Author Archive: useadmin

International Day of the Girl :: October 11th 2012

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Research has shown that simply being born a girl can leave a child at a huge disadvantage in life. In the poorest societies a girl faces greater risk of malnutrition, hunger and disease compared to her brothers. She will have fewer opportunities for an education and career. In many developing countries 1 out of 7 girls marries before age 15.

Other research has also shown that investing in girls and young women has a disproportionately beneficial effect in alleviating poverty – not only for girls but for their families, communities and entire countries. Girls who spend an extra year at school will on average increase their lifetime income by 10 to 20 per cent. 

(Information from http://www.plan.org.au/mediacentre/mediareleases/un_declares_international_day_of_the_girl)

World Mental Health Day

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10 October 2012

World Mental Health Day raises public awareness about mental health issues. The day promotes open discussion of mental disorders, and investments in prevention, promotion and treatment services. This year the theme for the day is “Depression: A Global Crisis”.

Depression affects more than 350 million people of all ages, in all communities, and is a significant contributor to the global burden of disease. Although there are known effective treatments for depression, access to treatment is a problem in most countries and in some countries fewer than 10% of those who need it receive such treatment.

(source: The World Health Organisation)

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Fact: Not all homeless people are mentally ill

·       Mental illness – such as schizophrenia – tends to first occur when people are young, at a stage when people are completing education or starting a career.Mental illness can seriously disrupt this process and lead to unstable job and housing careers.

·       The majority of mentally ill people live in their own homes in the community and usually receive support from families and community health services.

·       A recent study has shown that only 30% of homeless respondents had mental health problems prior to becoming homeless.

·       There is evidence to suggest that being homeless impacts badly on people’s mental health – with 53% of homeless people in a recent study reporting that they developed mental health problems after becoming homeless.

 (Source: The Mercy Foundation ‘Myths about homelessness’ fact sheet)

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Fact: Homelessness could happen to you!

No one is immune from potentially becoming homeless. Studies have shown that just a few unfortunate events can turn someone’s life around completely. It may be the loss of a partner, an unexpected expense or an eviction at short notice. 

(Source: The Mercy Foundation ‘Myths about homelessness’ fact sheet)

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[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d5pu7UJxUBo?wmode=transparent&autohide=1&egm=0&hd=1&iv_load_policy=3&modestbranding=1&rel=0&showinfo=0&showsearch=0&w=500&h=281]
Could you live on $2 per day?

(Source: http://www.youtube.com/)

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Fact: Domestic violence is the single biggest cause of homelessness, involving one in every two homeless women with children. There are many organisations that can help. Reach Out is one of them.

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Fact: Every day, around the world 25,000 people die from hunger and poverty. (Food and Agricultural Organisation)