Category: Development

US withdrawal from Paris Agreement to take effect in November 2020 The United States announced on Monday that it was formally beginning the process of withdrawal from the historic Paris Agreement on climate change, signed by 193 countries in 2015. The UN Spokesperson’s Office issued a note to correspondents, in reaction to the notice of withdrawal, which came from US Secretary of State,… Read More

Speaking at a public event in Geneva, Dr Mike Ryan from the World Health Organization (WHO), said that in his 25-year humanitarian career, violence carried out deliberately against health workers and hospitals had never been so bad. The “overwhelming impact” had been on local health workers, not international staff, Dr Ryan told a Geneva Peace Week event, in his capacity… Read More

According to IOM, they were caught in the crossfire between two armed groups in Isebi, Morobo County, in South Sudan’s Central Equatoria region. The volunteers had been manning an Ebola virus screening point in border areas between South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo to prevent the spread of the deadly disease. It is understood that the four-year-old child… Read More

The campaign to end open defecation also raised awareness about the benefits of hand-washing., by © WSSCC/Hiroyuki Saito In this under-developed area, sanitation has hitherto been lacking. “Previously, the people did not have toilets, they did not see the necessity of having a proper place to defecate,” says Raju Prajad Sah, the local Chief Administrative Officer. He describes how open… Read More

The deadly viral disease is “very close” to disappearing altogether, with the number of affected children having dropped by 99 per cent since 1988, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) announced on World Polio Day, marked each 24 October, positioning the world closer than ever to its total eradication. Then: In 1988 the wild poliovirus existed in 125 countries.Now: In 2019 the wild… Read More

Lead exposure killed more than one million people in 2017, according to data cited by WHO, which is why the UN agency and partners are this week urging countries to take action to ban lead paint. “Lead has devastating consequences on our health and in particular on the health of our children, causing lifelong intellectual disabilities,” said Dr, Maria Neira,… Read More

The World Health Organization (WHO) convened its Emergency Committee on the disease which concluded with a call for sustained political commitment and continued cross-border screenings, among other recommendations. The outbreak began in August 2018 and there have been 3,114 confirmed cases and 2,123 deaths, according to latest figures. It is occurring in an area long affected by armed group activity,… Read More

Caused by the bacteria Mycobacterium tuberculosis, TB commonly causes persistent coughing, fatigue and weight loss. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) and its latest Global TB Report, around 10 million people developed TB in 2018 and three million sufferers “are not getting the care they need”. Countries where people suffer most are China, India, Indonesia, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines,… Read More

Obesity rates soar due to dramatic global diet shift, says UN food agency Eating food high in starch, sugar, fats and salt; combined with a sedentary lifestyle, is a recipe for soaring global obesity rates, even in countries where many still suffer from hunger. On World Food Day, on Wednesday, the UN’s food agency, FAO, called for action to make healthy, sustainable… Read More

The shift away from seasonal, mainly plant-based and fibre-rich food has occurred in recent decades, as a result of globalization, urbanization and growth in income, says FAO, as busy consumers in urban areas find less time to cook at home, and rely increasingly on fast-food outlets, street food vendors and take-away meals. This has led to a situation whereby almost… Read More