Public Health
OCHA Policy and Studies Series
ECLAC COVID-19 Special Report
The ECLAC COVID-19 special reports are a collection of sectoral briefings on the impacts and challenges of the current coronavirus pandemic in the Latin America and the Caribbean region.
Informe Especial COVID-19 de la CEPAL
Los informes especiales COVID-19 de la CEPAL agrupan breves notas sectoriales sobre los efectos y desafíos de la actual pandemia coronavirus en la región América Latina y el Caribe.
Informes COVID-19 de la CEPAL
Los informes COVID-19 de la CEPAL agrupan breves notas sectoriales sobre los efectos y desafíos de la actual pandemia coronavirus en la región América Latina y el Caribe.
ECLAC COVID-19 Reports
The ECLAC COVID-19 reports are a collection of sectoral briefings on the impacts and challenges of the current coronavirus pandemic in the Latin America and the Caribbean region.
Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction (GAR)
United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR) Reports
UN Women Ending Violence Against Women (EVAW) COVID-19 Briefs
This series explores in depth the trends and impacts of the recent global COVID-19 pandemic on violence against women and girls. It examines implications for the prevention of and response to violence against women and girls in public and private settings including violence facilitated by information and communications technology. It also provides guidance for the collection of data on the impact of COVID-19 on violence against women and girls. Each brief in the series draws upon the knowledge and experience of a wide range of stakeholders that are supporting solutions to end intimate partner violence and other forms of violence against women and girls accounting for the individual country context in which the crisis is occurring. The briefs make recommendations for all sectors of society including governments civil society and international organizations on how to prevent and respond to violence against women and girls at the onset during and after the public health crisis and include examples of actions already taken.
Los museos, protagonistas de la resistencia
Afrontar las nuevas limitaciones en materia de acogida de público y al mismo tiempo redefinir nuestros vínculos con el arte y la cultura: como tantas otras instituciones del mundo el Museo de Arte de Queens de Nueva York trata de reinventarse y reflexiona sobre un modelo de museo integrador que sitúe a artistas educadores y ciudadanos en el núcleo de sus actividades.
La pandemia, espejo de nuestra vulnerabilidad
Desigualdad social violencia de género carencias en materia de vivienda y sistemas sanitarios: la crisis del COVID-19 ha desvelado las grietas que dividen a nuestras sociedades. Para cambiar el mundo tendremos que abordar problemas a los que hasta ahora no habíamos sido capaces de enfrentarnos.
Una ocasión para reinventar la escuela
A causa de la crisis sanitaria casi 1.500 millones de alumnos –es decir el 90% de la población escolar del mundo– no pueden asistir a la escuela (fuente: UNESCO). De repente los centros de enseñanza han tenido que adaptarse al aprendizaje a distancia lo que les ha obligado a imaginar otros métodos pedagógicos.
Circunnavegación: La educación atraviesa una crisis sin precedentes
La crisis que ha causado en la educación el cierre de escuelas y universidades en el mundo entero decretado con miras a frenar la propagación de la pandemia de COVID-19 alcanzó su punto máximo a mediados de abril. Entre el 16 y el 19 de ese mes los centros de enseñanza permanecieron cerrados en más de 190 países lo que afectó a 1.570 millones de niños y jóvenes es decir a más del 90% de los alumnos. Durante toda la crisis sanitaria la UNESCO ha dado seguimiento a la situación a escala mundial mediante la publicación en su página web de una lista de instituciones educativas cerradas.
Zoom: Diarios de un viaje inmóvil
Aislamiento pérdida de ingresos cargas familiares abrumadoras: las mujeres fotógrafas han sido duramente afectadas por el confinamiento impuesto para contener la pandemia de COVID-19. Ante esta situación sin precedentes más de 400 mujeres fotógrafas se reunieron en un proyecto de colaboración único The Journal que nació espontáneamente a mediados de marzo tras una invitación formulada en Facebook por el colectivo Women Photograph. Desde 2017 esta red que cuenta con más de mil miembros en un centenar de países se ha fijado la meta de aumentar la presencia de mujeres fotógrafas en los medios de comunicación.
