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Here are some of the UN teams’ stories that trended in Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian and Spanish in the first half of 2022, showing the issues that matter to our readers — and illustrating our efforts to ensure no one is left behind as we strive to deliver better, together.

The International Day of the Tropics takes place annually on 29 June to celebrate the extraordinary diversity of the tropics while highlighting unique challenges and opportunities nations of the Tropics face. It provides an opportunity to take stock of progress across the tropics, to share tropical stories and expertise and to acknowledge the diversity and potential of the region.

Following the political instability and clashes which broke out in the small landlocked country of Burundi in East Africa in 2015, hundreds of thousands of people fled to nearby countries in search of safety and security.

Droughts have become an urgent global issue. Aggravated by human-induced climate change and desertification, they threaten all types of countries, negatively impacting food security and socioeconomic development. And prospects are not reassuring as droughts may affect over three-quarters of the world’s population by 2050.

“The weather here’s a lot drier for longer these days,” says Althea Spencer, the treasurer of the Mount Airy Farmers group, which is based in Northern Clarendon. “If you don’t have water, it makes no sense to plant seeds because they will just die.”

From the economic repercussions of the COVID pandemic to food insecurity exacerbated by the Ukraine war, Secretary-General António Guterres painted a picture of accumulating crises that have put the drive towards the global goals into reverse.