After a 20-Month Lockdown, UN Plans to Return to Near-Normal by Mid-November

The United Nations, which suffered a pandemic lockdown over the last 20 months-- with most staffers tele-working from their homes-- is expected to return to near-normal, come November 15.

Combating Energy Poverty in Chile with Community Inclusion

More than 90 percent of Chile's 17.5 million people have access to electricity. But many live in energy poverty because they do not have access to hot water, have unsafe connections, houses without thermal insulation and with indoor pollution, or can't afford to pay the monthly bill.

COP26: Climate Emergency Includes Threat of ‘Nuclear Winter’

When world leaders gather in Scotland next week for the COP26 climate change conference, activists will be pushing for drastic action to end the world’s catastrophic reliance on fossil fuels.

COP26: the Heat is On, But Climate Leadership is Off, Warns UN Report

When over 100 political leaders meet in Scotland next week for the UN Climate Change Conference, the very future of our planet seems to hinge on the outcome of the summit which is scheduled to take place October 31-November 12.

COP26: The Roadmap Plotting the Way to a Historic Meeting – Or Not

The climate summit in Glasgow, Scotland, the most important since 2015, may go down in history as a milestone or as another exercise in frustration, depending on whether or not it resolves the thorny pending issues standing in the way of curbing global warming.

Mental Health Strategic Plan for Bangladesh: An Overview

Mental health and treating mental health conditions involves not only treating an individual’s ability to manage their thoughts, emotions, behaviors, and interactions with others, but also ensuring that the social, cultural, economic, political, and environmental conditions are in place through effective national policies, social protections, adequate living standards, working conditions, community social support, and a tiered system of care through a robust network of health services. In Bangladesh, the Mental Health Act 2018 and the National Mental Health Policy 2021 were developed with the above in mind.

Any End to This Suicidal War? (I) The Destruction of the Web of Life

Can yet another dispendious world gathering find a way to halt the ongoing suicidal war on Nature, which is leading to the destruction of all sources of life?

Education Cannot Wait Calls For Urgent Funding To Fulfill The Right To Education Of All Children And Youth In Afghanistan

Immediately following the first all-women UN mission to Afghanistan since takeover by the de facto authorities, Yasmine Sherif, Director of Education Cannot Wait - the United Nations global fund for education in emergencies and protracted crises - appealed to donors to significantly increase financial support for a robust collective humanitarian-development nexus response. This includes urgent scaled up funding to UN agencies and NGO partners delivering life-saving education to vulnerable children and adolescents on the ground.

COP26: Rich Nations Have Not Shown Leadership in Their Fair Share of Emission Cuts

It is well-known that all the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) added together, even those that have been updated, will not help to place the world on a 1.5 degree C pathway.

Education Cannot Wait Urges Urgent Action for World’s Biggest Humanitarian Crisis in Afghanistan

Education Cannot Wait Director Yasmine Sherif urged the world to support their efforts to provide education to children living in Afghanistan – in what she called the “biggest humanitarian crisis” on earth.

Climate Crisis Fuels Exodus to Mexico, Both Waystation and Destination

In September, 31-year-old Yesenia decided to leave her home on the outskirts of the northern Honduran city of San Pedro Sula, driven out by violence and the lack of water.

Mental Health Achievements in Bangladesh

Mental health is a state of well-being when both your body and your mind are in balance, and you are able to deal with the difficulties and challenges that come your way and easily find joy, peace, and happiness once the challenge is overcome. For many people though, the challenges often remain for too long - the pain of losing someone you dearly loved, being diagnosed with a chronic disease like cancer or a heart condition, losing your family/home/job or feeling like you failed to meet expectations. All those things and more can trigger so much intense stress and maladjustment, that if it goes unchecked and untreated, it may lead to a chronic disease, a mental health disorder. WHO defines health as “a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity”. The majority of people are able to cope and get back to life as normal, but for the many who cannot, they begin to experience intense detachment from reality (experiencing delusions, pervasive sadness, uncontrollable fears, intense anger and/or fantasies and hallucinations). For those individuals, there is limited help and treatment in every country in the world. Those who suffer from mental health disorders and the brave professionals who learn to treat them are chronically stigmatized, under-appreciated and under-paid.

Another Unenviable Annual Record for Global Greenhouse Gas Emissions

A few days before the international community gathers for COP26, widely considered the most important climate conference since the 2015 gathering which resulted in the Paris Climate Agreement, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO)  is reporting that despite global hits in trade and travel by the COVID-19 pandemic, the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere reached a new high in 2020.

Egypt Must End State Oppression of Women and Girls

The fate of Egyptian women and girls delicately hangs in the balance as the country continues to have one of the worst records in the world for gender equality. With oppression often state-sanctioned, Egyptian women face a daily struggle against sexual harassment and other violations of their basic human rights, including institutionalised violence.

Green Gold: Billion Dollar Question for Congo Rainforest

On the brink of an unprecedented environmental emergency, EU ambassadors to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) gathered earlier this month for a luxury river cruise hosted by the country’s Environment Minister, Eve Bazaiba.

COP26 Could Get Hot, but Southern African Region Needs it to be Cool and Committed

COP26 is almost upon us, and dire warnings abound that it’s boom or bust for a greener future. Meanwhile, everybody boasts about what they will do to cool down our planet, but there is a disjuncture between talk and action. Even Queen Elizabeth II of the host country, the United Kingdom, has grumbled publicly that not enough action is taking place on climate change.

Latin America Heads to Glasgow Climate Summit with Half-Empty Hands

Latin America and the Caribbean are heading to a new climate summit with a menu of insufficient measures to address the effects of the crisis, in the midst of the impact of the covid-19 pandemic.

Disarmament Week? But Hundreds of Nukes Can Be Launched Within Minutes

Hadn't it been so worrisome, it would be ironic to hear that humanity is to mark the World Disarmament Week (Oct 24 to 30, 2021) barely six months after learning that the world’s biggest military powers had spent last year some 2,000,000,000,000 US dollars on killing machines.

World’s Deadliest Malaria Parasite Dominance in Africa Could Be Over – Experts

One morning in 2016, Lillian Nekesa's 3-year-old woke up with flu-like classic symptoms of malaria. This was not Kevin's first encounter with the killer disease. Kevin was nonetheless not immediately rushed to Busia County Referral Hospital for advanced treatment in keeping with his severe symptoms.

COP26: Funding Innovation Crucial for Strengthening Climate-Stressed Food Systems

The global food system is facing more demands from society than ever before in modern times – and rightly so. From responding to the climate crisis to dealing with rising malnutrition and ensuring the sustainable use of natural resources and protection of biodiversity, the responsibility of our food systems is no longer just to “feed the world.”

For Girls, the Biggest Danger of Sexual Violence Lurks at Home

"During the pandemic, sexual violence against girls has grown because they have been confined with their abusers. If the home is not a safe place for them, what is then, the streets?" Mía Calderón, a young activist for sexual and reproductive rights in the capital of Peru, remarks with indignation.