When I met Akuvi Sossah, 52, mother of four, at a medical centre in a suburb of Lomé, the capital city of Togo, in early April, she proudly showed me the confirmation code that her son had helped her obtain after she registered on her mobile phone for COVID-19 vaccination.
You’ve seen it before. Probably many times. Panel discussions featuring men only. Maybe they’re talking about economics or policy or community engagement or health. The panelists may be experts in their fields, but the panels are missing something. Women.
Across the Caribbean, young women and single mothers are getting the support they need to weather the pandemic and achieve their potential. Here, we visit UN projects in Trinidad and Tobago and, further north, in Saint Lucia.
We are living in unprecedented times. COVID-19 continues to devastate health systems, cripple economies, and exacerbate inequalities across the globe. As I write these words, the Caribbean region remains a hotspot of a disease, which is highlighting a simple reality: global crises require global solutions. This pandemic is our opportunity to strengthen regional collaboration and global solidarity to address our shared challenges and move forward. This can only happen if we are courageous and dedicated enough to seize the opportunities presented to us.
It's your first year of university and your best friend is kidnapped for marriage by a group of men. What do you do? That's the question that drives ‘Spring in Bishkek’, a mobile game that has been launched with the support of Spotlight Initiative in Kyrgyzstan.
As a 42-year-old man, who has worked for almost three decades in local construction, Jonathan acknowledges that it wasn't strange that women that walk passed a construction job site were victims of all kinds of personal attacks - insults, hisses, catcalling – and other forms of harassment.
As Arab States tackle challenges to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), COVID-19 recovery efforts offer an opportunity to reshape more productive, inclusive and sustainable economies. This can only be achieved through increased solidarity, ambition and concerted action at the regional level.
Europe and Central Asia have the opportunity to place women and youth at the centre for a greener, more equitable and more sustainable recovery from COVID-19 – in other words, a recovery process that is anchored in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. This was a key message from the United Nations Deputy-Secretary-General Amina J Mohammed as she chaired the first Regional Collaborative Platform in Eastern Europe, a new mechanism bringing together UN entities working at the regional level for sustainable development.
Anong is 20 years old. She suffered serious health issues and anxiety due to the COVID-19 crisis. “I was living with a man, and things were not easy. He was forcing me to have intimate relations,” she says. “After the lockdown, he was seeing someone else while being with me. I was silent and accepted my situation. I was not protected and contracted a sexually transmitted infection.”
