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.
In April, Cyclone Seroja hit Dili, the capital city of Timor-Leste. It killed 41 people and displaced over 4,000, sweeping away property and homes. Members of the local LGBTQI community and an organization called Arcoiris were among the many frontline relief workers that stepped up to support local families.
The United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration has begun. The UN has appealed to leaders of Latin America and the Caribbean — a region containing seven of the most biodiverse countries in the world — to scale up commitments made to restore our much-needed ecosystems. This plea comes as Caribbean countries brace for an active hurricane season.
Lerato — not her real name — is a 20-year-old first-year student at the local university. She hunkers down on her chair a few metres from where I’m sitting with her head fixed to the floor. She looks sad, tired and dejected, avoiding any eye contact, as if ashamed of what we were about to talk about.
The town of Kodok sits on the west bank of the Nile in the north of South Sudan. You can’t get there by road and there are no commercial flights that go there. That means that outside help is hard to get.
“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.
In Chinese art, pine, bamboo and plum blossom symbolise fortitude, modesty and endurance – traits that help us through dark days. These traits have helped us through the pandemic as we emerge into a hopeful spring
As a 42-year-old man, who has worked for almost three decades in local construction, Jonathan acknowledges that it wasn't strange that women that walk passed a construction job site were victims of all kinds of personal attacks - insults, hisses, catcalling – and other forms of harassment.
Yemenis currently live through the world’s largest humanitarian crisis, a disaster compounded by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and severe economic crisis. Two thirds of Yemenis need humanitarian assistance to survive. More than 16 million people will face hunger this year.
