Benefit finding (looking for positive aspects while living through a difficult situation) is a skill we had probably practiced before, but COVID-19 pushed us all to identify good things coming out of a very difficult season for humans on planet earth. Benefit finding was a key concept as we implemented a resilience programme with young people li...

As U.S. and other NATO troops are leaving Afghanistan, and the macro-economic situation deteriorating rapidly,  the country finds itself once again on the brink of collapse. Echoes of desperation, fear, helplessness, and chaos fill the air as the Taliban take back control and are cracking down on individuals they believe to have helped or worke...

Most of the focus in the debate on COVID-19 vaccination has been on the global aspects so far. Global vaccine inequity, vaccine nationalism, rich countries failing to deliver on their pledges to the COVAX scheme,  a lack of convincing G7 and G20 commitments (and donations) at one summit after another, tricky Trips waiver negotiations, recently a...

The negative consequences of vaccine hesitancy are both clear and dangerous – think of Andrew Wakefield’s legacy, for instance. His now thoroughly debunked claim that there is a link between the MMR vaccine and colitis and autism continues to be the bedrock of the “antivaxx” movement, the consequences of which still emerge. Following vis...

The World Health Summit regional meeting in Kampala, Uganda (June 27-30), which was first slated to take place end of April 2020 has just been concluded. The reason for the postponement of the meeting in 2020 was, you guessed it, the COVID-19 pandemic. Unfortunately, one year later, the pandemic is still far from over, with the host country, Uga...

A recent WHO report noted that one in 100 deaths is by suicide. Countries around the world need to improve suicide prevention strategies. That includes the Eastern Mediterranean region, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) even if the country (with 6.4 suicides per 100,000 people (2021) ) doesn’t do too bad, compared with some other countries in...

June 2020, Montreal, Quebec. A community-based organization, Le Pont (in English, ‘The Bridge’) collects and delivers computer goods and food baskets for asylum seekers in the Greater Montreal area. Their goal? Responding to the most pressing needs of this category of vulnerable migrants and making sure they did not become isolated during th...

COVID-19 has impacted the lives and livelihoods of communities across Sudan, like in much of the rest of the world. However, the impact in Sudan has been aggravated by the already crumbling healthcare infrastructure and deteriorating economy, on top of the uncertain political transition the country is going through. A recent analysis suggests th...

Over two million men have already died from COVID-19 worldwide. They account for around 60% of deaths and there is a higher ratio of male:female deaths in all but seven of 193 countries for which there is data. Women are much more affected by the secondary impacts of the pandemic, including employment and gender-based violence, but men have with...