“Las mujeres siguen siendo las heroínas ignoradasde esta crisis”
La crisis sanitaria y el confinamiento casi generalizado causados por la pandemia han agravado la violencia que se ejerce contra las mujeres. La directora ejecutiva de ONU Mujeres Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka advierte de que los derechos de la mujer podrían quedar menoscabados.
Nuestro invitado: Yuval Noah Harari: “Toda crisis ofrece también una oportunidad”
Por un nuevo pacto social en América Latina
Disminución de salarios deserción escolar auge del trabajo informal aumento brusco del desempleo: las consecuencias sociales de la crisis sanitaria para los habitantes de la de región de América Latina y el Caribe han tenido vastas repercusiones. Para evitar un incremento de las desigualdades Karina Batthyány aboga por la puesta en marcha de un sistema más solidario y justo.
Investigación: “Esta epidemia será un detonador”
Nathalie Strub-Wourgaft es una de las fundadoras de la Coalición para la investigación clínica del COVID-19 lanzada en abril por instituciones científicas médicos donantes y encargados de la formulación de políticas de casi 30 naciones para promover la investigación en los países de bajos ingresos. Esta especialista aboga por investigaciones específicas adaptadas a esos países.
India: Heritage theft remains a challenge
Faced with an increasing demand for its art objects in the global antiquities market India has introduced strict laws to curb the illicit export of its archaeological and cultural heritage. However the implementation of these laws remains a major challenge due to the poverty that fuels looting and the lack of adequate security to protect historical monuments.
Escribir para iluminar la noche
El mundo que se avecina será diferente del que hemos conocido hasta ahora. La poetisa Zhai Yongming vaticina que el ser humano será más respetuoso con lo que desconoce y con las demás especies vivas que pueblan nuestro planeta.
La crisis sanitaria, un terreno abonado para la desinformación
En África al igual que en otros continentes han proliferado durante la crisis sanitaria teorías conspirativas e informaciones falsas sobre la enfermedad de COVID-19. Propagadas a través de las redes sociales aluden por ejemplo a la existencia de remedios presuntamente milagrosos contra esta como el consumo de té negro hojas de nim y sopa de pimienta. Para contrarrestar esa epidemia de bulos es menester refutarlos previo rastreo en las plataformas digitales así como fomentar el sentido de la responsabilidad de estas e impulsar una educación básica para el uso crítico de los medios informativos.
Las fronteras, cada vez más móviles e invisibles, siguen siendo auténticas barreras
Las fronteras de hoy no se delimitan forzosamente con muros de ladrillo y alambradas de púas sino que se están metamorfoseando en barreras móviles construidas mediante la aplicación de tecnologías de vanguardia y reglamentaciones complejas que restringen la circulación de los ciudadanos. Esta metamorfosis se ha acentuado con la pandemia de COVID-19.
Our guest: Yuval Noah Harari: “Every crisis is also an opportunity”
Lifestyle diseases, the emerging threat
Argentina: At the forefront of restitution
Since 2004 Argentina has returned nearly 5000 cultural objects seized on its territory to their countries of origin. A greater recognition of the art of pre-Columbian civilizations and the adoption of a law protecting archaeological and palaeontological heritage are at the origin of this new policy.
The 1970 convention: Cultural diversity before the letter of the law
Adopted in 1970 the UNESCO Convention is a prominent legal instrument in the fight against looting and illicit trafficking. By laying down the principles of shared responsibility and cultural equity it has also opened the way to the right of peoples to enjoy their own cultural heritage.
China: Bronzes from around the world reunite in a digital museum
A new kind of museum in Tongling China virtually displays ancient copper and bronze objects from the Han dynasty many of which have found their way to museums abroad. It foretells the future of digital museums institutions capable of sharing their resources and offering unprecedented access to their collections to global audiences.
