Category: International
Members of a UN peacekeeping mission engaged in “transactional sex” with more than 225 Haitian women, according to a new report, which suggests that sexual exploitation remains significantly under-reported in such missions. The draft by the UN office of internal oversight services (OIOS) looks at the way UNpeacekeeping, which has about 125,000 people in some […]
Too many bright children from disadvantaged backgrounds fall by the wayside at secondary school despite achieving top results at primary level, according to analysis commissioned by the Sutton Trust. The trust said it identified the group of underachieving disadvantaged pupils as “missing talent” and found the group was less likely to take subjects such as […]
The humanitarian aid group Doctors Without Borders says it is launching a search and rescue operation in the Mediterranean next month amid faltering European Union efforts to cope with a migrant influx. The group will station doctors on a ship between Malta and the coast of Libya as the number of migrants making the crossing […]
A growing risk of outbreaks of measles, pertussis, and other vaccine-preventable diseases in countries affected by Ebola must be countered by urgent scaling up of routine immunization activities, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). “We are calling for the intensification of routine immunization services in all areas, and for mass measles vaccination campaigns in […]
Spotlighting the positive actions of women in planning and decision-making to make their communities safer before, during and after disasters strike, senior United Nations, Government and civil society representatives today emphasized that risk reduction efforts can never be fully effective or sustainable if the needs and voices of women are ignored. Among the dozens of […]
WHO today issued its first-ever guidance for the treatment of chronic hepatitis B, a viral infection which is spread through blood and body fluids, attacking the liver and resulting in an estimated 650 000 deaths each year – most of them in low- and middle-income countries. Worldwide, some 240 million people have chronic hepatitis B […]
A new WHO guideline recommends adults and children reduce their daily intake of free sugars to less than 10% of their total energy intake. A further reduction to below 5% or roughly 25 grams (6 teaspoons) per day would provide additional health benefits. Free sugars refer to monosaccharides (such as glucose, fructose) and disaccharides (such […]
Amnesty International has released its latest report on the state of human rights in 160 countries, warning that millions of people are subjected to grave human rights violation. The NGO accused the international community of not having done enough to protect civilians who have been killed, displaced, persecuted, abducted and tortured at the hands of […]
The World Health Organization on Thursday urged countries to invest billions of dollars to tackle 17 neglected tropical diseases — including dengue fever, leprosy and sleeping sickness — which kill 500,000 people globally each year. WHO said some 1.5 billion people across 149 countries are affected by the diseases, insisting additional investments would save lives, […]
Grief among the more than 16,000 children orphaned by the Ebola outbreak in West Africa runs deep, but most of them have been taken in by families thanks to the bonds of kinship that has proven stronger than stigma and fear associated with the disease, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said today. Andrew Brooks, speaking […]
