In this column, Mario Lubetkin, Director of Corporate Communications at the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), writes that the Second International Conference on Nutrition received widespread media coverage around the world and that they continue to have an important role to play in ensuring that medium- and short-term nutrition challenges are met.
ROME, Dec 10 2014 (IPS) – The vast international and national media impact of the Second International Conference on Nutrition (ICN2), held in Rome from Nov. 19 to 21, demonstrated the growing interest that nutritional problems are arousing worldwide, primarily because the media themselves are increasingly reporting issues related to poverty and exclusion.
Thousands of articles in leading newspapers from different co…
Devastation from the Mar. 1, 2011 tsunami that swept through Yotukura fishing village. Credit: Suvendrini Kakuchi/IPS
SENDAI, Japan, Mar 19 2015 (IPS) – The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has announced a new 10-year global plan to support country efforts to reduce the risk of disasters that kill people and destroy livelihoods. The plan was unveiled at the which ended on Mar. 18.
“Called , the programme will support countries and communities to deliver better risk-informed development, and targets 50 countries over 10 years, with a focus on five critical areas: risk awareness and early warning; risk-governance and mainstreaming; preparedness; resilient…
New York, May 12 2015 (IPS) – With no new infections in 42 days, Liberia has been declared free and clear of Ebola by the World Health Organization.
The announcement was made in the emergency command center in Monrovia, a room packed with reporters, aid agencies and dignitaries, including the U.S. Ambassador to Liberia Deborah R. Malac. Responses ranged from applause to tears followed by a moment of silence called by President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf.
“At this symbolic juncture, I ask the whole world to remember the 4,608 Liberians who lost their lives, and the many thousands more who endured the horror of fighting the disease,” Johnson-Sirleaf said.
“Let us celebrate, but stay mindful and vigilant,” she said. “Clearly, the events of the last year must ne…
Children investigate their community’s newly improved toilets, one of UNOCI’s “quick impact projects” (QIPS) which supported the rehabilitation of schools and toilets in Abidjan. Credit: UN Photo/Patricia Esteve
UNITED NATIONS, Jun 30 2015 (IPS) – As most developing nations fall short of meeting their goals on sanitation, the world’s poorest countries have been lagging far behind, according to a new U.N. report released here.
The Joint Monitoring Progra…
Children have born the brunt of Iraq’s on-going conflict. Credit: DFID – UK Department for International Development/CC-BY-2.0
UNITED NATIONS, Aug 25 2015 (IPS) – In the hopes of better responding to the needs of over three million displaced Iraqis, United Nations aid agencies today launched a national hotline to provide information on emergency humanitarian services like food distribution, healthcare and shelter.
The ongoing crisis in Iraq has spurred a refugee crisis of “unprecedented” proportions, with over 3.1 million forced into displacement since January 2014 alone, according to the U.N. Refugee Agency.
IDPs are scattered across 3,…
SHURUGWI, Zimbabwe, Dec 22 2015 (IPS) – Wheelchair-bound, her body now skeletal from full blown AIDS, disabled 38-year-old Melisa Chigumba attempts to wave away a swarm of flies hovering around her face as she sits outside her home in Chachacha, a remote area in Shurugwi, 278 kilometers south of the capital, Harare.
Shown in the photo donning a red dress, is Zipha Moyo, a disabled HIV/AIDS activist recently makin…
Bags of maize at the Food Reserve Agency Depot in Kasiya, Pemba district, Southern Zambia. Credit: Friday Phiri/IPS
LIVINGSTONE, Zambia, Apr 29 2016 (IPS) – ‘No Farmer, No Food’ is an old slogan that the Zambia National Farmers’ Union still uses. Some people consider it a cliché, but it could be regaining its place in history as agriculture is increasingly seen as the answer to a wide range of the world’s critical needs such as nutrition, sustainable jobs and income for the rural poor.
According to the United Nations Food and Agricultu…
Tsering Dorji works on his farm in western Bhutan’s Satsam village. Due to inadequate transportation and marketing opportunities, he loses half of what he produces every rainy season. Credit: Stella Paul/IPS
COPENHAGEN, Jun 8 2016 (IPS) – Four years ago, 27-year-old Tsering Dorji of western Bhutan’s Satsam village took to organic vegetable farming. Since then, thanks to composted manure and organic pesticide, the soil health of his farm has improved, and the y…
A food garden at UN headquarters in New York City. Credit: Phillip Kaeding / IPS.
NEW YORK, Jul 11 2016 (IPS) – Habitat III, the UN’s conference on cities this coming October will explore urban agriculture as a solution to food security, but here in New York City, it has shown potential for much more.
Record-high levels of inequality are being felt most prominently in the world’s cities. Even In New York City, the heart of the developed world, many urban communities have food security issues.
Since the year 2000, New York City food costs have increased by 59 percent, while the average income of working adults has only increased by 17 percent.
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Jomo Kwame Sundaram is a former economics professor who served as a senior UN official during 2005-2015. Tan Zhai Gen is an University of Oxford biochemistry graduate currently involved in research. Both are Malaysians.
Antibiotics are used to ensure better health and survival of animals bred for food, but they are also believed by many farmers to promote growth. Credit: IPS
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, Apr 4 2017 (IPS) – The greatly excessive use of antibiotics in food production in recent decades has made many bacteria more resistant to antibiotics. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has estimated that antibiotic use in animal husbandry, poultry…