With a population of just 18 million people, Malawi is a fairly small country. It is among the poorest countries in the world. In the bottom 10 % of the Human Development Index. And yet it has much to give the world.
We are facing a devastating pandemic, new heights of global heating, new lows of ecological degradation and new setbacks in our work towards global goals for more equitable, inclusive and sustainable development.
You wouldn’t guess it by looking at the building from the outside. Just a small, standard office building. Nothing remarkable. But inside the meeting rooms of migrant shelters in northern Brazil, dreams are being hatched.
In recognition of the 16 Days, we applaud the efforts of UN country teams across the globe as they aid in the fight against all forms of gender-based violence. This collection of stories showcases some of the team’s work to protect the health, safety and security of women and girls worldwide.
For the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-based Violence, the UN’s call to “Orange the World” comes with the rallying cry to “Fund, Respond, Prevent and Collect” – bridge the funding gaps, ensure essential services for survivors of violence, focus on prevention and collect the data that we need to adapt and improve life-saving services for women and girls. This year we are handing over the mic to them.
Born into the privilege and comforts of a high-caste Brahmin family in Nepal, Ratna Khawas’s life changed drastically when she got married to someone outside her social class, in 1968. She and her new husband moved to his home village in Belbari, where there were no toilets or handwashing facilities. That shock set her on what became a lifelong quest to improve sanitation for her and her neighbours.
Currently, half the world’s population does not have access to safely managed sanitation. This has profound negative impact on health, education and economic outcomes for countries and communities. The Sanitation and Hygiene Fund was established to raise US$2 billion over the coming five years to support countries in bringing sanitation, hygiene, and menstrual health to all.
Sometimes, the crisis in West Africa and the Sahel region is so difficult and so complicated as to seem virtually unsolvable. But where many people see only a mission impossible, the United Nations sees an opportunity.
For many years in Nigeria, farmers and cattle herders have been in conflict over land rights. But the disputes have reached crisis levels in recent years, killing thousands of people and displacing many thousands more from their homes, left in ruins by attacks. More people have been killed in such disputes than by the Boko Haram insurgency. One of the main culprits? Climate change.
