International Pharmaceutical Federation

In higher education, resilience is vital for enabling students and academics to confront challenges and sustain well-being. The COVID-19 pandemic has amplified concerns about how individuals in higher education, including in pharmacy education, adapt to drastic shifts in societal, economic, and educational contexts. This study aimed to explore resilience in pharmacy higher education within the Eastern Mediterranean Region. This cross-sectional study was conducted from October 2020 to January 2021, involving pharmacy students and academics across the 22 EMR countries. Data collection utilised an online questionnaire, that included, along with demographic and environmental items, the CD-RISC-22 scale, a modified version of the Connor Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC-25). CD-RISC-22 is a 22 items, a self-administered psychometric scale, tailored to assess resilience among pharmacy students and academics in EMR region. Data were analysed using descriptive and comparative statistical methods. Students exhibited a significantly lower resilience scores (mean ± SD: 58.81 ± 13.41) when compared with academic staff/faculty (66.74 ± 10.29) across all constructs of the CD-RISC-22 scale (p < 0.000), with the exception of the 'connection/spirituality' factor (p = 0.1). The availability of mental health support services in educational institutions was found to be limited, with only 13 (10.7%) academic respondents reporting access to a mental health advisory scheme and 88 (17.7%) of students reporting access to mental health and well-being support training. Academics and students felt more supported by their colleagues and peers than by their institutions. This research sheds light on the variations in resilience levels between pharmacy students and academics in the EMR, emphasising the need for targeted interventions to enhance undergraduate students' resilience.

Maximum running speed is a performance determinant in para-athletics and cerebral palsy football. Sixty international para-athletes with brain impairments completed five activity-limitation tests (standing broad jump, four bounds for distance, split jumps, 10-m speed skip, and running in place) and two criterion tests (40-m sprint and modified agility test). The same three tests (standing broad jump, four boundsfor distance, and 10-m speed skip) that correlated with running performance in nondisabled runners (.67 < r < -.82; p < .05; 75% of variance) also correlated in para-athletes with brain impairments (.41 < r < -.62; p < .01; 55% of variance). Standing broad jump, four bounds for distance, split jumps, and running in place also correlated with change-of-direction speed (.43 < r < -.63; p < .01; 58% of variance). Results indicate that methods of classification for para-athletics with nondisabled runners are also valid with para-athletes with brain impairments, and new sport-specific relationships were found for assessing the performance of rapid and short sprints toward different directions, specific of a team para-sport like cerebral palsy football.

Abstract The role of Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) in pursuing accountability for atrocity crimes through international law is more diverse than ever before, and the breadth of CSO activities and the modalities of their engagement with international justice institutions has been overlooked in the scholarship to date. This article explores various CSO approaches to advancing accountability, including at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), International Criminal Court (ICC), investigative mechanisms (for Syria, Myanmar, and Iraq), and selected United Nations treaty bodies and regional human rights courts. Civil society actors take on many roles, including as advocates, documenters, analysts, victims’ representatives, and international law experts. While often described as indispensable to international justice efforts, the relationship between civil society and formal justice mechanisms remains novel and can feel incongruous with traditional and ostensibly independent and impartial legal processes. This is evolving as CSOs enter traditional international justice spaces in diverse ways. This article provides a framework to understand the modalities of CSO engagement with international legal processes, as well as critical challenges.

SUMMARY BOX Health played a central role in the recent Conference of Parties 28 (COP28): witnessing the first official ‘Health Day’, the first COP climate-health ministerial, endorsements of a declaration on climate change and health by 149 countries, the highest number of climate and health-related side-events, and funding commitments of US$1 billion dedicated to climate and health. In this first-ever quantitative analysis of the health community’s attendance at UN climate conferences between 1995 and 2023, we show a steady increase in absolute attendance of health actors, with the highest attendance of health actors at COP28 (n=1612) compared with the lowest attendance at COP1 (n=17). Yet, the percentage of health delegates remained largely constant over time in relation to the overall number of attendees. Although a small number of Ministers of Health attended individual COPs between 1995 and 2022, COP28 was attended by approximately the same number of Health Ministers (n=52) as in all previous COPs combined (n=53). While parties and representatives of the UN and its Specialised Bodies increasingly embrace the health narrative, crucial climate change commitments continue to lag. Without fundamental social change, without phasing out fossil fuels, and without climate justice, the health narrative for climate change cannot bring what it promises: health for all.

In the pursuit of progress and lasting change, one African saying resonates deeply: "If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together." This proverb encapsulates the essence of collaboration and unity, highlighting the indispensable role of diverse perspectives and contributions in achieving enduring success. It underscores the imperative of embracing and respecting different backgrounds, cultures, and viewpoints to realise common objectives. The articles in this second issue of 2024 are indeed a demonstration of the Journal’s mission of diversity through joint social action.