 from an estimated 2.5 billion people in 1950, adding 1 billion people since 2010 and 2 billion since 1998. The world’s population is expected […]
Vulnerable Women Suffer the Worst Face of Discrimination in Argentina
“Migration is a right,” read the handkerchiefs held by two women at a demonstration in the Argentine capital for migrants’ rights. At left is Natividad Obeso, a Peruvian who came to Buenos Aires in 1994, fleeing political violence in her country. CREDIT: Camilo Flores / ACDH BUENOS AIRES, Jul 27 2023 (IPS) – Remi Cáceres […]
Pulses for a Sustainable Future
Zoltán Kálmán is Permanent Representative of Hungary to the Rome-based UN agencies (FAO, IFAD, WFP). He was President of the WFP Executive Board in 2018. ROME, Feb 10 2020 (IPS) – Reducing poverty and inequalities, eliminating hunger and all forms of malnutrition and achieve food security for all – these are some of the most […]
Africa’s Health Dilemma: Protecting People from COVID-19 While Four Times as Many Could Die of Malaria
Africa is grappling with managing diseases like malaria, HIV/AIDS, and tuberculosis as health systems that are unable to cope with both this and the coronavirus pandemic. Sleeping under a net and taking antimalarial pills helps prevent malaria. Credit: Mercedes Sayagues/IPS BULAWAYO, Zimbabwe, May 11 2020 (IPS) – Experts across Africa are warning that as hospitals […]
Train Faith Leaders to Tackle Africa’s Mental Health Needs
In countries like Malawi, there are simply not enough mental health professionals to go around. The local faith community can help fill this void. Credit: Unsplash /Melanie Wasser. BLANTYRE, Malawi, Oct 14 2020 (IPS) – The world is actually in the throes of two pandemics. The first is COVID-19. The second is the wave of […]
Protecting Mental Health of Families in a Pandemic
Credit: Unsplash /Melanie Wasser. ABUJA, Jan 22 2021 (IPS) – Dealing with COVID-19-related city lockdowns has been exceptionally stressful, particularly for those parents who have had to balance work, personal life, children and elderly, providing home schooling or facilitating virtual learning, managing infection control within the home, and more, all while being disconnected from support […]
Human Rights Must Be at the Heart of the COVID-19 Recovery
Credit: Defenders Coalition NAIROBI, Kenya, Dec 9 2020 (IPS) – On 10 December every year, we celebrate Human Rights Day, marking the anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The Universal Declaration guarantees a spectrum of human rights that belong to each of us equally, and unite us as a global […]
To Beat Covid, Beat HIV, & Beat Inequality, Find the Money
The writer is Executive Director of UNAIDS and Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations. A woman is vaccinated against COVID-19 in the indigenous community of Concordia, Colombia. Meanwhile, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres repeated his call for the G20 to establish a Task Force “able to deal with the pharmaceutical companies and other key stakeholders”, which would […]