They were sexually abused as children. Now, as adults, these two have taken their experience and are helping to make sure that no kids today suffer the same. For that, they’re getting the support of the UN.
When Yemen’s unrelenting conflict arrived in Taizz City, Ashwaq saw her neighbourhood fall to pieces. Amid the bombardments, her house caught fire. She, her husband and their four children — including a son who is paralyzed — fled for their lives.
COVID-19 is like a rainstorm, a thunderous and powerful rainstorm all over the world. If we didn’t know before, we certainly know now just where the holes are in our roofs, or where there are no roofs. We see ever more clearly who is getting drenched and who is dying, and who remains dry.
By the end of 2020, COVID-19 had killed nearly 2 million people and left many millions more with lasting injury. It also led to larger crises in health, jobs, education, domestic violence, migration, and more. That’s a lot of fires to put out. But the United Nations is built to deal with many challenges at once.
In his first major speech of the year, the UN Secretary-General underlined the need for global cooperation to address today’s challenges such as the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change.
When the disaster struck the heart of Beirut, Lebanon was already reeling from civil unrest, economic and financial hardship, increasing poverty and unemployment compounded by political tensions and a soaring number of COVID-19 cases. This has been further exacerbated by the heavy burden of Syrian and Palestinian refugees.
There are 10 years left to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, or SDGs. That’s the ambitious to-do list for prosperity and peace that the countries of the world agreed upon at the United Nations in 2015.
