Wednesday, January 20th- Day 13

The joint executive meeting continued today with a focus on the fifth MDG, Ensuring Maternal Heath. The recent events in Haiti have also made delegates specifically concerned over maternal health in times of crisis. Thoraya Ahmed Obaid, executive director of UNFPA, reminded everyone in attendance this morning that reproductive health care should be fully integrated into any humanitarian response as it is essential to the life and dignity of the affected women.

In addition, a separate health analysis report was released by the World Health Organization (WHO) today. This health fact sheet gave a grim report of health standards and capacity in the Gaza Strip, a region suffering from a different type of humanitarian crisis. One story that particularly stuck out was the story of Fidaa Talal Hijjy, a young women being treated for Hodgkin’s disease. She was in desperate need of a bone marrow transplant; however no hospital in the Gaza Strip performed such a procedure. After securing a hospital appointment in Israel, Fidaa submitted an urgent application to cross the Erez checkpoint into Israel for her operation. She received no response and was forced to reschedule her transplant. This happened twice more before Fidaa’s deteriorating health caused her to pass away. Israeli authorities finally approved her pass one day after her death and three days after her latest appointment date.
In both Haiti and the Gaza Strip, UN officials are doing their best to ensure Article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is fulfilled:

(1) Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.
(2) Motherhood and childhood are entitled to special care and assistance. All children, whether born in or out of wedlock, shall enjoy the same social protection.

However this has proven to be a challenge, and not just in the aforementioned regions. In 2008, WHO released a report entitled Health and Development Through Physical Activity and Sport. Before I go any further I just want to clarify that although I’m a massive proponent of sport for social development, I am not trying to say leisure cures Hodgkin’s disease or miscarriages. I’m idealistic, but also realistic.

The report did declare that there has been a significant increase in non-communicable diseases, and many underdeveloped countries do not have the resources to tackle the issues of diabetes or high blood pressure. WHO reports that physical inactivity causes nearly two million deaths worldwide each year. I don’t want to get into the U.S. healthcare debate, but WHO also reports that for every one dollar spent on grass root physical activity, $3.20 is saved on healthcare. (note: grass root physical activity, ordering the NFL Network won’t work) In addition, one third of cancers can be prevented by maintaining appropriate weight levels and diets, and simply staying active.

I did find some information relating to the Gaza Strip and how physical activity is incorporated into the lives of the citizens. One excellent program is the Gaza Summer Games, created by the United Nations agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA). This initiative attempts to provide recreation opportunities to children aged 6-15 living as refugees in the Gaza Strip. The last Gaza Summer Games feature 500 festivals ranging from theater to sports to the a world-record breaking kite flying festival.

Wilfried Lemke, the UN’s Special Advisor to the Secretary General on Sport and Peace envisions a day when Israel and Palestine can play together in a football match. Mr. Lemke admits that this day is a ways off. Present day, Israeli and Palestinian children are competing together in a different sport altogether, Ultimate Frisbee. The Ultimate Peace Project began in 2008 when a group of Ultimate Frisbee players brought the sport to the middle east. The reason that the program has been a success is likely the design of the activity. Ultimate Frisbee puts a huge emphasis on personal responsibility and teamwork, all the while bridging friendships in a fun and active environment. Also, Ultimate Frisbee was a foreign game to both demographics of children, so put Israeli and Palestinian children were forced to put their emotions aside in order to learn the rules and techniques of the activity.

The WHO report stated that “physical activity helps prevent or control risky behaviors, especially among children and young people, like tobacco, alcohol, unhealthy diet, or violence.” Which segues me into the other UN body I looked into this afternoon…

United Nations Offices of Drugs and Crime was established in 1997. In short, their mandate is to prevent the spread of illicit drugs and illegal crime. One of the first reports issued by the UNODC was Using Sport for Drug Abuse Prevention. The report details the impact sport has in reducing stress and improving family ties, thereby diminishing the likelihood of drug usage. Individual sports like archery have been proven to develop self-reliance among participants, while extreme sports fill the curiosity and adventure seeking of others. According to the UNODC, the key to managing sport as a tool against drug usage is reminding participants of the negative effects drug can have of the performance of athletes.

This past September, the UNODC organized more than 100 international teenagers to congregate at the Olympic Training Center in Poland to compete and learn social skills that they can take back home to their communities. This initiative was organized in conjunction with the UNODC and Global Sport Fund (through the Qatar Olympic Committee). The partnership believes that keeping teens active and busy will keep them away from drugs or other delinquencies.