Meredith Miotke for NPR
With COVID-19 cases still soaring across the U.S., it can be tempting to just ride the winter out on the couch, binging on Netflix. But
psychologists say it s important in 2021 for us all to
keep up human contact. Isolation and particularly quarantines and lockdowns have been associated with increases in distress, depression, anxiety, says Dana Rose Garfin, a psychologist at the University of California, Irvine s Sue & Bill Gross School of Nursing.
Social isolation and loneliness, Garfin notes, are also associated with health problems such as coronary heart disease, stroke and even premature death. We don t want to trade one risk for the other risk, agrees Julianne Holt-Lunstad, a psychologist at Brigham Young University who studies isolation. Ideally, what we want to do is find solutions that help reduce the overall risk of social isolation and
Listen • 3:38
With bad pandemic news and endless social distancing, it can already feel like the longest winter ever. But keeping up nourishing bonds of human connection is possible with a little ingenuity.
With COVID-19 cases still soaring across the U.S., it can be tempting to just ride the winter out on the couch, binging on Netflix. But psychologists say it s important in 2021 for us all tokeep up human contact. Isolation and particularly quarantines and lockdowns have been associated with increases in distress, depression, anxiety, says Dana Rose Garfin, a psychologist at the University of California, Irvine s Sue & Bill Gross School of Nursing.
This ongoing series of spotlight blogs profiles our Blue Parks Ambassadors: a group of ocean champions across diverse spheres who care deeply about safeguarding life in the sea. Blue Parks Ambassadors build the momentum toward the Blue Parks aim of securing effective protection for 30% of the ocean by 2030 by communicating the value of these protections for revitalizing the health of the ocean. They connect government leaders, protected area managers, ocean enthusiasts, ocean-related businesses, and future generations of ocean-lovers with resources for understanding and celebrating effective marine conservation practices. What unites them is their passion for marine wildlife.
This week, meet Tharaka Sriram: a marine conservationist, educator and activist for women’s rights and against racism.
As humanitarian crises have become more and more complex, UNHCR has expanded both the number and type of organizations it works with. We work closely with sister UN agencies, whose work complements or converges with ours.
Most important among these are the World Food Programme (WFP), the UN Children s Fund (UNICEF), the World Health Organization (WHO), the UN Development Programme (UNDP), the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and the Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS).
UNHCR is also committed to working closer with other agencies through the Delivering as One initiative, which aims at improving cooperative UN action in the areas of development, humanitarian assistance and the environment. Additionally, we have embraced the so-called cluster approach to IDP (internally displaced people) emergencies, whereby different agencies take the lead in their area of expertise while working together to help t
KT special: How UAE is leading the way in volunteering efforts Filed on December 11, 2020
KT file photo
Thirty-five new organisations also joined the Dubai Volunteering Programme.
UAE citizens and residents have set a global example by supporting government and non-government authorities in its efforts to eradicate Covid-19. Emiratis and expatriates worked tirelessly on the frontlines to distribute aid, medicines and food to vulnerable families. Volunteering efforts doubled since March this year.
On the occasion of International Volunteer Day for Economic and Social Development, celebrated annually on December 5, the UAE’s leadership came forward with praises and incentives for volunteers.
Ahmad Julfar, director-general of the Community Development Authority (CDA), said some 29,661 volunteers of all ages and nationalities had been active in the first six months of the year, and about 2,200 of them are new.