Parched olive groves in northern Croatia, where West Nile Virus has already claimed one victim this year. West Nile Virus infections have sharply increased in Europe this year, the World Health Organisation says, largely due to a longer transmission season in the region which this year saw high temperatures and extended rainy spells followed by dry weather, helping mosquito breeding and propagation. Credit: Ed Holt/IPS
VIENNA, Sep 13 2018 (IPS) – Climate change and health experts are warning of the growing threat to public health in Europe from global warming as rising temperatures help potentially lethal diseases spread easily across the continent.
…
STOCKHOLM / ROME, Feb 4 2019 (IPS) – Is there a connection between sex education, gender equality and promiscuity? On this website, Fabiana Fraysinnet recently denounced a Brazilian crusade against sex education conducted by conservative and religious sectors. Such initiatives are common in several other countries, where politicians and religious leaders accuse sexual education of blurring boundaries between male and female and thus foment homosexuality and transsexualism, as well as a moral relativism undermining family structures and adherence to religious guidance and dogma.
An opposite position is reflected by the personal motto of the Norwegian-Swedish journalist and sociali…
And it really doesn’t matter if I’m wrong, or I’m right.
Where I belong I’m right,
where I belong.
The Beatles: Fixing a hole
Minik, New York 1897.
STOCKHOLM / ROME, Jun 3 2019 (IPS) – There are several means to make profitable use of other human beings, an endeavour that tends to turn others into tools by depriving them of their roots and self-respect. This happened in concentration and work camps, where individuals were reduced to mere numbers.
Another form of objectification of fellow human beings has been to gain money by exhibiting them to paying audiences. The fate of Ota Benga is an example of this. He was a Mbuti man who…
Sep 20 2019 – Women Deliver President/CEO Katja Iversen discusses women in leadership and links between sexual and reproductive health and rights and Universal Health Coverage (UHC) to advance gender equality with the first female President of Ethiopia, Sahle-Work Zewde.
Katja Iversen: You have had a remarkable career, breaking down barriers as the first woman to hold several and now as President of Ethiopia. How did you find the strength, the power, and the resilience to pursue this pathway to change?
President Sahle-Work Zewde: For me strength, resilience and power are all learned and accumulated over time. The more you know about yourself, excel at th…
Farhana Haque Rahman is Senior Vice President of IPS Inter Press Service; a journalist and communications expert, she is a former senior official of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization and the International Fund for Agricultural Development.
Nature is declining globally at rates unprecedented and the rate of species extinctions is accelerating. Credit: UN
ROME, Nov 19 2019 (IPS) – Mottled and reddish, the Lake Oku puddle frog has made its tragic debut on the , a rapidly expanding roll call of threatened species. It was once abundant in the Kilum-Ijim rainforest of Cameroon but has not been seen since 2010 and is now listed as critically endangered and pos…
The Government of Kenya and the UN Kenya team with their hosts on the roof of the LinkedIn HQ in San Francisco on 21 Jan 2019. Credit: UN
NAIROBI, Kenya, Jan 29 2020 (IPS) – One year ago, the UN began implementing reforms meant to make it more effective in delivering on sustainable development. Now, with the start of 2020, the global body has declared this as the decade of action to turn the ambitious Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) into a living reality for all humanity. But what does this look like, on the ground?
In countries like Kenya, there is widespread belief that the traditional approaches to economic growth are not enough to achieve the SDGs.…
The United Nations Country team in Kenya hosted a meeting on responding to the COVID 19 pandemic with the Government of Kenya and development partners observing social distancing etiquette. Credit: UNIC Kenya
NAIROBI, Kenya, Mar 20 2020 – The Government of Kenya, United Nations and International Community convened today at the UN Complex in Nairobi to combine their forces in their fight against the COVID-19 pandemic in Kenya.
The United Nations Country Team in Kenya is in lockstep with the UN Secretary General’s call to action and it continues to mobilize full support to the Government of Kenya in its fight against the virus on all fronts.
…
NEW YORK, May 4 2020 (IPS) – How many COVID-19 deaths will occur before a vaccine becomes available worldwide? As with many seemingly simple questions about an uncertain future, the proper answer to that important query is: “it depends”.
The total worldwide number of deaths from COVID-19 before a vaccine, reported to be nearly at the end of April and amounting to a since the start of April, is . It depends on a host of critical factors, many of which are not well understood and are changing rapi…
AMSTERDAM/ROME, Apr 6 2020 (IPS) – What is likely to be the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on developing economies? we looked at possible short term disruptions and discussed actions by the private sector and Governments.
These included mobilizing available public resources to augment what private citizens are doing to help the poor and vulnerable; working on some of the national macro-economic levers to sustain businesses; and discussing with international creditors about cancelling or rescheduling repayments, of some…
Credit: Gopen Rai/NEPALI TIMES ARCHIVE
Apr 26 2020 (IPS) – The number of Nepalis suffering from mental health issues is increasing with the prolonged COVID-19 lockdown, and the lack of treatment and counselling means the country may be facing an epidemic of psychosocial disorders.
Mental health is a in Nepal because of social stigma, with showing that a shocking 37% of the population suffered from some form of mental health problem.
“During a time of a disaster or an epidemic, anxiety disorder, phobia, obsessive compulsive tendencies and depressive thought…