Health & Well Being

Unprecedented Drought Emergency in the Horn of Africa

Catastrophic Consequences Feared

By J Nastranis

NEW YORK (IDN) — The United Nations has warned that the Horn of Africa is facing an unprecedented drought emergency, which will unleash catastrophic consequences. Communities in the region are in the midst of a likely fifth consecutive failed rainy season. They may face a sixth failed season in March-May 2023.

Across the Horn of Africa, at least 36.4 million people will be affected by the most prolonged and severe drought in recent history in the last months of 2022, including 24.1 million in Ethiopia, 7.8 million in Somalia and 4.5 million in Kenya.

: J Nastranis; THE WORLD; Horn of Africa; 26 December 2022

Photo: On 27 October 2022 in Puntland, Somalia, 1-year-old Aisha Mohamed is held by her mother, Isniino Ali, while being treated for severe acute malnutrition at Garowe General Hospital Stabilization Centre. Credit: UNICEF/UN0750315/Ekpu VII Photo

More Than 20 Million Children Suffering in The Horn of Africa

UNICEF Warns of Funding Shortfall in The Face of Drought

By Devendra Kamarajan

NAIROBI (IDN) — UN Children's Agency UNICEF has urged the international community to "commit to responding now for what might hit the Horn of Africa" in 2023, "and in the years to come".

UNICEF Deputy Regional Director for Eastern and Southern Africa Lieke van de Weil said on December 22: “We need a global effort to mobilize resources urgently to reduce further devastating and irreversible damage to children in the Horn of Africa. We must act now to save children’s lives, preserve their dignity and protect their futures.”

: Devendra Kamarajan; THE WORLD; Horn of Africa; 25 December 2022

Photo: Migrant workers dig into a field in Doha, Qatar (© ILO).

Western Hypocrisy Overshadows the Epic Qatar Match

Viewpoint by Azu Ishiekwene

The writer is the Managing Director/Editor-in-Chief of LEADERSHIP newspaper based in Abuja, Nigeria.

ABUJA (IDN) — The shenanigans were always there, but until FIFA president Infantino Giovanni called them out in his down-to-earth press conference in Qatar, they remained the elephant in the room.

The hint of displeasure goes back 12 years ago when Qatar won the bid, defeating Australia, Japan, South Korea and the United States. That outcome was unexpected.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 22 December 2022

Photo: Community Health Workers in Kenya. Credit: Brian-Otieno

Advocating for Gender Equality in Universal Health Coverage

By Roopa Dhatt & Samiratou Ouedraogo

Roopa Dhatt is Executive Director and Co-Founder of Women in Global Health. Samiratou Ouedraogo is the Coordinator and Co-Founder of Women in Global Health, Francophone West Africa, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.

WASHINGTON DC (IDN) — If there was a Harvey Weinstein in health, we probably wouldn’t know about it. Not because sexual harassment in the health workforce isn’t widespread—we know that it is and not because women don’t want to report their experiences of sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment (SEAH) at work—we know that they do; but because across much of the world’s health systems, there are simply no feasible reporting or legal mechanisms in place that women health workers can use with confidence.

: Opinion Editor; SUSTAINABILITY; Health & Well Being; 21 December 2022

COVID-19 Enables Rise in OECD Development Aid

By Robert Johnson

PARIS (IDN) — Though ODA-official development assistance from members of the OECD’s DAC-Development Assistance Committee rose to a new high last year, it amounted to the equivalent of only 0.33 per cent of their combined GNI-gross national income, thus falling short of a United Nations goal to reach an ODA/GNI ratio of 0.7%.

The biggest ODA givers by volume in 2021 were the United States (USD 47.8 billion), Germany (USD 33.3 billion), Japan (USD 17.6 billion), the United Kingdom (USD 15.7 billion), and France (USD 15.5 billion).

: Robert Johnson; SUSTAINABILITY; Health & Well Being; 20 December 2022

Image: The revolution will not be televised. Source: Wuhan Art Museum.

China: From A Health Crisis to A Political Crisis?

By Jan Servaes*

BRUSSELS (IDN) — After nearly three years of fighting Covid-19 tooth and nail with a so-called 'zero-Covid' policy and denouncing Western countries for choosing to live with the virus at the cost of millions of lives, China's rhetoric seems to be moving in a more nuanced direction.

The current number of 5,235 Covid-related 'official' deaths in China is a small fraction of the population of 1.4 billion and, to global benchmarks, extremely low.

: UN Bureau; COVID-19; 12 December 2022

UNCTAD: This Time is Indifferent

Viewpoint by Alexander Kozul-Wright*

The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) hosted its biennial debt management conference on December 5-7. The forum brought together governments, international organizations and academia to share views on the current debt landscape in developing countries.

LONDON (IDN) — Covid-19 shuddered the world economy to a halt, and the impact on developing countries was particularly severe. A combination of informal working conditions, underfunded healthcare systems and limited fiscal space constrained policy responses to the virus. By the end of 2020, sharp falls in export earnings and remittance inflows had pushed tens of low-income countries to the economic brink.

: UN Bureau; OPINION; 10 December 2022

Photo: A view of Wiyumiririe town in Laikipia County

Kenya Prides in Progress Towards Attainment of Development Goals

By Joseph Maina

NAIROBI (IDN) — Seven years after the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in 2015, Kenya has made significant strides towards the realisation of the SDGs. Official sources cite “remarkable progress” made towards achieving the goals. SDGs and other development initiatives are well anchored in its long-term development blueprint dubbed Vision 2030, as well as a robust constitutional framework under the Constitution of Kenya 2010 that has a strong Bill of Rights and principles that are good drivers of Agenda 2030.

: Africa & ME Editor; THE WORLD; Africa; 08 December 2022

Image: Collage of images from platforms #HealthToo and Surviving in Scrubs.

Health Workers Protect Us, but Who Protects Them?

By Dr Roopa Dhatt and Dr Becky Cox*

WASHINGTON DC | OXFORD (IDN) — The pandemic generated waves of applause for frontline health workers, 90 per cent of whom are women, but some others continued to behave in a more sinister way. Our two organisations received reports of increased issues around protection and safety and some of it related to sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment (SEAH). But when we looked for the data to see the scale, little had been formally collected.

: UN Bureau; SUSTAINABILITY; Health & Well Being; 07 December 2022

Image: Refugees arrive at a 'temporary' camp. Source: University of Birmingham.

Climate Change Threatens the Health of Refugees in Camps

By Jaya Ramachandran

GENEVA | LONDON (IDN) — Climate uncertainty is creating health threats for thousands of migrants as overcrowding and pollution place huge stresses on humanitarian organisations’ ability to provide sanctuary in refugee camps, a new study reveals.

Locating camps in disaster-prone or climate hotspot areas increases their vulnerability and, coupled with stress from overcrowding that increases pressure on water, sanitation, and hygiene resilience (WaSH), leads to the overexploitation of resources.