HIGHLIGHTS

 The region is exposed to a range of environmental and social pressures.

 47 defined international humanitarian emergencies were identified between 2000 and 2012.

 The results highlight the short recurrence intervals for major shocks and the annual co-occurrence of multiple shocks.

 The research signals a transition from conditions of armed conflict seen in the 1980s and 1990s to social conflicts, often in urban areas, particularly in national capitals.

In view of the continued escalation in cases and deaths, health partners are seeking funding to support interventions. The Humanitarian Gaps Appeal is only funded at 13 per cent.

At least 28% of South African schoolgirls are HIV positive compared with 4% of boys because "sugar daddies" are exploiting them, Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi has said.

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Description: Migration Policy Practice is a bi-monthly journal published jointly by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and Eurasylum Ltd. It only contributes articles from, and is overseen by, senior officials in Government, EU and international organizations, as well as civil society worldwide, working in the field of migration policy.

This summary note is an excerpt from the chapter on South Africa that will appear in the peer-reviewed IFPRI monograph, Southern African Agriculture and Climate Change: A Comprehensive Analysis.

The research, produced in collaboration with scientists from the countries studied, is based on scenarios from economic global climate change models, and takes into account estimates of each country’s economic and population growth. Each study includes a set of policy recommendations.

(MissionNewswire) Since 1988, Dec. 1 has marked World AIDS Day—held to honor AIDS victims and focus on prevention and treatment issues surrounding HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) and AIDS (acquired immune deficiency syndrome). Salesian Missions is one recipient of the PEPFAR program funding having provided programming to 375,000 people living in regions most impacted by the devastating effects of HIV/AIDS.

JOHANNESBURG, 30 November 2012 (PLUSNEWS) - South Africa has recently made huge strides in HIV treatment, scaling-up the number of people on antiretroviral (ARV) drugs while also improving its national treatment guidelines.

IRIN/PlusNews offers a glimpse at what else the country has been working on:

One of the ultimate perversities of our era is that the producers of food and their children often go to bed hungry. Reform of commercial agriculture is urgent if the women farm workers who grow and pack our food are to have enough to eat.

By Fatima Shabodien, former Director of the Women on Farms Project

The High-Level Taskforce for Women, Girls, Gender Equality and HIV for Eastern and Southern Africa concluded a week-long political advocacy mission to South Africa calling for renewed commitment and leadership to protect the health and rights of young women and girls in the country.

South Africa’s Department of Women, Children and People with Disabilities invited the Taskforce to advocate with the country’s leadership around the critical issues facing women and girls today including teenage pregnancy, gender based-violence, transmission of HIV from mother-to-child, and sex work.