“Apocalyptic” is the word that sprang to mind when I visited communities in the orange and red zones just nine days after the devastating eruption of La Soufrière.
Disabled people in Haiti who have been driven from one temporary shelter to another as result of an earthquake, fire and mounting gang violence have been finally able to find a safe home, just ahead of the International Day of Persons with Disabilities marked annually on 3 December.
"After raping me, he told me that I was still a child, and he threw me outside. This is the first time I have told anyone because I was scared to say something before." And so, 12-year-old Elisabeth's childhood was forever changed.
The United Nations Country Teams from Bolivia, Paraguay and Argentina recently completed a ten-day mission by visiting several communities in the largest dry forest in the world and the second-largest forest biome in South America: the Gran Chaco, which extends over an area of over 1,14 million square kilometres, distributed in central and northern Argentina, southeastern Bolivia and western Paraguay.
UN teams are tirelessly working with authorities and partners to respond to the ongoing pandemic and other multifaceted challenges across the globe. Today, we highlight some of the coordinated efforts.
Haitians who were affected by the devastating earthquake which struck the south-west of the country in August have demonstrated their “heartwarming resilience” according to a staff member of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), who has been supporting recovery efforts.
Joseph Chlela, who is from Lebanon, is an emergency coordinator with IOM and has been working in the earthquake zone.
More than six years into Yemen’s war, migrants continue to arrive in the country. Most hope to continue north through Yemen seeking job opportunities for day labourers. But many of them are kidnapped and held for ransom. Migrants face hunger, theft, injury, or death along the way as they desperately seek refuge.
The aftermath of the conflict in Kosovo in 1999 left more than 200 women widowed in the farming village of Krusha e madhe/ Velika Kruša, while over 500 children there lost at least one parent.
Haiti faces a number of “races against the clock” to deal with crises which, if left unaddressed, could have serious negative consequences for the country’s long-term future, according to the UN’s most senior humanitarian and development official in the country.
Hama Sorka, a 75-year-old fisherman from Saguia, Niamey, Niger, looks at the site where his house stood before being washed away by the floods that ravaged his neighbourhood in October 2020.
