Posts by Neena Bhandari

CommonSensing Project helps build climate resilience in Fiji

0 Comments read Climate Change, Environment & Development, Health & Science
Vineil Narayan on Vio Island in Lautoka, Fiji. Photo Credit: Supplied by Vineil Narayan

By Neena Bhandari

Sydney, 10.09.2021 (IPS): The UK Space Agency’s International Partnership Programme (IPP) CommonSensing is led by the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) through its United Nations Satellite Centre (UNOSAT), which is working with selected partners including the Commonwealth Secretariat to improve resilience to the effects of climate change in Fiji, the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu.

Vineil Narayan, Climate Finance Specialist and Head of Climate Change and International Cooperation Division, Ministry of Economy, Fiji, talks about the use of CommonSensing data in climate change adaptation and mitigation; and its potential in accessing the much-needed climate finance.

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Is NDIS the gold standard for disability care in the world?

0 Comments read Disability, Health & Science, NDIS
Jonathan Marchand, who has muscular dystrophy and requires a ventilator to breathe, had been living in a long-term care home for nearly 10 years. Last August, he had "caged" himself in front of the national assembly in Quebec (Canada) to highlight the institutionalisation of people with disabilities. Photo Credit: Supplied by Jonathan Marchand

By Neena Bhandari

Sydney, 23.08.2021 (Hireup): Australia’s National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) is said to be a ‘game changer’ for people with disabilities and their families, but how does it hold up on the global stage? I spoke to three leading disability organisations in Canada, the United Kingdom and Singapore to find out what supports are available in their countries. Are they advocating for a universal, person-centred scheme which offers people with disabilities more ‘choice and control’ over the care and services they receive?

Every Canadian Counts Coalition (ECCC) board member Jonathan Marchand says: “[The] NDIS is an example to follow. In Canada, there is no centralised funding for services and support for people with disabilities. It is left to the provinces and there’s a patchwork of support that, for the most part, hasn’t been updated for decades now. In some places, you will even struggle to get funding for a wheelchair”.

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Child labour rampant in Bangladesh’s leather industry, study

0 Comments read Business and Trade, Health & Science

By Neena Bhandari

Sydney, 22.07.2021 (SciDev.Net): Children as young as seven years are working with hazardous chemicals, heavy machinery or carrying heavy loads, endangering their health and lives in Bangladesh’s lucrative leather industry, according to a study.

Globally, about 160 million children were subjected to child labour at the beginning of 2020, with nine million additional children at risk due to the impact of COVID-19, according to UNICEF. Almost half of them were in hazardous work that directly imperils their health and moral development, the UN children’s agency said.

The study, published this month and led by the Institute of Development Studies (IDS), a UK-based international development policy think tank, comes as the world marks 2021 as the International Year for the Elimination of Child Labour.

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