Citizens for Justice and Peace
Thousands of children need urgent psychological support in Papua New Guinea
11-Apr-2018
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), up to 25,000 children in Papua New Guinea urgently require psychological support after the country suffered multiple crippling earthquakes, the Guardian reported. A 7.5 magnitude earthquake struck the country on February 26; nearly 200 aftershocks have occurred in the last 40 days, some of which were 6.5 magnitude. Papua New…
Colombia supreme court directs government to protect Amazon rainforest in historic case
11-Apr-2018
Colombia’s apex court has informed the country’s government that it must take immediate steps to protect the Amazon rainforest and check increasing deforestation, the Thomson Reuters Foundation reported. In January, 25 young plaintiffs aged seven to 26 sued Colombia’s government, saying that its inaction in protecting the Amazon imperilled their future and infringed on their constitutional…
170 young people contract HIV daily in Central and West Africa
09-Apr-2018
86% of the world’s HIV-positive children and adolescents live in sub-Saharan Africa, the Los Angeles Times reported. In Central and West Africa, 80% of the children who have HIV do not get antiretroviral therapy, which makes it the region with the lowest rate of access to the treatment in the world. According to the latest research…
Eliminating poverty could lead to significant decrease in tuberculosis cases: Study
28-Mar-2018
According to a study published in Lancet Global Health, eliminating extreme poverty would result in an 84% decrease in tuberculosis cases by the year 2035, the Guardian reported. Nine policymakers and scientists conducted research regarding the prevalence of tuberculosis in 192 countries. They considered connections between those living on less than $1.90 per day and the extent to…
World carbon emissions reached record high in 2017: IEA
28-Mar-2018
Preliminary estimates from the International Energy Agency (IEA) indicate that the world’s energy demand increased by 2.1% in 2017, more than double the rate of increase in 2016, Reuters reported. In 2016, energy demand increased by 0.9%. On average, it also rose by 0.9% in the previous five years. According to the IEA, strong economic growth fueled…
Abortion rates significantly decline, in wealthy nations
27-Mar-2018
The Guttmacher Institute, a research and policy organisation on reproductive health, released a report that says abortion rates have fallen considerably around the world, but the decrease has been mainly in developed nations, the Guardian reported. Worldwide, abortion rates decreased from 46 per every 1,000 women of reproductive age to 27, between 1990 to 1994 and…
The world’s major forests could lose half their wildlife due to global warming: Study
14-Mar-2018
According to a new study, the world’s greatest forests are at risk of losing more than half of their plant species unless more efforts are not made to combat climate change, the Guardian reported. The study, conducted by the WWF, the University of East Anglia, and the James Cook University, also found that animal species like…
Green Climate Fund authorises $1 billion for new initiatives
09-Mar-2018
The Green Climate Fund (GCF) recently authorised little over $1 billion to be put towards 23 initiatives to aid developing nations in cutting emissions and adapt to climate change, the Thomson Reuters Foundation reported. The GCF is a global climate fund that has been established by the United Nations, and this is the most its…
Teen pregnancy rate in Latin America is “unacceptably high”: UN agencies
03-Mar-2018
The Thomson Reuters Foundation reported that three United Nations agencies–the Pan American Health Organization, the UN children’s agency (UNICEF), and the UN Population Fund (UNFPA)–have said that there has not been enough progress in bringing down teenage pregnancy rates in Latin America and the Caribbean. The region has the second-highest rate worldwide. The report said there 66.5…
UN rights experts criticise Iran’s detention of environmentalists
26-Feb-2018
After members of the Persian Wildlife Heritage Foundation (PWHF) were detained for alleged spying, United Nations human rights experts have said that they are “concerned that Iranian authorities now seem to be arresting and investigating peaceful scientific activists for their invaluable conservationist work.” They added, “It is hard to fathom how working to preserve the Iranian flora…
“We are failing the world’s poorest babies,” UNICEF head says
21-Feb-2018
UNICEF has released a new report on newborn mortality, saying that newborn babies are still dying at high rates across the world, especially in the poorest countries. Worldwide, in low-income countries, the average mortality rate for newborns is 27 deaths for 1,000 births, compared to high-income countries that see 3 deaths for 1,000 births. Newborns in the world’s most…
Report: Canadians cut back on heating, food to pay for prescription drugs
15-Feb-2018
A newly published report estimated that in 2017, 968,000 people in Canada reduced their expenses so that they could pay for prescription drugs, according to the Guardian. This included 730,000 who reduced food expenses and 238,000 who cut heating expenses. Although Canada has universal healthcare, Canada is still the world’s only developed country lacking a universal…
Many young women in Africa unaware they have HIV
14-Feb-2018
A large-scale study across seven countries in sub-Saharan Africa has found that less than half of young women who have HIV know that they have been infected, according to the Guardian. The incidence of HIV among women aged 15-24 in Zimbabwe, Zambia, Uganda, Tanzania, Swaziland, Malawi, and Lesotho is about 3.6%, around 1.5 million young and…
No Public purpose behind Mining Operations: SC on Goa Mining Court castigates Goa govt. for pandering to corporate interests
08-Feb-2018
In a judgement dated February 7, 2018 the Supreme Court cancelled all renewals of mining leases for iron ore extraction in the state of Goa and wiped the slate clean for a fresh beginning. The Apex Court of India delivered the judgement in SLA (civil) 32128 / 2015 (Goa Foundation vs SesaSterlite Ltd. & Ors,…
Ozone layer declining over densely populous regions
06-Feb-2018
Although the ozone layer is recovering over Antarctica following Montreal Protocol that banned chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) that destroy ozone, newly published research indicates that it is declining over lower latitudes, the Guardian reported. The earth’s stratosphere ranges from 10km above ground to 50km. Ozone is gradually increasing in the upper stratosphere, heading towards levels that were observed…