UNHCR launches Ramadan campaign for forcibly displaced persons

People stand by a building destroyed in recent earthquake in Aleppo, Syria, Monday, Feb. 27, 2023. (File/AP)
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Updated 28 March 2023
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UNHCR launches Ramadan campaign for forcibly displaced persons

  • Campaign comes amid an increase in humanitarian emergencies in Turkiye, Syria and Bangladesh

DUBAI: United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees is launching a Ramadan campaign to raise funds for the growing needs of people who have been forcibly displaced around the world. 

The campaign comes amid an increase in humanitarian emergencies, the UNHCR said on Tuesday..

Over 100 million people were forcibly displaced from their homes last year as a result of war, violence, persecution, and human rights violations. 

The devastating earthquakes that struck Turkiye and Syria in February affected 23.8 million people, including many Syrian refugees who had already been displaced by the country's long-running crisis. 

UNHCR is appealing for $201.3 million to meet the urgent needs of quake-impacted families.

Meanwhile, in Bangladesh, a 90 percent funding shortfall adds to the difficulties that 978,000 Rohingya refugees face regarding nutrition, shelter, sanitation, and livelihoods. 

“UNHCR is urgently calling for support to address the growing humanitarian needs of displaced people observing Ramadan facing increasing challenges across the world,” said Khaled Khalifa, UNHCR’ Representative to Gulf Cooperation Council countries. 

“We are working tirelessly to ensure that those affected by war and displacement are provided with immediate and long-term relief,” Khalifa added.

Since its inception in 2017, the UNHCR Refugee Zakat Fund has supported over six million people  in 26 countries. 


India rolls out free HPV vaccines to combat cervical cancer

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India rolls out free HPV vaccines to combat cervical cancer

  • Nationwide HPV vaccination campaign targets 11.5 million 14-year-old girls annually
  • India records about 80,000 cervical cancer deaths, 120,000 new cases every year 

NEW DELHI: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a free HPV vaccination drive on Saturday for young girls across India, which has the world’s highest rate of cervical cancer deaths. 

India records around 120,000 new cases of cervical cancer annually and around 80,000 deaths. It is the second-most-common cancer among women in the country. 

India has the highest number of cervical cancer deaths, followed by China and Indonesia. The number of cases in India is the second highest globally, after China. 

With cervical cancer largely preventable through HPV vaccination and regular screening, the new campaign aims to vaccinate around 11.5 million 14-year-old Indian girls annually. 

“The prime minister launched the nationwide HPV vaccination campaign … describing it as a pivotal step toward empowering India’s ‘Nari Shakti’ (women power) and ensuring the health of mothers and daughters,” Modi’s office said in a statement. 

Under the campaign, a dose of HPV vaccine will be provided free of cost at all government health centers across the country for all 14-year-old girls, said Anupriya Satel, minister of state for health and family welfare. 

“This initiative is a historic step towards protecting our adolescent girls from serious diseases like cervical cancer,” she wrote on X. 

The launch event, which took place in the northern city of Ajmer, also saw a few young girls receiving the HPV vaccine on stage.

The vaccination is a “powerful preventive step that can save lives,” according to a statement from India’s Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, which also said that HPV vaccinations can help families “secure a healthier, cancer-free future for India’s daughters.”