Tenu Avafia is a policy adviser on law, human rights and treatment access issues in the HIV, Health and Development Group at the United Nations Development Programme

Rebecca Schleifer is a consultant at the United Nations Development Programme working on HIV, drug policies, disability and sexual rights issues.

UNITED NATIONS, Apr 21 2016 (IPS) – In many countries, a criminal record, even for a minor offense can have serious implications. Being convicted of a criminal offence renders one ineligible for certain jobs, social grants or benefits or from even being able to exercise one’s right to vote. It can also severely limit the ability to travel to certain countries and can result in the loss of custody of minor children. As prison conditions are often poor and health ca…

LGBT organisations have been excluded from an upcoming UN HIV meeting. Credit: Jorge Luis Baños/ IPS.

UNITED NATIONS, Jun 2 2016 (IPS) – Treatment for HIV and AIDS has increased, but key populations including lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) communities continue to be left behind and even excluded altogether.

In a new , published ahead of the upcoming High-Level Meeting on Ending AIDS, the Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) found immense gains in access to antiretroviral therapy (ART) across 160 countries.

However, UNAIDS noted that HIV reduction and prevention efforts must be scaled up since many so-called key groups…

Jul 7 2016 – Poverty, according to the United Nations, is “a denial of choices and opportunities, a violation of human dignity. It means lack of basic capacity to participate effectively in society. It means not having enough to feed and clothe a family, not having a school or clinic to go to, not having the land on which to grow one’s food or a job to earn one’s living, not having access to credit. It means insecurity, powerlessness and exclusion of individuals, households and communities. It means susceptibility to violence, and it often implies living in marginal or fragile environments, without access to clean water or sanitation.”

JER…

A family in New Delhi. Given India’s high infant mortality rate, one of the highest in the world, many women are not keen on sterilisation since they feel that it shuts out their option of having children later if required. Credit: Neeta Lal/IPS

NEW DELHI, Nov 29 2016 (IPS) – The Indian government s decision to make injectable contraceptives available to the public for free under the national family planning programme (FPP) has sti…

A doctor examines the x-ray of a TB patient in New Delhi. Credit: Bijoyeta Das/IPS.

UNITED NATIONS, Mar 24 2017 (IPS) – New antibiotics that could treat tuberculosis may rapidly become ineffective, according to new research published by the Lancet ahead of World Tuberculosis Day.

The rise in multi-drug resistant tuberculosis, which affected 480,000 people in 2015, could mean that even newly discovered drugs will soon be useless, the  found.

In total both drug resistant and non-drug resistant Tuberculosis (TB) killed an estimated 1.8 million people in 2015, making it the world’s deadliest infectious disease. The five countries where T…

The author is the Executive Director of the .

COPENHAGEN, Jun 5 2017 (IPS) – Indigenous women in Asia are setting examples in their efforts for a more peaceful, fair and equal world. But discrimination, poverty and lack of recognition still hinder indigenous women from fully participating in developing their societies.

Julie Koch

2017 has been called the year of empowerment of indigenous women by the UN Commission on the Status of Women. A timely and relevant choice, since indigenous women belong to one of the most marginalized groups in the world, and at the same time have so much to offer.

Empowering indigenous women to achieve justice, gain …

May 18, 2017. A combined group of South Sudanese refugees and Ugandans take part in a class about breast feeding. Nyumanzi Refugee Settlement, Adjumani District. Conflict and famine in South Sudan have led to an exodus of refugees into Uganda. Credit: JAMES OATWAY/UNICEF

UNITED NATIONS, Aug 8 2017 (IPS) – The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has released new findings on the economic gains—besides the obvious health benefits—of breastfeeding.

Hailing the practice as an investment that ought to be supported by governments, the UN estimates that 4.70 dollars can push up rates of breastfeeding to 50 percent by 2025. Currently, only 23 countries can claim a rate above …

Using nuclear sciences to feed the world. Credit: FAO

ROME, Nov 16 2017 (IPS) – It might sound strange, very strange, but the news is that scientists and experts have been assuring, over and again, that using nuclear applications in agriculture and thus in food production—are giving a major boost to food security. So how does this work?

To start with, nuclear applications in agriculture rely on the use of isotopes and radiation techniques to combat pests and diseases, increase crop production, protect land and water resources, and ensure food safety and authenticity, as well as increase livestock production.

This is how the UN food and agr…

A farmer at Boirati in Rangpur cultivating cabage using vermicompost. Credit: Rafiqul Islam Sarker/ IPS

KALIGANJ, Bangladesh, Feb 26 2018 (IPS) – In Kaliganj village, 20 kilometres south of Rangpur city in Bangladesh, small farmers are turning to vermicomposting after crop yields started dropping. The problem was that soil fertility eroded due to organic nutrient depletion.

“In the early 1980s when I began cultivating crops with chemical fertilizers, I got bumper production of all crops,” said Azizar Rahim, a small farmer who until five years ago used to get three tonnes of Boro and two tonnes of Aman paddy per acre annually (Boro and Aman are the main …

NEW DELHI, May 28 2018 (IPS) – A disquieting finding of The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2017, Building resilience for peace and food security, or (SFSN2017), Rome, is that, in 2016, the number of chronically undernourished people in the world increased to 815 million, up from777 million in 2015 although still lower than about 900 million in 2000. Similarly, while the prevalence of undernourishment rose to 11 percent in 2016, this is still well below thelevel attaineda decade ago. Whether this recent rise inhunger and food-insecurity levels signals thebeginning of an upward trend, or whether itreflects an acute transient situation calls for a close scrutiny.

Undernourishment is associated with lower productivity. More importantly, in an agrarian economy with…