For anyone who doesn’t speak Arabic, Awqaf might be a strange-looking word. It’s pronounced “AW-kaf,” and it means to “stand still, hold still, not let go.” It’s also a form of philanthropic giving.
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.
2030 Agenda and the SDGs
COVID-19
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