Open Letter Urges U.N.’s Ban To Act On Girl Declaration August 16, 2013 News Summary In an open letter to U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, published in The Guardian’s “Global Development Professionals Network,” Havi Murungi from the market research company Havis and Sarah Waithera from the non-governmental organization (NGO) Carolina For Kibeira, write on behalf of girls in Liberia about gender-based violence and a lack…
IPS Interviews Cuba’s National Center For Sex Education Director At LAC Population Conference August 16, 2013 News Summary Inter Press Service correspondent Raúl Pierri interviews Mariela Castro, director of Cuba’s National Center for Sex Education (CENESEX) and a member of the high-level task force for the International Conference on Population and Development, during the Regional Conference on Population and Development in Latin America and the Caribbean, taking place…
U.K. Development Secretary Asks International Community To Fulfill Syrian Aid Commitments August 16, 2013 News Summary “Justine Greening, the U.K. international development secretary, has urged countries to fulfill their aid commitments to Syria as the country faces a humanitarian ‘crisis of catastrophic proportions,'” The Guardian reports. “[W]e’re all starting to take a longer-term view … at some point, we want to see Syria being rebuilt. We…
U.N. Appeals For Humanitarian Aid To Assist North Korea With Food, Health Care, Sanitation August 16, 2013 News Summary “U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon … on Thursday [welcomed an appeal] for funding to urgently provide food, health care and sanitation to millions of North Koreans, stressing that donors should not be deterred by the reclusive state’s nuclear ambitions,” Reuters reports (Nichols, 8/15). The U.N. “said $98 million is urgently needed…
IRIN Examines Gaps In Childhood Immunization Efforts In South Sudan August 16, 2013 News Summary “South Sudan is doing its bit for global polio eradication efforts, but huge gaps in immunization against other diseases remain,” IRIN reports. “Targeted polio immunization efforts started in the area more than a decade before the country’s independence in 2011 and have remained a top priority,” the news service writes,…
Innovations For Lower-Income Countries Developed Through Invention Need Implementation August 16, 2013 News Summary Nathan Myhrvold, head of Intellectual Ventures and former Microsoft chief technology officer, writes about invention — “an inherently risky thing” — in a Huffington Post “TED Weekends” opinion piece, stating, “We apply all of the same brain power and capabilities used in our for-profit invention work and focus them on…
Aid Workers In Somalia Struggle To Contain Polio Outbreak, U.N. Reports August 16, 2013 News Summary “Aid workers in war-torn Somalia are struggling to contain a dangerous outbreak of the crippling polio virus, with rampant insecurity hampering efforts, the United Nations said Friday,” Agence France-Presse/Fox News reports. “Six years after the Horn of Africa nation was declared free of the virus, at least 105 cases have…
Singapore Facing Record Dengue Outbreak August 16, 2013 News Summary “An unusually severe dengue epidemic in Singapore has claimed its fifth fatality this year, even as health officials try to beat back the city-state’s worst-ever outbreak of the tropical disease,” the Wall Street Journal’s “Southeast Asia Real Time” blog reports. “The death of a 52-year-old man Tuesday came despite signs…
EGPAF, Lesotho Ministry Of Health Launch Mobile Health Clinics August 16, 2013 News Summary “Last month, the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation (EGPAF) teamed up with the Lesotho Ministry of Health (MOH) to launch two mobile health care clinics that will provide HIV/AIDS and other health care services to residents in Lesotho’s rural communities,” Mapalesa Lemeke, an EGPAF communications officer based in Lesotho, writes…
WHO Report Addresses Mental Health In Emergency Situations August 16, 2013 News Summary “Humanitarian agencies work hard to help people with their mental health and psychosocial needs in the aftermath of emergencies, but too often opportunities are missed to strengthen mental health systems for the long-term, according to a new World Health Organization (WHO) report, ‘Building back better: Sustainable mental health care after…