UN plans to launch Libya crisis appeal on Monday
United Nations officials are preparing to launch a global humanitarian appeal to aid the tens of thousands of people in need due to the violence in Libya. The UN plans to ask support for humanitarian operations in Egypt, Tunisia and Niger where migrants fleeing Libya are attempting to take shelter.
Aid workers struggle with Libyan refugees
More than 140,000 refugees have fled the fighting in Libya in recent days, and even more are on the way, placing under enormous strain relief efforts in transit camps where they are await airplanes and ships to take them to their home countries, UN officials say. Aid workers reportedly were unable to cope with the influx of people, primarily Egyptians, on the Tunisian and Egyptian borders.
India is central to polio-eradication success
India is undertaking massive efforts to prevent a resurgence of polio as the country has been the source of the gravest outbreaks in recent years despite being close to eradicating the disease. Authorities have deployed health workers to places like train stations to immunize the children of impoverished migrants on the move in search of better economic opportunities. Anti-polio campaigners see eradication of polio in India as key to global efforts to wipe out the disease.
Polio is proving tougher than smallpox to wipe out
Polio is more difficult to eradicate than smallpox because the fragile vaccine is less powerful, its victims show few visible effects, and the virus is active in populous regions. Still, the 20-year effort to eradicate the virus has confined it to four areas of the world — northern Nigeria, northern India, southern Afghanistan and the Pakistani border regions.
French ban on full-face veils to go into force
Beginning April 11 any woman in France who wears a veil that covers her face in public will be breaking the law. Such a veil may be worn at home, while worshiping or while a passenger in a private car, but a woman wearing a niqab in public could be fined 150 euros and ordered to take a class on secular and gender values. A man who forces his wife or family member to wear one could face a 30,000 euro fine and a year in prison.
Tanzania grapples with surge of malaria cases
Tanzanian authorities are bracing for increased occurrences of malaria in the country’s southern highlands as warmer weather associated with climate change and environmental degradation help bring the disease into areas previous unaffected by the disease. Malaria cases in some districts increased 25% between 2006 and 2009.
Teenagers drive development of Girl Up
Washington, D.C., area schools and girls’ organizations have joined forces with the United Nations Foundation to drive the Girl Up initiative — a project that invites teenage girls to become spokespeople and activists in global development causes. Girl Up has teen advisers from 10 U.S. states, 150,000 Facebook fans and has received donations from more than 60,000 American young women and girls.
Education for Afghan girls remains problematic
Continued insecurity, lack of funding and poorly trained teachers are hampering efforts to educate Afghan girls, according to research from aid groups. About 2.4 million girls are enrolled in school, but about 20% are not attending classes on a regular basis.
Revolution could mean less sexual harassment in Egypt
Egyptian women, long accustomed to sexual harassment by men, are optimistic that changes brought on by the country’s revolution will result in a decline in gender-based assaults. A 2008 survey by the Egyptian Center for Women’s Rights found that 83% of Egyptian women — and 98% of foreign women — had been sexually harassed.
Health MDGs efforts are limited by surgery access
A shortage of medical facilities, qualified professionals and proper medical supplies threatens to derail health-related Millennium Development Goals, medical specialists warn. Two billion people, mostly in the developing world, are unable to access lifesaving surgeries because of the shortfalls.
Myanmar reacts to polio outbreak
Authorities in Myanmar are stepping up polio vaccination campaigns after an infant contracted the disease, say officials from the World Health Organization. More than 10,000 children have been vaccinated and more campaigns are imminent. Myanmar was declared polio-free in 2000.
Technology could boost gender equality
The same communications technologies that have been integral to popular uprisings across the Middle East — and global activism, in general — could go a long way toward empowering women in traditionally male-dominated societies. These new channels of communication mean that it is easier for women to become aware of information long seen as taboo, especially regarding sexual health, science and issues pertaining to gender equality throughout the world.
