Yohei Sasakawa, chair of The Nippon Foundation and World Health Organisation (WHO) Goodwill Ambassador for Leprosy Elimination, delivered a keynote address at the 20th International Leprosy Congress (ILC). Credit: Stella Paul/IPS
MANILA, Sep 11 2019 (IPS) – Forty years ago, Yohei Sasakawa saw his father moved to tears after meeting and witnessing the suffering of people affected by leprosy – also known as Hansen’s disease. Not only did the patients have a physical illness, but they also suffered from social exclusion and discrimination. It made the young Sasakawa vow to work for the elimination of leprosy from the world – just as his father had been doing.
Decade…
Teruhiko Mashiko, Japan Parliamentary Federation for Population
NAIROBI, Kenya, Nov 13 2019 (IPS) – The Japan Parliamentary Federation for Population represented by Mr Teruhiko Mashiko and its secretariat, the Asian Population and Development Association (APDA) has made a clear and concrete commitment to endorse the ICPD25 agenda. Mashiko tells IPS that Japan, as should every country driven by the well-being of its population, should create the best possible conditions to achieve the ICPD25 agenda.
Interview by Joyce Chimbi at the ICPD25 in Nairobi, Kenya
Q. What lessons are there for developing countries from Japan to accelerate the achieve…
School feeding programme in Togo. Credit: WFP/João Cavalcante
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, Jan 21 2020 (IPS) – If well planned, coordinated and implemented, a government funded school feeding programme for all primary school children can be progressively transformative. Such a programme, involving government departments and agencies working together, can benefit schoolchildren, their families, farmers and public health, now and in the future.
Jomo Kwame Sundaram
Such a scheme should comprehens…
Mar 19 2020 (IPS) – The novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, recently declared a by the World Health Organisation, has taken the world by surprise. The good news is that tremendous scientific and technological advances have p…
Sustainable Agriculture Management Team, FAO
ROME, Apr 6 2020 (IPS) – Together with medical services and transportation, farming and food production have been correctly identified as ‘essential services’ by all countries under lockdown. The Covid-19 pandemic has not yet made a dent in the food supply and so far, there are no reports of shortage of essential food and agricultural goods. All cities and towns are actively coordinating with government agencies, farms, businesses and transport companies to maintain the supply chain and ensure full availability of food for the population,
Kakoli Ghosh
However, despite the efforts, farm gate prices have crashed, there …
• Truly global. Pandemics don’t respect borders, neither do the economic shocks they cause.
Credit: IMF
The is dire. We expect global economic activity to decline on a scale we have not seen since the Great Depression.
This year 170 countries will see income per capita go down – only months ago we were projecting 160 economies to register positive per capita income growth.
Actions taken
Exceptional times call for exceptional action. In many ways, there has been a ‘response like no other’ from the IMF’s membership.
Governments all over the world have taken unprecedented action to fight the pandemic—to save lives, to…
May 11 2020 – A spectre is haunting the conscientious citizens of Bangladesh—the spectre of the Digital Security Act, 2018 (DSA). By now the law has become synonymous with curtailment of freedom of expression and repression. The recent developments of involuntary disappearance, re-appearance and subsequent detention of several commentators and social activists have raised the alarm if indeed we as a nation are shying away from upholding one of the cardinal principles of the Muktijuddher Chetona (the spirit of the Liberation War) to freely express our views.
A few recent cases will corroborate the above statement. On May 6, businessman Mushtaq Ahmed and …
Jun 3 2020 (IPS) – Since the COVID-19 outbreak was first reported in Wuhan, China in late December 2019, the disease has spread to more than 200 countries and territories. In the absence of a vaccine or effective treatment, governments worldwide have responded by implementing unprecedented containment and mitigation measures—. This in turn has resulted in large short-term economic losses, and a decline in global economic activity not seen since the Great Depression. Did it work?
Our , based on a global sample, suggests that containment measures, by reducing mobility, have been very effective in flattening the “pandemic curve.” For example, the stringent containment measures put in place in New Zealand—restrictions on gatherings and public events implemented when cases we…
NEW YORK, Jun 15 2020 (IPS) – While the end of life remains the inescapable fate of every man, woman and child, death can be delayed as has been repeatedly throughout human history. Amid the current coronavirus pandemic, a paramount objective is delaying death from Covid-19 for many millions of people across the globe.
Yet, now approaching 500,000 worldwide and many more expected before a vaccine becomes available, the objective of delaying deaths due to t…
Ndiabou Niang was able to get access to prenatal care after her town’s mayor decided to finance the health membership of nearly 300 women and children. Courtesy: Réseau Siggil Jigéen
SYDNEY, Australia, Jul 14 2020 (IPS) – Pregnant with her second child, 30-year-old Ndiabou Niang was enduring pelvic pain, but couldn’t afford to access prenatal care in Diabe Salla, a village on the outskirts of the small town of Thilogne in north-east Senegal. Her husband was unemployed and her earning…