Research: “This epidemic will be a detonator”
Nathalie Strub-Wourgaft is one of the initiators of the COVID-19 Clinical Research Coalition launched in April 2020. It brings together scientists physicians donors and policymakers from over thirty countries to accelerate research on the disease in resource-poor nations. She argues that research must be specifically adapted to the needs of these countries.
Wide angle: 50 years of the fight against the illicit trafficking of cultural goods
Half a century after its adoption the UNESCO 1970 Convention against the illicit trafficking of cultural property is still a major instrument to stem this scourge. Over the last fifty years the fight against this underground trade has intensified and awareness of the moral damage caused by the plunder has grown. But the craze for these objects the prices of which have skyrocketed; the leniency of sanctions and the vulnerability of sites in conflict zones are all challenges that need to be addressed to curb the trafficking of what some call blood antiquities.
The Netherlands: Museums confront the country’s colonial past
The pioneering Nationaal Museum van Wereldculturen (The National Museum of World Cultures) in the Netherlands was one of the first museums in Europe to develop mechanisms for repatriating artefacts looted from former colonies.
Australia’s first people their social and emotional well-being
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians make up 2.5 per cent of the Australian population and continue to suffer disproportionately from the consequences of European settlement. The life expectancy for Indigenous Australians is 10 years lower than that of other Australians; the death rates for Indigenous people are twice as high across all age groups; and intentional self-harm was the leading cause of death from external causes for Indigenous males between 2001 and 2005.' Although definitive national data about the incidence and prevalence of mental health disorders among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians is not available it is clear there are enormous disparities in mental health outcomes for Indigenous people.
Indigenous peoples: Vulnerable, yet resilient
The global health crisis has highlighted the resilience of some indigenous communities. But above all it has revealed the fragility of these populations – whose poverty malnutrition and poor access to health care makes them particularly vulnerable to infectious diseases.
The health crisis: Fertile ground for disinformation
Disinformation and conspiracy theories have proliferated on social media during the pandemic. Black tea neem leaves and pepper soup have been touted as miracle cures for COVID-19 in Africa and elsewhere. To combat this infodemic digital platforms must be made more accountable fake news tracked and called out and media literacy developed.
Latin America: Towards a new social pact
Declining incomes school drop-outs the growth of informal work and steep rises in unemployment. The social consequences of the health crisis for the inhabitants of the Latin America and the Caribbean region have been massive. The author calls for the establishment of a fairer and more supportive social system to avoid a deepening of inequalities.
Climate change and malaria a complex relationship
Climate change is defined as a statistically significant variation in either the mean state of the climate or in its variability persisting for an extended periodtypically decades or longerthat may be attributed to natural internal processes external forcing or persistent anthropogenic changes in the composition of the atmosphere or in land use. Malaria the world’s most important and deadly tropical mosquito-borne parasitic disease kills approximately 1 million people and afflicts as many as 1 billion people in 109 countries throughout Africa Asia and Latin America. Reducing the impact of malaria will significantly enhance the efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals agreed upon by every United Nations Member State. Variation in climatic conditions such as temperature rainfall patterns and humidity has a profound effect on the longevity of the mosquito and on the development of malaria parasites in the mosquito and subsequently on malaria transmission.
Then and now
How the world changes! Nearly a generation ago in 1994 I served as coauthor of a major World Bank study Better Health in Africa. Now I have the privilege to observe health issues around the world as President and CEO of the United Nations Association of the USA (UNA-USA). These experiences give me perspective on changes in global health institutions policies and funding.
The art market: A victim of its own success
The very lucrative black market in works of art and antiques has flourished thanks to the keen interest of buyers shortcomings in legislation the complicity of those in the sector an increase in looting in countries in conflict situations and the development of online sales platforms.
