$1.4 billion needed for sexual and reproductive health services in crisis-hit countries
© UNFPA/Ralph Tedy Erol
UNFPA has issued an urgent financial call to provide more than 45 million people with gender-based violence prevention programs and critical reproductive health services by 2025. This is at a time when 11 million expectant mothers are in dire need, which is made worse by record displacement and international crises. Half of the 122.6 million displaced in 2024 were women and girls, putting them at higher risk for issues, including pregnancy difficulties that might be fatal and a surge in gender-based violence. A significant 75% funding shortage across 34 crisis scenarios was brought to light by UNFPA, depriving millions of people of vital medical care. The organization plans to increase emergency readiness, strengthen local and national response capacities, and increase humanitarian funding for women-led and local organizations from 35% to 43% to address this. Increased global prepositioning of essential supplies will guarantee quicker disaster response. Despite obstacles, UNFPA supported 3.6 million victims of gender-based violence and over 10 million beneficiaries of reproductive health services in 59 crisis-affected countries in 2024. It constructed more than 1,600 safe spaces for women and girls, equipped more than 3,500 health institutions, and sent out medical teams and midwives. By putting women’s and girls’ health and safety first, UNFPA urges the whole community to create a future devoid of violence and fear.
Underinvestment threatens universal health coverage goals
Credit: UNICEF
Per capita government health spending in 2022 decreased across all income levels, reversing gains from the early COVID-19 pandemic, according to the publication Global Spending on Health: Emerging from the Pandemic. Progress towards Universal Health Coverage (UHC), a crucial Sustainable Development Goal (SDG), is in jeopardy because of this. In honor of Universal Health Coverage Day, the WHO highlights how urgently governments must guarantee that everyone has access to basic medical care without facing financial hardship. Due to the high cost of healthcare, 2 billion people worldwide experience financial difficulty, and 4.5 billion people lack access to basic health services, forcing many to choose between essential treatments and basic needs like food and shelter. The groups most impacted are vulnerable, including women, children, and adolescents. Although access to health services has improved, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director-general of the WHO, points out that the expense of these services is pushing more people into poverty. The resilience of the health system is at risk due to decreased government spending on health, which compromises both routine care and crisis response. Health security and UHC are closely related, as the COVID-19 pandemic showed. Investing in health promotes social cohesiveness and worker productivity, while high healthcare expenses make poor and unstable economies worse.
Migrant workers ‘indispensable’ to global economic growth: UN labour agency
© ILO/Apex Image
According to the ILO Global Estimates on International Migrant Workers, the number of migrants working in their host countries increased by more than 30 million since 2013, to 167.7 million in 2022. Men made up 102.7 million of these, while women made up 64.9 million. The majority of migrant laborers were located in high-income areas, such as the Arab States, North America, and Northern, Southern, and Western Europe. The percentage of the other two regions decreased, while that of Europe increased slightly. Significant gender differences are highlighted in the research, with migrant women’s employment-to-population ratio standing at 48.1% while men’s is 73%. Additionally, the unemployment rate for migrants was greater (7.2%) than for non-migrants (5.2%), with women being disproportionately impacted. The chances available to women are limited by obstacles like language, unacknowledged qualifications, discrimination, childcare restrictions, and gender-based expectations. Nearly 30% of migrant women worked in care and domestic occupations, compared to 12.4% of men, where over 68% of migrant workers were employed. These patterns highlight the urgent need for focused immigration policies that guarantee fair access to good jobs and solve the world’s labor deficit. It is both morally and economically necessary to preserve the rights of migrants, said ILO Director-General Gilbert F. Houngbo.
Winter rains and aid obstacles worsen ordeal for one million Gazans
© UNFPA/Media Clinic
With ongoing assaults on civilian facilities, especially in North Gaza, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reports that the situation in Gaza is getting worse. While 61 of the 95 attacks on schools since October 6, 2024, have taken place in the neighborhood, Kamal Adwan Hospital is in terrible shape. Shelters have been damaged by flooding, which has made matters worse and left 945,000 people in critical need of assistance with winterization. Due to restricted access, supplies like tarpaulins and sealing-off kits are delayed, impeding aid deliveries. There are still security hazards for relief convoys. A WFP convoy leaving Gaza and a 70-truck convoy entering Gaza were both brutally plundered on December 11, underscoring the need for stronger security. With only 30% of planned relief operations approved from December 1–16, 2024, coordination issues still exist despite a recent deal that allowed supplies to reach 200,000 people via the Philadelphi corridor. In 2024, there were 570,000 episodes of acute diarrhea and nearly 1.2 million respiratory infections, indicating an increase in health issues. During the winter, these infections are predicted to get worse, especially among children. Numerous displaced individuals are residing in flimsy shelters that could collapse. Israeli military actions have prevented aid from reaching northern Gaza, leaving places like Jabalia and Beit Lahiya without aid for more than ten weeks. Vulnerable groups lack basic essentials, especially women and children. Since the conflict started on October 7, 2023, 45,059 Palestinians and 1,586 Israelis and foreigners have been killed, and the number is still rising.
References
https://news.un.org/en/story/2024/12/1157791
https://news.un.org/en/story/2024/12/1158111
