AFRICA: Campaign to Unite Against Malaria Kicks Off

Saaleha Bamjee-Mayet

JOHANNESBURG, Dec 2 2009 (IPS) – Growing up in Cameroon, Joseph-Antoine Bell and his friends used to think that by playing football they could get rid of malaria.
Charles Ssali (r) and Joseph-Antoine Bell are two footballers supporting a campaign using sport to help fight malaria. Credit: Saaleha Bamjee-Mayet

Charles Ssali (r) and Joseph-Antoine Bell are two footballers supporting a campaign using sport to help fight malaria. Credit: Saaleha Bamjee-Mayet

Like showering and breathing, …

More U.N. States Quietly Say No to Drug War

A group of drug users in a Dhaka suburb. Credit: Shafiqul Alam Kiron, Map/IPS

UNITED NATIONS, Dec 7 2013 (IPS) – An internal United Nations draft document leaked last weekend has offered outsiders a rare look at longstanding disagreements between member states over the course of U.N. drug policy.

The document, first publicised by the Guardian and obtained by IPS, contains over 100 specific policy recommendations and proposals from member states, many at odds with the status quo on illicit drug eradication and prohibition.“Countries feel real pain. But they are being told they should strengthen interdiction.” — Guatemala’s U.N. Ambassador Gert Rosenthal

HIV Prevention is Failing Young South African Women

Gender inequalities drive the disproportionate rate of HIV infection among young South African women aged 15 to 24. Credit: Mercedes Sayagues/IPS

JOHANNESBURG, Dec 1 2014 (IPS) – When she found out that she had human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), Thabisile Mkhize (not her real name) was scared.

She knew little about the virus that had been living in her body since birth and did not know whom to ask. Her mother had just died and she lived with her grandmother in rural KwaZulu Natal, where the HIV prevalence is the , at 17 percent.

Today, at the age of 16,  Mkhize is an enthusiastic peer educator at her school,  discussing HIV prevention, safe sex and sexua…

The Adolescent Girl Holds the Key to Kenya’s Economic Transformation and Prosperity

is the United Nations Resident Coordinator to Kenya.

Dr Natalia Kanem, Chief of UNFPA, “We are steadfastly committed to our three goals: Zero preventable maternal deaths, zero unmet need for family planning, and the elimination of harmful practices including violence that affect women and girls”. Credit: UNFPA Tanzania

NAIROBI, Kenya, Dec 31 2018 (IPS) – Teenage pregnancy in Kenya is a .

The countdown to a New Year has begun. Can 2019 be a year of affirmative action to ensure hope and opportunity for Kenya’s adolescent girl?

Consider this. The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) says that when a young adolescent girl is not married during her childhood,…

India and Japan’s MPs Act Quickly to Implement Sexual and Reproductive Health Plans after ICPD25

Parliamentarians from India and Japan are already discussing how to implement plants on sexual and reproductive health and rights soon after the recent Nairobi Summit on International Conference on Population Development (ICPD25). Credit : Jaideep Hardikar/IPS

MBABANE , Jan 10 2020 (IPS) – Parliamentarians from India and Japan have hit the ground running by acting soon after the recent Nairobi Summit on International Conference on Population Development (ICPD25).

The three-day summit in the Kenyan capital – which was from Nov. 12 to 14 – concluded with partners from 180 countries making over 1,200 commitments towards fast-tracking the promise made in …

Leading in Time of COVID: A True Test of Leadership

Effective leadership, particularly in a time of crisis, is the key to restoring economic balance. There is still a ways to go for many regions and countries in combating COVID-19, but I am sure that leadership modeled after Jacinda Ardern and the critical actions above will go a long way in halting the pandemic where they are applied. With the right leadership at all levels, we can have a better and more resilient post pandemic world.

Aug 15 2020 (IPS) – In 1918, the Spanish Flu, a deadly influenza caused by the H1N1 virus, decimated the world. Over the course of four successive waves, it infected 500 million people, about a third of the world’s population at the time, …