Global health: Priority agenda for the 21st century
At the core of the United Nations Millennium Declaration of 2000 are the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) for 2015 which recognize that global health is a priority agenda for the twenty-first century. Achieving the MDGs is essential for world peace and economic stability and for addressing the critical issues of human rights equality and equity.
Developing global public health links
The “short twentieth century” as defined by Eric Hobsbawm in 1995 was marked by important economic social and technical-scientific advances that improved the quality of life and health for millions of people around the world. However as an “age of extremes’—a phrase also coined by Hobsbawm—the process of globalization began to create not only large international disparities but also huge social and health problems especially in countries excluded from the central axes of the global economy.
Education: An opportunity to reinvent teaching
More than 1.5 billion students – or ninety per cent of the world’s student population – have been affected by temporary closures of schools and universities in 2020 due to the health crisis according to UNESCO. Educational institutions have been forced almost overnight to switch to remote learning platforms and devise alternative teaching methods.
“We must punish the looters, but also the buyers”
The trafficking in antiquities from war zones in the Middle East has grown steadily over the past two decades. While there is international consensus on condemning this illicit trade it remains difficult to combat it in practice. One way to stop it is to increase sanctions on buyers says Amr Al-Azm an archaeologist and professor of Middle East history and anthropology at Shawnee State University in Ohio United States.
Wide angle a whole new world, reimagined by women: What the pandemic says about us
The higher value placed on human life the rise of the influence of health services the medicalization of our lives the extension of state power – these phenomena did not arise from the crisis caused by the pandemic but were revealed by it.
Zoom: When jazz fever gripped the townships
Jürgen Schadeberg (1931-2020) the photographer who chronicled apartheid also documented the evolution of South African jazz for almost sixty years.
Mapping the world: Beirut: Rebuilding the future through education and culture
Already reeling from the economic crisis and the global pandemic Beirut was rocked by two deadly explosions on 4 August 2020. The blasts claimed nearly 200 lives left thousands wounded and ravaged a large area at the heart of the Lebanese capital.
Shifting borders: Invisible, but very real
Today’s borders are no longer necessarily made of bricks and barbed wire. They are increasingly becoming moving barriers that rely on cutting-edge technologies and complex regulations to impose travel restrictions on citizens. The COVID-19 pandemic has further accentuated this phenomenon.
Greece: The itinerary of a stolen stele
This is the story of a Greek funerary stele from the fourth century BC put up for sale by an international auction house in 2017. The piece was not withdrawn from the auction catalogue even after the warnings of an expert regarding its dubious provenance backed by solid evidence. It would take over a year and numerous initiatives before the stele was finally returned to the Greek authorities.
Ideas: Racism: Confronting the unthinkable
The police brutality that came into focus in the United States in spring 2020 sparked a wave of protests that extended far beyond the countrys borders. Racism whether systemic or ordinary remains deeply rooted in the minds and workings of contemporary societies the author argues.
Policy trends in advancing safe motherhood
It is a startling and sobering feet that every minute of every day a woman dies in pregnancy and childbirth somewhere in the world. This equates to more than half a million women dying in pregnancy and childbirth every year with 99 per cent of these tragedies occurring in developing countries.
Mapping the world: Education: An unprecedented crisis
The closure of schools and universities around the world to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic caused a major education crisis that reached its peak in mid-April 2020. Between 16 and 19 April schools shut down in more than 190 countries affecting 1.57 billion children and young people – over ninety per cent of all learners. Throughout the health crisis UNESCO monitored the situation globally by publishing a map of school closures on its website.
Our guests: “We must educate algorithms”
Sexist algorithms? The question may seem odd. Coded by humans the algorithms used by artificial intelligence are not free of stereotypes. But while they can induce sexist or racist biases they can also be used to advance the cause of gender equality. This is what Aude Bernheim and Flora Vincent demonstrate in their book LIntelligence artificielle pas sans elles! (Artificial intelligence not without women!).