Many schools in poorer countries lack adequate water and sanitation facilities, affecting children’s educations and even claiming lives, the United Nations Children’s Fund (unicef) warns in a new report. “Millions of children in the developing world go to schools which have no drinking water or clean latrines – basic things that many of us take for granted,” said Sigrid Kaag, the agency’s Regional Director for the Middle East and North...
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“Civil society must push for self-regulation by media”
Concerned over disturbing trends in the media, including commercialisation and trivialisation of content, corporatisation of the sector and the phenomenon of paid news, the call for a “media watch group” was made at a round table discussion on “Markets, Media and Democracy” here on Tuesday. “There is a need for a public auditing of the media, declaration of the revenue earned and checking on fraudulent news. It would be done best...
More »Tens of millions to benefit from India’s Right to Education Act – UN agencies
Three United Nations agencies are hailing what they described as a “ground-breaking” new act that legalizes the right to free and compulsory education for all children between the ages of 6 and 14 in India. The UN Children’s Fund (unicef) estimates there are eight million children in this age group, mostly girls, who are out-of-school in India. “Tens of millions of children will benefit from this initiative ensuring quality education with equity,”...
More »Every day, 1.1bn people poo without a loo by Kounteya Sinha
This is one world No. 1 tag that 'emerging India' would love to shed. Indians comprised 58% of all people across the world who regularly defecated in the open in 2008. That's more than half the Indian population (54%), a WHO-unicef report said. While 18% of urban India indulged in the practice, the percentage was as high as 69% in rural parts of the country. Globally, 1.1 billion people still...
More »One billion could miss sanitation goal without boost to efforts, say UN agencies
With five years to go before the deadline for halving the number of people without access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation, the United Nations Children’s Fund (unicef) and the World Health Organization (WHO) warn in a report released today that without stepped-up efforts, nearly one billion people will be overlooked. “We all recognize the vital importance of water and sanitation to human health and well-being and their role...
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