Traveling man: the Goodwill Ambassador shares a joke with two residents of a leprosarium in Krantau, Uzbekistan during a visit in 2013.
May 29 2020 –
Warm greetings from Sasakawa Health Foundation in Tokyo.
The 100th Issue of the WHO Goodwill Ambassador’s Newsletter has been published. Read special interviews with the Goodwill Ambassador and the UN Special Rapporteur on leprosy, and check out the Timeline of all that has happened since the first issue.
My Journey Continues
I started this newsletter in April 2003 to share information about the fight against leprosy. This marks the 100th issue. Over the years I have reported my views…
High school student in eastern India, studies a leaflet on menstrual hygiene. Credit: Stella Paul/IPS
HARARE, Jun 12 2020 (IPS) – An all-male panel assembled to discuss menstrual health on sparked on social media and a flurry of memes of all-female panels discussing male issues.
But the social media spat should not divert attention from the issues the day tries to raise in order to break menstrual taboos and raise awareness about the importance of menstrual health and hygiene management for women and adolesc…
Jul 9 2020 (IPS) – The COVID-19 pandemic is devastating labor markets across the world. Tens of millions of workers lost their jobs, millions more out of the labor force altogether, and many occupations face an uncertain future. Social distancing measures threaten jobs requiring physical presence at the workplace or face-to-face interactions. Those unable to work remotely, unless deemed essential, face a significantly higher risk of reductions in hours or pay, temporary furloughs, or permanent layoffs. What types of jobs and workers are most at risk? Not surprisingly, the costs have fallen most heavily on those who are least able to bear them: the poor and the young in …
Kalpana Nagari and Kalawati Auji from Godavari Municipality who face double discrimination from society for being Dalit and because their relatives tested positive for COVID-19 after returning from India. Credit: UNNATI CHAUDHARY
KAILALI, Nepal, Aug 14 2020 (IPS) – Across Nepal, it is the already under-served and vulnerable who have been affected by the prolonged lockdowns. But it is the Dalit returnees from India who have tested positive and their families who face double discrimination.
The Ministry of Health issues a daily tally of COVID-19 cases, bu…
Oct 5 2020 – As COVID-19 shapes and re-shapes the “new normal” in the Pacific, organic food and products will be a key to community adaptation and resiliency in the region’s economies and livelihoods, with the opportunity to advance a more inclusive gender and people centred approach.
The POETCom initiative, under the SPC’s Land Resources Division, has recognized this by taking the next step in its Building Prosperity for Women Producers, Processors, and Women Owned Businesses through Organic Value Chains (BPWP) project, a collaboration with the Australian Government. The project seeks to empower women for greater access to sustainable livelihoods t…
With upwards of 200 separate pieces of labour legislation, there is no strict definition in India of ‘labour laws’ to draw any boundaries. | Picture courtesy: Nayantara Parikh
DELHI, India, Nov 13 2020 (IPS) – Back in May 2019, we were visitin…
Daniel Kopp of International Politics and Society* (IPS) interviews Cristián Samper, President and CEO of the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS).
The World Health Organization (WHO) is working closely with global experts, governments and partners to rapidly expand scientific knowledge on this new virus, to track the spread and virulence of the virus, and to provide advice to countries and individuals on measures to protect health and prevent the spread of this outbreak. Credit: WHO
NEW YORK, Dec 23 2020 (IPS) – Cristián Samper is working for the Wildlife Conservation Society, an organization that concerns itself with the health of wildlife all over the globe…
MEXICO CITY, Feb 4 2021 (IPS) – All of Erizo s nightmares are the same. Since his return from the ocean almost unrecognizable every bad dream is identical. A wave punches his little boat and throws him into the deep sea where everything is so dark that he can t even see his own hands.
Rosi Orozco
Even when he swam with all his energy, this 31 year old fisherman was never able to set foot on the mainland and to him, the Mexican Pacific ocean slowly became a grave formed only of water.
When Erizo dies in his nightmare, he wakes up in real life, opening his mouth like a dying fish that desperately tries to gasp some air. Then, he and his wife are on a midnight routine…
Minor resting after exiting the mine, Ghana. Credit: Lisa Kristine
SAN FRANCISCO, Mar 9 2021 (IPS) – I am about 200 feet down a rickety old mine shaft, in the Ashanti gold mining region of Ghana. It is stiflingly hot and darker than a moonless night. I can only feel the touch of sweaty bodies passing in the darkness and hear the reverberating sound of miners coughing and breaking rocks. The lack of oxygen and dust make it hard to breathe. I have no idea how deep this shaft goes – hundreds of feet? More? If there is a Hell this must be what it feels like.
The abolitionists who have brought me to this illegal operation refuse to go down the dilapidated shaft – …
The writer is UN Under Secretary-General for Economic & Social Affairs
This family in Tuvalu* is at the frontline of the effects of climate change. The water is only 10 metres from their house at high tide. Tuvalu rarely exceeds 3 metres above sea level, and at its widest point it spans about 200 meters. Tuvalu is extremely vulnerable to the adverse impacts of climate change. Rising sea levels combined with extreme weather events is contributing to the inundation of low-lying areas. Coastal erosion is also a major problem in Tuvalu, particularly on the western side of the islands. Credit: Mark Garten/UN Photo
UNITED NATIONS, Apr 14 2021 (IPS) – Millions of l…