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Providing improved water supply to low-income urban communities is a difficult challenge faced by water utilities throughout Africa and Asia. This guide provides an introduction to available options for... more

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Housing at the forefront of the response to COVID-19: Discussion paper on policy options for Myanmar

UN-HABITAT (2020) C1

Urban poor communities including the homeless, residents of informal settlements, residents at risk of being evicted, Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), undocumented persons, low-income renters, a... more

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Influencing food environments for healthy diets

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations FAO (2016) C2

Food environments are usually defined as the settings with all the different types of food made available and accessible to people as they go about their daily lives. That is, ... range of food in supermarkets, small retail outlets, wet markets, street food stalls, coffee shops, tea houses, school canteens, restaurants, and all the other venues where people buy and eat food. These environments differ enormously depending on the context. They can be extensive and diverse, with a seemingly endless array of options and price ranges, or they can be sparse, with very few options on offer. Because they determine what food consumers can access at a given moment in time, at what price, and with what degree of convenience, food environments both constrain and prompt the consumer’s choice.Food environments are influenced by the food systems which supply them, and vice versa. Food systems encompass the entire range of activities, people and institutions involved in the production, processing, marketing, consumption and disposal of food (FAO, 2013). They include but are not limited to food supply chains. Making food systems nutrition-sensitive can contribute to addressing all forms of malnutrition, as food systems determine whether the food needed for good nutrition are available, affordable, acceptable and of adequate quantity and quality. How closely food systems and food environments are interrelated and interdependent, and the degree to which external factors affect nutrition outcomes, varies from setting to setting.Many of today’s food systems and food environments are challenged in supporting consumer choices that are consistent with healthy diets and good nutrition. Consumers are not making choices based on nutrition and health, and poor diet is now the number one risk factor for death and disability worldwide (GBD, 2015). Food systems that do not enable healthy diets are increasingly recognized as an underlying cause of malnutrition (GLOPAN, 2016), and malnutrition, irrespective of form, has a huge cost. Economic costs associated with undernutrition are estimated at $1-2 trillion per year, about 2-3% of global GDP (FAO, 2013); the global economic cost of obesity and associated diet-related non-communicable diseases is estimated at $2 trillion per year, about 2.8% of global GDP (McKinsey, 2014). Influencing food environments for promoting healthy diets is an emerging strategy to address today’s nutrition challenges. more

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Bringing the crucified down from the cross

Buffel, O. Missionalia (2015) C1

Preferential option for the poor in the South... more

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In Control: A Practical Handbook for Professionals Working in Health Emergencies Internationally RKI

Robert Koch Institut RKI (2023) CC

The greatest risk to persons engaging in international medical emergency response is poor preparation. The In Control handbook hopes to provide ... more

Perspectives on Underlying Factors for Unhealthy Diet and Sedentary Lifestyle of Adolescents at a Kenyan Coastal Setting

Ssewanyana, D.; Abubakar, A.; Van Baar, A. et al. Frontiers in Public Health (2018) CC

The article explores the underlying factors influencing unhealthy diets and sedentary lifestyles among adolescents in Kilifi County, Kenya. Using a qualitative approach, ... study involved interviews and focus group discussions with adolescents, stakeholders, and young adults. Key findings include a preference for unhealthy, carbohydrate-rich, and sugary foods over traditional and nutritious options, exacerbated by factors like low socioeconomic status, urbanization, and poor farming practices. Sedentary behavior, such as gambling and extensive technology use, was prevalent, often replacing physical activity. Protective factors like school attendance, community-based services, and parental engagement were identified as mitigating risks. The study highlights the importance of ecological intervention strategies targeting intrapersonal, interpersonal, and community factors to address unhealthy behaviors and promote better health outcomes in adolescents. more

Guidance note for practitioners leveraging climate-smart agriculture for peace: Insights from a bundle of interventions in Ghana

