Contributed, Author at Future Media News

Social media for sex education: South African teens explain how it would help them

Social media platforms can provide safe, accurate and confidential information about sex to teens. Nattrass/Getty Images By Ayobami Precious Adekola, University of South Africa Most teenagers dread talking about sex with their parents. Their parents feel the same way. In some societies it’s considered taboo to even broach the subject. And, even where sexuality education is taught at schools, research has shown that effective communication between young […]

18 April, 2024

Africa

Nearly 136 million people in Africa live with hearing difficulties: tackling the crisis with a smartphone and an app

By De Wet Swanepoel, University of Pretoria In rural Kenya, 64-year-old John Kamau’s world of silence is about to change. For decades, isolated by hearing loss from the community’s vibrant life and his grandchildren’s conversations, he sees hope when a community health worker visits with a smartphone in hand. This isn’t just any visit; it’s the gateway to Kamau’s reconnection with the world, facilitated by breakthrough digital […]

18 April, 2024

World

Africa is full of bats, but their fossils are scarce – why these rare records matter

By Mariëtte Pretorius, University of the Witwatersrand Africa is home to more than 20% of the world’s bat population. There are over 200 species to be found on the continent. South Africa is particularly diverse, with 72 bat species. I am a zoologist who has studied bats for many years. Recently, while doing some reading about South Africa’s fossils, I started wondering about bat fossils. Given […]

18 April, 2024

Environment

Advancing the rights of girls and women promotes justice and is also effective climate action

By Grace M. Jaramillo, University of British Columbia Across the world, climate change disproportionately impacts the lives of girls, yet children are often forgotten in climate policy. I recently led a team of student researchers from the University of British Columbia to better understand why this is the case during field research in the Dominican Republic. Our team talked to 45 people, including key policy decision-makers on social […]

17 April, 2024

Uncategorized

Obstetric and gynecological violence: Empowering patients to recognize and prevent it

Women who receive obstetric and gynecological care must be heard when they say that they have received inadequate, violent treatment. (Shutterstock) By Audrey Ferron-Parayre, L’Université d’Ottawa/University of Ottawa; Catherine Régis, Université de Montréal; Emmanuelle Bernheim, L’Université d’Ottawa/University of Ottawa, and Sylvie Lévesque, Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM) In recent years, media and social networks have brought to light growing denunciations of obstetric and gynecological care that is considered […]

17 April, 2024

Africa

Volvo’s e-truck rental program is a milestone for Africa’s e-mobility quest

By Bonface Orucho, bird story agency Swedish automaker Volvo has introduced an electric truck rental program under the Equipment-as-a-Service (EaaS) model in South Africa in a move that could cut huge emissions from the transport sector. The company also intended the service to democratise access to eco-friendly transport solutions in Africa. “The intention is to bring down the “barrier to entry” for those with the environmental ambition to […]

17 April, 2024

Africa

A decade after the kidnapping of the Chibok girls in Nigeria, what has the #BringBackOurGirls movement achieved?

By Temitope Oriola, University of Alberta In April 2014, the terrorist organization Boko Haram kidnapped 276 high school girls in Chibok, a town in northeast Nigeria. About 57 of the girls managed to escape on the night of their capture. Boko Haram had demonstrated its intentions regarding the education of girls and young women prior to the mass kidnapping — two months before the Chibok kidnapping, Boko Haram […]

17 April, 2024

World

Development finance: how it works, where it goes, why it’s needed

By Abdul Latif Alhassan, University of Cape Town and Bomikazi Zeka, University of Canberra Development finance is the invisible glue that connects public and private financing for projects that have social, economic and environmental outcomes. These include improved infrastructure, better waste management and sanitation, financial inclusion, clean energy and sustainable agriculture. The goal of development finance is to create positive social, economic or environmental outcomes through […]

17 April, 2024

Lifestyle

Websites deceive users by deliberately hiding the extent of data collection and sharing

Within the first three seconds of opening a web page, over 80 third parties on average have accessed your information. (Shutterstock) By Raymond A. Patterson, University of Calgary; Ashkan Eshghi, Warwick Business School, University of Warwick; Hooman Hidaji, University of Calgary, and Ram Gopal, Warwick Business School, University of Warwick Websites sometimes hide how widely they share our personal information, and can go to great lengths to […]

17 April, 2024