Recent Headlines from The InterDependent

WHO Annual Report Takes Aim at Heart Disease

root — Fri, 18 May 2012 14:59:12 +0000

One-third of adults worldwide have a single, noncommunicable disease—high blood pressure—and the number will continue to rise, the UN’s World Health Organization said in its annual World Statistics report, released Wednesday. Chronic conditions, including blood pressure, cancer and cardiovascular diseases, now account for two-thirds of all global deaths.

UN Launches First Africa Human Development Report

root — Tue, 15 May 2012 09:07:49 +0000

The first-ever African Human Development Report, released today in Nairobi, begins with a paradox: Sub-Saharan Africa is home to some of the world’s fastest growing economies and most lush agricultural land, but it is also home to the largest group of hungry, undernourished and malnourished people on Earth. One in four people living in the region is undernourished.

A Mother's Day Plan to Reduce Preterm Birth

root — Sat, 12 May 2012 04:14:42 +0000

As the United States celebrate Mother’s Day this weekend, preterm birth is a frequent and important global health problem that can no longer be neglected. Every day, scores of young children die after they are born too early—and many of those deaths are preventable. Most striking of all, this is truly a global problem, affecting rich and poor countries alike.

Sudan Conflict Exacerbates Food Crisis

root — Tue, 08 May 2012 12:09:10 +0000

There’s no soda water in the Wau market. It’s an easy thing to overlook in the bustling heart of this western South Sudanese town, since the basics are still in abundance: 25-kilogram bags of ground maize, blue-and-yellow tubs of condensed milk, piles of overripe tomatoes.

Georgia: Renewable Energy Comes at Environmental Cost

root — Fri, 04 May 2012 14:47:50 +0000

TBILISI -- Over the past nine years, the United Nations Development Programme has helped transform Georgia’s once-nascent hydropower industry into one of the country’s most dynamic economic sectors in Georgia. Since 2006, Georgia has nearly quadrupled its electricity production to more than 10,000 M KwH in 2011, the majority of which comes from hydropower.

World Press Freedom Day: Express oneself, but others must also enjoy this right

root — Wed, 02 May 2012 16:57:07 +0000

On the 10th July 2010, I was lying in a bed in one of El-Sahel hospitals, recovering from a sickness in my lungs, while outside there were troops of political police waiting to arrest me. They were there to execute an unfair four-year prison sentence for my reporting on a protest demanding employment and social justice in the mining region of Gafsa.

World Press Freedom Day: The Perverse Power of Silence

root — Wed, 02 May 2012 16:52:57 +0000

"Silence kills democracy, but a free press talks," is a phrase associated with World Press Freedom Day. Currently, during this dramatic period in Mexico's history, silence is killing men, women and children, ordinary members of civil society, it is killing human rights defenders, it is killing government officials, and it is killing journalists.

The Kofi Annan Plan: Syria’s Pivotal Moment

root — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 14:41:15 +0000

Over the weekend, the world welcomed a unanimous vote by the Security Council on resolution 2043, which authorizes the UN observer mission in Syria to expand its strength from 30 to 300. The UN-Arab League Special Envoy for Syria, Kofi Annan, called it a “pivotal moment for the stabilization of the country.”

Helfrich: This World Malaria Day, Help South Sudanese Refugees Sleep Safely

root — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 14:50:21 +0000

This World Malaria Day, the eyes of the world are on South Sudan. More than 130,000 people—and counting—from the world’s newest nation have fled their homes to escape the violence on the border with Sudan. These refugees have evaded one deadly threat. But they face another in the camps they now call home: malaria.

Of Budgets and Bednets: Improving Malaria Spending

root — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 18:50:14 +0000

Earlier this year, the global burden of malaria made the news when a study in the Lancet rolled out new malaria mortality estimates. The findings suggested that malaria may cause as many as 1.24 million deaths annually—previous estimates had concluded that malaria claimed the lives of just half this number.