Blog: Global Health

When you picture a United Nations conference, you probably don’t imagine 600 young people dancing in the aisles. But from the beginning, it was clear that the ICPD Global Youth Forum was not your typical conference. The forum – led by young people, for young people – brought together youth leaders, and representatives from civil society, the private-sector and government, from around the world to learn, deliberate, and make recommendations around five key issue areas: staying healthy, comprehensive education, employment, family and youth rights (including sexuality) and leadership.

“So, now we can just walk into the office?”
That’s what Rogath Lewis Mollel of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania (ELCT) said to me as we made our way into the Cannon House Office Building on Capitol Hill. I responded with a surprised “yes.” Rogath was amazed with the amount of access he and the average U.S. citizen have to our elected officials in Washington, DC.

Imagine a life where you live on less than two dollars a day. You have been saving for months to afford a trip to the health clinic. With your payment in hand, you walk three hours to get to the nearest clinic, carrying your young children with you. When you finally arrive, you want to be able to receive information and testing for HIV and also pick up contraception to prevent pregnancy, but you’re told that the clinic does not provide both services. You can get tested for HIV, but you’ll have to walk an additional 20 miles to a separate clinic to obtain contraceptives. Unable to cover the distance, you are forced to return home without the contraception that you want and need.

Pneumonia. You probably know it as a spelling-bee challenge and respiratory illness that can make you very sick. Millions of people in the US are affected each year by pneumonia, but did you know that it is one of the leading killers of children under the age of 5 around the world?

Five Scary Issues Facing our Planet

Tonight in the United States, as the sun sets and the moon rises, children dressed in scary costumes will take over the dark and spooky streets – ghosts, goblins and witches—oh my! Kids in costumes might not scare you – but these facts and figures about our top five scariest issues facing our planet might! See how you can take action on Halloween to create a better (and less scary) world for children everywhere.

Last night, Fast Company—the world’s leading progressive business media brand—named the Mobile Alliance for Maternal Action (MAMA) winner of its Innovation By Design Award in the Service Design category.

My name is Dennis Ogbe and this past summer I represented the USA at the 2012 Paralympic Games in London. I am also a polio survivor. I contracted polio at the age of three when I was taken to a health clinic to be treated for malaria in Nigeria. Today, polio still exists in Nigeria and is still killing and disabling children…

Houston Dynamo forward Macoumba “Mac” Kandji, 27, is excited to be part of Nothing But Nets night at this Saturday’s Major League Soccer game between the Dynamo and the Philadelphia Union. The United Nations Foundation’s Nothing But Nets campaign has joined forces with athletes from the very beginning, partnering with MLS W.O.R.K.S. and NBA Cares to reach new audiences in the fight against malaria.

While a lot of important news has been coming out of the United Nations General Assembly lately, there is one story that may not make the front pages, but should be at the front of our minds: the health of women and children around the world.

In my home country of Liberia, the social and cultural impact on adolescent girls’ sexual and reproductive health is devastating. Girls face many issues when it comes to their sexual reproductive health and rights, including social isolation, lack of education, traditional practices, economic disparities, violence and issues of confidentiality and stigmatization.