Around the world, UN teams are working with governments and other partners to combat COVID-19 and support national socio-economic recovery plans, focusing on activities to provide service to vulnerable groups. Below are some highlights of these initiatives.
Despite the almost miraculous development of effective vaccines against COVID-19 in 2020, the virus continued to spread and mutate throughout the last year.
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.
Migration and displacement are often expressed in big themes and numbers: thousands of refugees, tons of humanitarian aid, hundreds of shelters. The reality is that displacement is more of a jigsaw puzzle of small fragments — memories, losses, and upheavals.
Rural women have great potential as leaders and entrepreneurs. They also have the desire to lead. But they face many obstacles: few job opportunities, low levels of education, and lots of unpaid work. They are also often openly discouraged by their loved ones to pursue their dreams, pressured by traditional stereotypes.
The COVID-19 pandemic continues its deadly march around the world. How will countries be able to “build back better” from this calamity? We know, in this respect, that the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are key.
“2020 was an exceptionally challenging year for Lebanon, and the people are still feeling the shocks of it,” says Najat Rochdi, UN Deputy Special Coordinator, Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Lebanon.
UN teams continue to work with national and local authorities worldwide to ensure the safety and dignity of refugees and migrants, indigenous communities and children. Their efforts support the betterment of countries' health and socio-economic conditions, including better living conditions for those most at risk, lifesaving training, supplies and equipment, human rights protection and aid in ensuring no adult or child is left behind.
A poet and composer named Jotamont wrote that the islands of Cabo Verde are “ten little grains of land” in the middle of the Atlantic—a small archipelago nation 500 kilometers off the west coast of Africa. The United Nations has stood with Cabo Verde country through its 45 years of independence.
