The Republic of Congo received just over 300,000 doses of the COVID vaccines through the COVAX Facility in August 2021. The international COVAX initiative aimed at guaranteeing global access to the vaccines, recently announced that it was being forced to slash planned deliveries to Africa, by around 150 million doses this year. The scheme is now expected to deliver 470 million doses through the end of December. These will be enough to protect just 17 per cent of the continent, far below the 40 per cent target, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Credit: UNICEF/Aimable Twiringiyima

MANOA, Hawaii / TAIPEI, Taiwan, Dec 6 2021 (IPS) – Many countries around the …

The employment outlook for women in Latin America continues to face obstacles before it can reach pre-COVID-19 levels. But a sustainable and inclusive recovery will require measures to close the gender gaps that already affected employment of women in the region before the pandemic. CREDIT: Mariela Jara/IPS

LIMA, Mar 3 2022 (IPS) – The COVID-19 pandemic did not hit everyone equal…

Credit: Office of New York City Mayor

NEW YORK, May 22 2022 (IPS) – A fifth wave of a new Covid 19 variant BA.2, followed by a surge in infections, is threatening to undermine the safety of New York city (NYC) which was gradually returning to normal after a prolonged pandemic shutdown. As a result, the City went on “high Covid alert.”

But NYC Mayor Eric Adams has assured New Yorkers he will not bring back mask and vaccine mandates in work places, shopping malls, restaurants and Broadway theaters. Instead, he said he will focus on anti-virus treatment and home-testing.

Briefing reporters at a press conference, he said “I think the reason we a…

Gregory Chen is Managing Director of BRAC’s Ultra-Poor Graduation Initiative

The Graduation approach’s impact goes well beyond that of the individual participant. Not only does the household greatly benefit from its various interventions, but now studies show subsequent generations are able to stay out of the poverty trap. (Rangpur, Bangladesh). Credit: BRAC/2021

WASHINGTON DC, Oct 10 2022 (IPS) – As we approach 2030, the Sustainable Development Goals look harder than ever to achieve. Shocks to the global economy caused by climate change, COVID-19, and conflict . For the most vulnerable, trends are moving in the wrong direction with an additional 75 to 95 mil…

NEW YORK, Sep 2 2022 (IPS) – As we approach this year’s , global leaders can and must prioritize expertise and mobilize political will to support efforts to ensure inclusive and quality education for all, especially girls. This is at the heart of in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, as well as the commitments made in the and the .

Helen Grant

Despite the progress made in recent decades, gender inequality between girls and boys, in all their diversity, is deepening. According to a recent United Nations , the interlinked crises: of armed conflicts, climate change and COVID-19 are putting the 2030 Agenda in “grave danger, along with humanity’s v…

An activist during COP27 in Egypt. Credit: Oliver Kornblihtt / Mídia NINJA

BRUSSELS, Jan 25 2023 (IPS) – In 2022, Saudi Arabia “quietly” to 34 years in prison over her Twitter activity, marking the longest Saudi sentence ever for a peaceful activist. Fast forward and award-winning Ugandan author Kakwenza Rukirabashaija was charged with two after making unflattering remarks about the president and his son on Twitter. The message is clear: your well-crafted 280 characters can land you in jail.

But what if, not only your online expressions could put you behind bars, but that the internet, today’s window to the rest of the world shuts down? …

Emina Cerimovic is a senior disability rights researcher at Human Rights Watch.

Shahd, a 12-year-old girl with a hearing disability, stands in front of a window facing her father, in the house her family live in, Azaz, Aleppo, Syria. Credit: Human Rights Watch.

NEW YORK, Feb 28 2023 (IPS) – A few days ago, I saw a shared to Twitter of Sham, a young Syrian girl rescued from under the rubble in northwest Syria, sitting upright in her hospital bed, According to the Syrian Civil Defense, a volunteer humanitarian group also known as the White Helmets, Sham will lose both her legs because of injuries from the quake.

Looking at her photo, I couldn’…

A nurse walks into a hospital ward in Janakpur in Dhanusha District in southern Nepal. Credit: UNICEF/Rupadhayay

WASHINGTON DC / NEW YORK, Apr 7 2023 (IPS) – As World Health Worker Week draws to a close on April 7, health organizations from around the world have been celebrating women’s vital role in the health workforce and sharing stories about the enormous value they bring to all areas of health and care.

But platitudes are not enough. It’s time for global health leaders to step up and turn these words into action.

Globally, women make up almost 70% of the global health workforce and 90% of the frontline health workforce, contributing over each year.…

Young children and infants are particularly sensitive to the harmful effects of lead. Current statistics suggest that approximately one in three children worldwide have elevated blood lead levels. Credit: Eva Bartlett/IPS

CHAPEL HILL, NC, US, May 23 2023 (IPS) – …

A transgender person participates in health services provided by the Khmer HIV/AIDS NGO Alliance (KHANA) in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, December 2019. Credit: UNAIDS

BRATISLAVA, Jul 14 2023 (IPS) – A report released this week has highlighted how continuing criminalisation and marginalisation of key populations are stymying efforts to end the global HIV/AIDS epidemic.

The , entitled ‘The Path that Ends AIDS’, says that ending AIDS is a political and financial choice, and that in countries where HIV responses ha…