Alliance of Bioversity & CIAT; CGIAR (2024) CC

Climate change is one of the biggest crises of our time. Climate threats range from higher temperatures, heavy rainfalls and floods, erratic precipitation, droughts, desertification, and land degradation. This has negative implications on ... quality and quantity of natural resources, such as land and water, agricultural productivity, rural livelihood options, food prices, and nutrition security, particularly when there is a lack of adaptation capacities and preparedness measures (Pacillo, 2024). Farmers are at the forefront of the climate crisis where their livelihoods are being jeopardized, and they are faced with many challenges to secure water, energy, and agriculture inputs, and maintain agriculture productivity. This heightens the risk of competition over natural resources and aggravates grievances and structural inequalities related to land rights and ownership as well as land access, management, and governance. In Africa, land-related issues are among the triggers of many violent disputes (Medina et al, 2024). For instance, communal violence in Nigeria and Sudan is tied to competition over scarce fertile land and poor resource governance (Bruce and Bourdeaux, 2013). more

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Health in the green economy : health co-benefits of climate change mitigation - transport sector

World Health Organization (WHO) (2012) C_WHO

The threat climate change poses to health, equity, and development has been rigorously documented. However, in an era marked by economic crisis, regional conflicts, natural disasters and growing disparities between rich and ..., the joint global actions required to address climate change have been vigorously debated – and critical decisions postponed. This document, part of WHO’s Health in the Green Economy series, describes how many climate change measures can be “win-wins” for people and the planet. These policies yield large, immediate public health benefits while reducing the upward trajectory of greenhouse gas emissions. Many of these policies can improve the health and equity of people in poor countries and assist developing countries in adapting to climate change that is already occurring, as evidenced by more extreme storms, flooding, drought and heatwaves. WHO’s Department of Public Health and Environment launched the Health in the Green Economy initiative in 2010 to review potential health and equity “co-benefits” of proposed climate change measures – as well as relevant risks. This review examines mitigation strategies discussed in the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change which constitutes the most broad-based global review of mitigation options by scientific experts. more

Measures to strengthen primary health-care systems in low- and middle-income countries

Etienne V Langlois, Andrew Mc Kenzie, Helen Schneider & Jeffrey W Mecaskey World Health Organization (2020) C_WHO

Primary health care offers a cost–effective route to achieving universal health coverage (UHC). However, primary health-care systems are weak in many low- and middle-income countries and often fail to provide comprehensive, people-centred, integrated care. We analysed ... primary health-care systems in 20 low- and middle-income countries using a semi-grounded approach. Options for strengthening primary health-care systems were identified by thematic content analysis. We found that: (i)despite the growing burden of noncommunicable disease, many low- and middle-income countries lacked funds for preventive services; (ii)community health workers were often under-resourced, poorly supported and lacked training; (iii)out-of-pocket expenditure exceeded 40% of total health expenditure in half the countries studied, which affected equity; and (iv)health insurance schemes were hampered by the fragmentation of public and private systems, underfunding, corruption and poor engagement of informal workers. In 14 countries, the private sector was largely unregulated. Moreover, community engagement in primary health care was weak in countries where services were largely privatized. In some countries, decentralization led to the fragmentation of primary health care. Performance improved when financial incentives were linked to regulation and quality improvement, and community involvement was strong. Policy-making should be supported by adequate resources for primary health-care implementation and government spending on primary health care should be increased by at least 1% of gross domestic product. Devising equity-enhancing financing schemes and improving the accountability of primary health-care management is also needed. Support from primary health-care systems is critical for progress towards UHC in the decade to 2030. more

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POLICY BRIEF - Stepping up Investments in Human Capital Development to unleash Rwanda’s Demographic Dividend

e National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda (NISR), the African Institute for Development Policy (AFIDEP) and UNFPA (2017) C2

The Demographic Dividend study on Rwanda assessed the socio economic and human development potential of our country in the short, medium and long-t... more

The Seven Principles of Social Teaching

Catholic Charities (2019) CC

Accessed on 25-07-2019 The Church identifies seven key principles of Catholic Social Teaching that stand today as a guide for furthering the educa... more

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Ending Extreme Poverty: The Call from Catholic Social Thought

Miller A. Integritas (2015) C1

Integritas 4.3 (Fall 2014), pp. 1-30. doi: 10.6017/integritas.v4i3p1