Posted on May 20, 2024
By Aisha Jumaan, President, Yemen Relief and Reconstruction Foundation (YRRF)
“Polio has no treatment. Best protection is vaccination.”
In the past few years, Yemen experienced a dramatic rise in vaccine-preventable diseases, posing a severe threat to public health amidst an already dire humanitarian crisis. Millions of Yemeni children missed routine immunizations, with only 37% fully vaccinated in 2023. This gap contributed to over 53,000 suspected measles cases and 2,347 confirmed cases. Additionally, there were 1,978 suspected diphtheria cases. The circulation of polio virus type 2 persisted, with three new confirmed cases in 2023, raising the total to 239 confirmed cases since the outbreak began in November 2021. Vaccine disinformation and misinformation further threatened public trust in the vaccination program.
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Posted on May 20, 2024
By Global Communities
In a momentous step towards revolutionizing healthcare accessibility for secluded island communities in the Oti region of Ghana, the United States Agency for International Development ), in partnership with Global Communities, orchestrated the commissioning and handover ceremony of the groundbreaking “Health Voyager” boat.
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Posted on April 16, 2024
By Jason Hatch and Karen Kraft, Operation Snow Leopard
Interior of the newly inaugurated Wolesi Jirga Hall of Afghan Parliament (Photo Credit: Wolesi Jirga Website 2015)
Background
The Fall of a Republic
The last tragic iteration of a democratically elected government in Afghanistan came to an end on 15 August 2021.
It had been established in 2005, with its electoral branch consisting of a lower house (Wolesi Jirga – 250 seats) and an upper house (Meshrano Jirga – 120 seats). The Afghanistan Constitution, ratified in 2004, explicitly stated that men and women had equal rights and duties before the law. It reserved specific seats in both chambers for female candidates, reflecting a commitment to gender equality supported by male leaders advocating for women’s representation in the newly formed republic.
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