Development

WHO highlights urgent need to transform mental health and mental health care

WHO Director-General, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said: “Everyone’s life touches someone with a mental health condition. Good mental health translates to good physical health and this new report makes a compelling case for change. The inextricable links between mental health and public health, human rights and socioeconomic development mean that transforming policy and practice in mental health can deliver real,…

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How Burundi refugees in Kenya are empowered to farm

Thomas has lived in Kalobeyei refugee settlement in Turkana for the past six years. The last two have been some of the hardest as a result of a prolonged drought. “I come from Burundi where I used to practice farming, so when the farm here opened up, it was natural for me to join the project,” he said. Thomas is…

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Nearly 37 million children displaced worldwide – highest number ever recorded

Conflict, violence and other crises left a record 36.5 million children displaced from their homes at the end of 2021, UNICEF estimates – the highest number recorded since the Second World War. This figure includes 13.7 million refugee and asylum-seeking children† and nearly 22.8 million children who are internally displaced due to conflict and violence. These figures do not include…

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Buhari restates Nigeria’s commitment to healthier global climate

President Muhammadu Buhari Friday in Abuja restated Nigeria’s commitment for a safer and healthier global climate, listing the country’s updated Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) to include elimination of kerosene lighting by 2030, increase in use of buses for public transport and reduction in burning of crop residues.  In a virtual meeting, hosted by President Joe Biden of the United States,…

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FG pledges $550,000 to Great Green Wall secretariat, seeks partnership on climate change, poverty

The Federal Government has pledged $550,000 towards the building of the Great Green Wall Secretariat. President Muhammadu Buhari made this known at the 8th Ordinary Session of the Council of Ministers of Pan-African Agency of the Great Green Wall (PAGGW, )hosted by Nigeria in Abuja on Thursday. The president was represented by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.He said African countries must…

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AfDB signs $830,000 grant agreement to improve climate resilience for communities, ecosystems in Ethiopia

The African Development Bank has signed an $830,000 technical assistance grant agreement for Ethiopia. The funds will help mainstream climate risk management, gender and resilience into economic planning and development in the country’s Ziway-Shallah sub-Basin. The signing took place on Thursday 26 May during the African Development Bank Group’s 2022 Annual Meetings, which are taking place in Accra. Semereta Sewasew,…

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ADB to serve as advisor for development of 1500 MW hydropower project in Mozambique

The African Development Bank (ADB) has signed an agreement with Gabinete de Implementação do Projecto Hidroeléctrico de Mphanda Nkuwa, an implementing entity, to provide advisory services for the development of the $4.5 billion 1,500 MW Mphanda Nkuwa Hydro Power Project in Mozambique. The agreement was signed Tuesday on the side-lines of the Bank’s Annual Meetings, which are taking place in Accra from 23-27…

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World Health Assembly agrees historic decision to sustainably finance WHO

At the 75th World Health Assembly on Wednesday, member states agreed to adopt a landmark decision to improve the World Health Organization’s financing model. The decision adopted, in full, the recommendations of a Sustainable Financing Working Group made up of WHO’s member states, which was set up in January 2021 and chaired by Björn Kümmel, from Germany. In one of…

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World Health Assembly re-elects Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus to second term as WHO Director-General

WHO member states have re-elected Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus to serve a second five-year term as Director-General of the world’s leading public health agency. Dr Tedros was first elected in 2017. His re-election was confirmed during the 75th World Health Assembly in Geneva on Wednesday. He was the sole candidate. “I am humbled by the opportunity provided by member states to…

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In north-east Nigeria, bed nets help stop malaria

For Zainab Yakubu, a pregnant mother of two living in Maiduguri, north-east Nigeria, each day starts with tending to her children and household chores. But worries of how to protect her family from mosquitoes that lurk at night are not far from her mind. “I used to depend on coils to keep mosquitoes away, but they have their downsides. The…

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