The International Day of Family Remittances get some facts

(IDFR) is an international day adopted by the United Nations General Assembly (A/RES/72/281) and celebrated every year on 16 June.
See some key posts and Infographics from the UN 2020 online event

Find out why they are important using these UN reports which highlight the roe of remittances as a force for sustainable development
the World Bank has also prepared a page it includes recent remittances data, links to household surveys and factbooks

Another good source is the ILO website
which has a section on migrant labour with related resources
The International Labour Migration Statistics (ILMS) Database in ASEAN. The data include countries' stocks of international migrants and international migrant workers; the corresponding annual inflows of these; and countries' stocks and outflows of nationals abroad

The Migration Data Portal has a useful guide and links to a range of data sources on migrant labour worldwide.

World Oceans Day- academic resources

This week World Oceans Day celebrated the contribution of the oceans and the need to maintain their diversity and sustainability

Here are some useful academic resources for finding information about oceans.


"Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission" (IOC) of UNESCO was established in 1961. it has a knowledge exchange with a catalogue of useful websites and data about all aspects of oceans


UNEP has an ocean data viewer

ODV presents global datasets on coastal and marine biodiversity. It includes GIS data.

The Ocean Plus library has data and reports they include Environmental Impact assessments and both regional and global datasets

The UN environment website includes news, programme and data on all aspects of the environment they include a recent report on marine pollution

For the UK there is a British Oceanographic data Centre . It includes marine environment monitoring.

World Bicycle day - 3rd June some facts and figures for social scientists

3rd of June was designated by the United Nations as World Bicycle Day
How many people cycle in the UK?
The Uk government has statistics on wlaking and cycling for 2018 down to local authority area.
the proportion of adults cycling at least once a week in England fell slightly from 2015 to 2016 in 12% to 11% in 2017 to 2018
For Europe see some general facts and figures from the European Cyclist FederationEurostat has a transport database on road rail transport that give details on vehicles, passengers and infrastructure.It also has some survey results on walking and cyclingand data on cycling and road safety
On an international scale the International Transport Forum (OECD) has reprots and policy documents covering cycling
Fia foundation is concerned with philanthropy nin road safety and has case studies of safer city cycling.
Ecocounter has a world wide cycling index they map journeys cycling at night and popularity worldwide and in cities. They have a dashboard monitoring changes in use during the pandemic
Other discussion of changes can be seen in the World Resources Institute blogEIT Urban Mobility website

Global Parents day- some useful social science data sources

The First of June is designated by the United Nations as Global Parents day when the sacrifices made by parents worldwide is celebrated
So here are some quick research links.


Are parents becoming older?
yes in the Uk according to the ONS. The average age of mothers and fathers increased for the 10th consecutive year in 2018. The standardised mean age of both mothers and fathers has increased by a total of 4.2 years since they were at their lowest on record in 1975 and 1974 respectively
For a comparison look at EU fertility data to see the average age of becoming a mother in other European nations
The OECD also has a dataset for member nations on the average age of mothers
or the wider UN data on demography and age of mothers


Where is the best place to be a parent?
Look at the country rankings developed by BAV Group and The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania,
Save the Children Fund has produced regular reports and rankings relating to motherhood which use another set of indicators
A number of statistics map social protection/ benefits and allowances according to families
Useful to consult is the ILO Social Protection Report
Other categories to look at include Paternity/ Maternity rights at work. These are documented by the ILO. Look at this report on legal protections across the world 1993-2014 to trace trends. They also have more recent news and papers on maternity protection
Eurostat has expenditure on family and child benefits for European nations
and OECD trends in public expenditure on family benefits

Mental Health Awareness week- student mental health resources

This week is Mental Health Week
Time to change has reports on stigma suffered by those experiencing mental health issues

however in the current situation it is important.than ever to remember mental health

this is why 

United Nations has raised concern about the lockdown on mental Health
indeed ONS reported high levels of anxiety amongst British adults

 Universities UK has recently issued guidance on supporting staff and students

The Office for Students has also issued a briefing

HEPI has highlighted the existing pressures on academic staff in the current system
In its survey of 17 universities it 17 universities, there has been a rise in staff access to counselling of 155% in recent years. The highest increases were at the University of Bath (500%), the University of Kent (325%) and Keele University (203%). Comparisons are made on progress since an earlier survey in 2017.

Coping with COVID 19 a guide for students written by students This guide has been created as part of the Rethink Mental Illness Step Up Universities project, which is funded by the City Bridge Trust. The scheme uses students’ real-life experiences to try and foster a positive mental health community and help other students with their mental health. This guide has been created by Kay-Lee, Helena and Ioana with illustrations from Dylan Wilson.

Student Minds has an excellent list of resources for supporting student mental health during these difficult times. Their blog has stories, sharing and tips by students.

Mental Health Foundation has useful publications you can download


Research more on policy and treatment.

Pubmed

NHS Evidence

Kings Fund resources on policy.

The International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia IDAHOBIT- why is it important?

The International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia was created in 2004 to draw the attention to the violence and discrimination experienced by lesbian, gay, bisexuals, transgender, intersex people and all other people with diverse sexual orientations, gender identities or expressions, and sex characteristic
The date of May 17th was specifically chosen to commemorate the World Health Organization’s decision in 1990 to declassify homosexuality as a mental disorder.
This website provides background on the history and aims and activities.


It remains important at this time. This article from the Advocate provides insight into the global situation for LGBT communities under lockdown

FRA Europe's most recent survey across Europe found that while there was more openness in some countries there had been little progress since 2012 and a climate of fear and prejudice continued.

ILGA-Europe Rainbow Map of rights in Europe

The Rainbow Europe is ILGA-Europe’s annual benchmarking tool, which ranks 49 countries in Europe on their LGBTI equality laws and policies
shows that There has been no positive change in 49% of countries
For the second year in a row, countries are moving backwards on the Rainbow Index, as existing protections are disappearing
Trans rights are where most of the current movement in terms of LGBTI equality is happening, for better or worse. the map has score cards and data on a wide range of indicators ranging from employment, equality laws, hate crime. Indexes from 2009 onwards can be consulted on the website

International Nurses Day- some social science data

Every 12th May, the anniversary of the birth of Florence Nightingale- international nurses day is celebrated. Now more than ever we all recognise the value of nursing care.

Here are some links to information the nursing workforce worldwide.


For England there are regular monthly nursing force statistics issued by the NHS for full time equivalent (FTE) NHS Hospital and Community Health Service (HCHS) staff groups working in NHS Trusts

There is also a factsheet by ethnicity of staff for January 2020

WHO Europe has data on staff in European nations.It includes information on numbers training and wages.

OECD Data number of nurses per 1000 inhabitants
world bank

World Bank has a similar data for nurses and midwives with a larger spread of countries worldwide.

Global Health observatory of the WHO has data on the Density of nursing and midwifery personnel (total number per 10 000 population,