This is the News in Brief, from the United Nations.
Alarming number of women mistreated during childbirth: WHO study
More than a third of women surveyed across four lower-income countries reported being mistreated during childbirth, a new study led by the UN’s health agency (WHO) revealed on Wednesday.
The research was published in The Lancet science journal, and was carried out in Ghana, Guinea, Myanmar and Nigeria.
Of the 2,016 women observed, 42 percent experienced physical or verbal abuse, stigma or discrimination during labour and childbirth.
Younger, less educated women were found to be most vulnerable to mistreatment - be it stigmatization, discrimination, undergoing medical procedures without consent or with use of force, or abandonment and neglect by health workers.
WHO has recommended strategies to ensure women are treated with compassion and dignity, from holding health systems accountable, to ensuring enough resources are available for quality care, and clear policies on women’s rights.
Conference to fund global disease fight kicks off in France
A pledging conference backed by UNAIDS and other partners is underway in Lyon, France, in a bid to step up the fight against HIV, Tuberculosis, and Malaria.
The Sixth Replenishment Conference, hosted by French President Emanuel Macron, is part of the Global Fund, an international funding organization to end epidemics, and aims to raise an ambitious $14 billion to help save some 16 million lives, and avert 234 million infections, caused by the three killer diseases.
Pledges made will fund the fight against the diseases from 2020 to 2022, in line with the Sustainable Development target to end epidemics and create resilient health systems for all by 2030, SDG 3.
Director General for UN health agency WHO, Tedros Adhanom Ghebryesus, is scheduled to speak on behalf of the Fund’s Board partners, alongside UNAIDS, the Stop TB Partnership, the RBM Partnership to end Malaria, and the World Bank.
UN celebrates postal network on World Day
Every year, October 9 marks the anniversary of the establishment of the Universal Postal Union (UPU) in 1874 in the Swiss Capital, Bern, now an annual Day dedicated to the world’s postal network.
The UPU, a United Nations agency, declared this day World Postal Day in 1969, during its main annual meeting, held in Japan 50 years ago.
A commemorative message from the Union’s Director General, Bishar Abdirahman Hussein, highlighted that for the 145 years of the UPU’s existence, the entity has been promoting solutions for the international postal sector, including broadening mechanisms from sorting, to delivery using modern technology.
Mail services have embraced new technology - from virtual reality, the internet, to blockchain encryption and robotics - to enhance customer experiences worldwide.
The UPU’s original philosophy, to serve humanity and facilitate global communication, “remains the driving force” of the postal network, Mr. Hussein said.
Natalie Hutchison, UN News.
