Health & Well Being

Countries Around the World Are Still Ill-Prepared to Deal with Multiple Overlapping Crises

Viewpoint by Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana

Ms. Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana is the United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and Pacific (ESCAP).

BANGKOK (IDN) — Over the past two decades, the Asia-Pacific region has made remarkable progress in managing disaster risk. But countries can never let down their guard. The COVID-19 pandemic, with its epicentre now in Asia, and all its tragic consequences, has exposed the frailties of human societies in the face of powerful natural forces. As of mid-August 2021, Asian and Pacific countries had reported 65 million confirmed coronavirus cases and more than 1 million deaths.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 25 August 2021

Photo: Members of the disabled community play a game of football in Kayunga District, Uganda. UNICEF/Rebecca Vassie

Paralympics: An Incredible Medium to Create Awareness of the Disabled

Viewpoint by Simone Galimberti

Simone Galimberti is Author and Co-Founder of ENGAGE, a not-for-profit NGO in Nepal. He writes on volunteerism, social inclusion, youth development and regional integration as an engine to improve people’s lives.

KATHMANDU, Nepal (IDN) — Once again the limelight will be back on Tokyo as the city is hosting the Paralympics Games, another carnival of sports with the participation of about 4400 athletes from 160 countries and territories.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 24 August 2021

Photo: Hidilyn Diaz with her gold medal in Tokyo Olympics 2020. Source: Wikimedia Commons.

Filipino Medal Winners at Tokyo Olympics Show Sports Could Empower The “Economically Disabled”

By Kalinga Seneviratne

SYDNEY (IDN) — As the Paralympics begin in Tokyo—a celebration of the athletics prowess of the “differently-abled”—it will be appropriate to look at how the Tokyo Olympic Games that concluded on August 8 empowered the “economically disabled” athletes from the Philippines—a Southeast Asian country not well-known for its sporting prowess except for the legendary boxer Manny Pacquiao, whose own story is a great rag to riches one.

: Kalinga Seneviratne; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 22 August 2021

Top Photo: San Jose, Batangas (22 January 2020) —An evacuation centre in San Jose, Batangas where over 700 families are staying due to the continued eruption of Taal Volcano. The Philippines is one of the world’s most disaster-prone countries. Photo credit: OCHA/P. Peron

The Human Race Against the Climate Crisis Clock

By Kirsten Mildren

The writer is Head of Campaigns & Advocacy, UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

NEW YORK (IDN) — On 19 August 2003, a bomb attack on the Canal Hotel in Baghdad, Iraq, killed 22 humanitarian aid workers, including the UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Iraq, Sergio Vieira de Mello. Five years later, the General Assembly adopted a resolution designating 19 August as World Humanitarian Day.

: UN Bureau; OPINION; 21 August 2021

Development Banks Must Prioritize Childcare to Improve Women’s Economic Standing During and After COVID-19

Viewpoint by Megan O’Donnell

Megan O’Donnell leads the Center for Global Development’s COVID-19 Gender and Development Initiative, which aims to promote gender equality and long-term prosperity in low- and middle-income countries by informing global and national decision-makers’ policy responses to the current pandemic and future crises.

WASHINGTON DC (IDN) — Lack of access to quality childcare has been a longstanding issue, especially in low- and middle-income countries, with consequences for children’s and caregivers’ well-being and countries’ overall development.

: UN Bureau; OPINION; 20 August 2021

Photo: Health workers. Source: WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean.

The People of Afghanistan Need Support & Solidarity, Says WHO

By Bernhard Schell

CAIRO, Egypt (IDN) — The World Health Organization (WHO) is committed to staying in Afghanistan and delivering critical health services, says Dr Ahmed Al-Mandhari, WHO Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean, and is calling on all parties to respect and protect civilians, health workers, patients and health facilities. "During this difficult time, the well-being of all civilians—as well as the safety and security of our staff—in Afghanistan is paramount," he adds.

: Bernhard Schell; THE WORLD; South Asia; 18 August 2021

Photo: South Sudanese refugee, Yiech Pur Biel, runs the 800-metres for the Refugee Olympic Team in Rio. (August 2016) © UNHCR/Benjamin Loyseau

Leading Athletes Stress the Role of Sport in Building a Better World for All

By J Nastranis

NEW YORK (IDN) — The United Nations is convinced that sport promotes values such as diversity, tolerance and respect and contributes to the empowerment of women and young people, individuals and communities, as well as to health, education and social inclusion objectives. With this in view, the UN Department of Global Communication's office at the country level has initiated SDG Zone at Tokyo, titled "Teaming Up through Sport to Advance the SDGs".

: J Nastranis; SUSTAINABILITY; Health & Well Being; 15 August 2021

ALCAP To Initiate 'Dialogues for Development' With ESIC Medical College, Hyderabad

By Niba Mirza*

HYDERABAD (IDN) — The COVID-19 pandemic has completely upended and transformed the world we live in. It has caused many disruptions and posed serious threats to lives and livelihoods universally. Organizations and societies have responded and coped with the pandemic differently and innovated at various levels to deal with COVID-19.

These innovations include social innovations, communications innovations, business innovations, medical innovations, financial innovations and other innovations which help us better prepare for the next normal.

: Asia Editor; SUSTAINABILITY; Health & Well Being; 11 August 2021

Photo: Dr. John Nkengasong. Credit: Africa CDC

Vaccine Saved My Life, Says Head of Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

By Lisa Vives

NEW YORK (IDN) — One thing the head of the agency leading Africa's response to the coronavirus pandemic is sure of. He owes his life to the vaccine that beat the virus.

"I want to be very clear that without [the vaccine] I wouldn't be here," said Dr. John Nkengasong at a weekly briefing announcing the deployment of recently acquired doses.

: SUSTAINABILITY; Health & Well Being; 09 August 2021

Photo: Ms. Shefali Ghosh from Savar, near Dhaka, teaches her daugher in the kitchen. Credit: The World Bank

Affordable Clean Cooking Technology Important To Achieving Sustainable Energy Access

By Kalinga Seneviratne

SYDNEY (IDN) — In the Asia-Pacific region which is home to about 60 percent of the global population, some 1.6 billion people primarily rely on open fires or simple stoves fueled by kerosene, coal, or biomass such as wood, dung and agricultural residues for their daily cooking needs, that impacts on climatic change and health hazards.