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Globally the health of adolescents is at a tipping point

Action needed to tackle rising threats to young people’s health and wellbeing NAIROBI/GENEVA, May 21 2025– By 2030, there will still be over 1 billion of the world’s adolescents (aged 10-24 years) living in countries where preventable and treatable health problems like HIV/AIDS, early pregnancy, unsafe sex, depression, poor nutrition and injury collectively threaten the […]

National and International News

Vlogging tips for wannabe global health influencers

Don’t get carried away by the title of the blog, I am certainly no influencer, not by a long stretch but I wanted to grab your attention😊. When I had the career turning point of being part of the Emerging Voices for Global Health (EV4GH) Programme in 2014, I took to blogging and absolutely loved […]

Blogs

Witsie appointed Thematic Lead at the United Nations

Wits alumna Dr Shakira Choonara takes the reins as the head of the Action Coalition on Bodily Autonomy and Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights. Choonara assumed her new role in March 2024 at the United Nations Women Headquarters. She previously served at the UN as the Thematic Lead on Bodily Autonomy and Sexual and Reproductive […]

Special features

Dear President Ramaphosa, you are probably happy the youth are leaving so there’s no Arab Spring in SA

The future envisioned and fought for by the youth of 1976 is gone. Forty years later, you and your comrades have taken away the future of young South Africans. Dear President Cyril Ramaphosa and Comrades, I doubt you will read this, I doubt you will care, I doubt you will or can do anything, but […]

Blogs

Youth Month: Dr Shakira Choonara. National Research Foundation of South Africa

une is Youth Month, and this year the NRF is celebrating the Youth of the NRF who are advancing knowledge, transforming lives, and inspiring a nation. We thank all participants for sharing their stories with us. Dr Shakira Choonara is a multi-award-winning Public Health Practitioner. She is currently a Technical Specialist at the World Health […]

Special features

Unpacking Gender Equality And How To Positively Contribute To Change – Dr Shakira Choonara

We often use the term “gender” but what does it mean? Often the terms “sex” and “gender” are commonly used interchangeably ( to mean the same thing) but there is a significant and important difference. Sex refers to biological differences between males and females. Gender refers to socially constructed characteristics of men, women, and other genders (e.g. transgender individuals). […]

Blogs

Reflecting on Women’s Month: The Struggles of Adolescent Females Across the Globe

Daily Maverick journalist Sune Payne together with Dr. Shakira Choonara, Technical Specialist at WHO and Lancet Commissioner on Adolescent Health and Wellbeing, and Surabhi Dogra, Lancet Commissioner on Adolescent Health will examine the challenges faced by Adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) in low- and middle-income countries. AGYW carry the burdens of HIV, child marriages, […]

Webinars

The opportunities and perils of the digital age for gender equality

Last month (6-17 March 2023) gender equality activists convened at the Sixty-seventh Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) in New York and virtually. This year’s theme was centred on, “Innovation and technological change, and education in the digital age for achieving gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls”.  This theme is under the banner of Sustainable […]

Blogs

‘Female adolescent struggles are often overlooked’ – health and wellbeing experts

Despite significant global investment in programmes for adolescent girls and young women, this group continues to carry the burden of HIV, child marriages, female genital mutilation, unmet needs for contraception and high levels of teenage pregnancy. Dr Shakira Choonara and Surabhi Dogra discuss some of these struggles. Read more here: https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2023-04-17-female-adolescent-struggles-are-often-overlooked-health-and-wellbeing-experts/

National and International News, Uncategorized