KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, Aug 4 2020 (IPS) – , issued by the Food and Agriculture Organization and its United Nations partners in mid-July, reports that chronic hunger continued to increase to 690 million worldwide in 2019, 60 million more than in 2014.
Jomo Kwame Sundaram
Some two billion people worldwide were already experiencing some food insecurity during 2019, a number likely to spike upward due to Covid-19. Although headline hunger numbers have been significantly revised down retrospectively with better official data, the uptrend remains alarming.
The 2020 UN report continues to expand its coverage of malnutrition, going beyond the old narrow focus on dietary energ…
NOIDA, India, Nov 13 2020 (IPS) – “My daughter is eight years old. In May 2017, I had her ‘Khatna,’ her circumcision, done. I had taken her to a traditional cutter. Once back home I made her sleep on the bed. After some time, around 4:00 p.m. I took her to the bathroom, she was bleeding as if she had started her menses. It seemed like she was urinating blood. By 6:00 p.m. my daughter had been bleeding so heavily, the blood had soaked three bed sheets and I was very worried. And my daughter was quiet and she also kept asking me if she will be fine.” Excerpt from: How I got her from the hands of death: 2018
The child belongs to the Bohra community, where Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) persists. A study by my organisation, WeSpeakOut, in 2018 indicates that over 75%…
Women’s empowerment is a crucial aim of the social networking site Fuzia. Credit: Fuzia
NEW YORK, Jan 4 2021 (IPS) – A cherished snapshot of a happy mother and a smiling grandmother is universally associated with a good childhood. In the movies, TV, or media, a broken or depressed mother’s face is hardly seen. But the reality is somewhat different. The measures communities and society take to ensure that women and girls are protected and supported are often questioned.
Shraddha Varma, co-founder, and director of social networking site Fuzia believes in enhancing women’s lives.
“Women empowerment is incomplete without key aspects like health, well…
Joint Asian Population and Development Association (APDA) and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) research documented the impact of the COVID-20 pandemic on women and girls. The research also found promising practices emerged during the pandemic. Credit: UNFPA
Tokyo, Mar 31 2022 (IPS) – Women and girls in the Asia-Pacific region were adversely impacted due to COVID-19 pandemic responses – with marginalized women and girls’ access to sexual and reproductive health rights (SRHR) and gender-based violence (GBV) services profoundly affected.
These were the findings of a study by the Asian Population and Development Association (APDA) and the United Nations Populati…