Nearly 65% of adults in the Arab region remain excluded from formal financial systems, according to a new report by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA). The Annual SDG Review 2025 paints a sobering picture of persistent financial exclusion that is undermining the region’s ability …
IF DEMOGRAPHY is destiny, as Auguste Comte, a French philosopher, once said, then China has many destinies. As a result of 30 years of the now-relaxed one-child policy, the country has an exceptionally low overall fertility rate: 1.2 according to the census of 2010. (The fertility rate is the number …
Women, who do the majority of drudge work, in the economically and environmentally fragile Hindu Kush Himalayas region are disproportionately impacted by the effects of climate change. Women hurling pine needles It is widely recognised that climate change effects take the heaviest toll on the vulnerable and the poor. These …
There are few whose lives have not been touched by cancer. It cuts down friends, loved ones, siblings, spouses, parents and children. And it does so more than it used to. A generation ago, one in three people in the rich world could expect one day to hear the fateful …
The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development strives for more balanced development by addressing the economic, social and environmental dimensions holistically. The momentum set forth by this agenda provides an historic opportunity for reducing inequality and closing gender gaps. Gender, The Environment and Sustainable Development in Asia and the Pacific examines …
This paper examines the relationship between spatial and economic mobility in Uganda using longitudinal data from 2005 through 2012. The study relies on a detailed panel tracking survey and exploits exogenous variation in the spatial intensity of violent conflict, rainfall shocks, distance from the regional capital, and ethnic networks in …
With a benefit to cost ratio of 16:1 for 40 low and middle-income countries, there is a well recognized rationale, globally, for investing in Nutrition. The recently published NFHS-4 results reflect some progress, with a decline in the overall levels of under nutrition in both women and children. However, the …
Corruption exists in many forms and the motivations behind an individual pursuing or accepting illicit conduct may be as diverse as the types of corruption. It is imperative to better understand the underlying aspects of corrupt behaviour and their implications in order to achieve several interlinked targets under the Sustainable …
The World Bank has published a report titled, ‘The Rising Tide: A New Look at Water and Gender,’ which characterizes water as “an asset, a service and a space” and illustrates how water can “reflect and even reinforce” gender inequality. The report, launched during World Water Week in Stockholm, Sweden, …
The Soutenir l’Exploitation Familiale pour Lancer l’Élevage des Volailles et Valoriser l’Économie Rurale (SELEVER) study is designed to evaluate the impact of an integrated agriculture-nutrition intervention package (including poultry value chain development; women’s empowerment activities; and a behavior change communications strategy to promote improved diets and feeding, care, and hygiene …
On a blistering hot afternoon, Zainab Omar Ali methodically sorts through freshly picked bunches of kale on her farm in Alimao village in northeast Kenya. "I managed to sell most of my batch at the market this morning," she said with satisfaction. "I'll try to sell the remaining fresh ones …
Women from historically marginalized indigenous communities in Kenya have embraced an innovative savings scheme that has enabled them to break the yoke of poverty worsened by retrogressive cultural practices and illiteracy. Emily Kirui, a single mother of one from the Ogiek community that resides in dense forests in the Rift …
Namibia will launch the baseline study that was conducted in 2016 by the University of Namibia which was aimed at investigating the status of women’s land use, ownership and rights under customary land tenure system, at an event on Thursday in Ongwediva, northern Namibia. The study was prepared for the …
A mobile service dubbed 'Wazazi Nipendeni SMS Service' aimed at promoting knowledge and behaviour change in nutrition practices has been launched. The Ministry of Health, Community Development, Gender, Elders and Children has partnered with the Food and Nutrition Centre (TFNC) and the GSM Association in promoting proper nutrition. The service …
KAILER, Kenya, Aug 2 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Residents of Kailer village normally live to the rhythm of mooing cows and bleating goats. But over the past year, silence has reigned over these swathes of dry land dotted with cacti and mathenge, a dense shrub. Faced with severe drought, herders …
Girls and women experience numerous types of vaginal bleeding. These include healthy reproductive processes, such as menstruation and bleeding after childbirth, but also bleeding related to health conditions, such as fibroids or cancer. In most societies, the management of menstruation is handled covertly, something girls are often instructed about at …
White Ribbon Alliance started the nation-wide campaign "Hamara Swasthya, Hamari Awaz" for advancement in maternal health of women in India. In its campaign to understand the women's want for improved maternal health in India, White Ribbon Alliance India steered the nation-wide campaign "Hamara Swasthya, Hamari Awaz". Reaching out to nearly …
This white paper authored by SEI for the USAID Clean Power Asia programme aims to illuminate women working in the energy sectors of the four Lower Mekong countries of Cambodia, Lao PDR, Thailand, and Vietnam, as well as other Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) member states, nations as part …
Rising rates of life expectancy are grinding to a halt in England after more than 100 years of continuous progress, says a leading health expert. University College London expert Sir Michael Marmot said he was "deeply concerned" by the situation, calling it "historically highly unusual". He said it was "entirely …
Information and communication technologies (ICTs) now form the backbone of today's economies – providing individuals with access to such vitally important resources as employment opportunities, online banking and healthcare. As such, United Nations leaders have turned to ICTs to fast-forward efforts to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). …
To be able to curb the global pandemic of physical inactivity and the associated 5.3 million deaths per year, we need to understand the basic principles that govern physical activity. However, there is a lack of large-scale measurements of physical activity patterns across free-living populations worldwide. Here we leverage the …
