Mercy, a single parent of two children, fled violence in her home county of El Salvador, and found refuge in Belize. Since her arrival to Belize, Mercy is most grateful for the safety she can provide her children. In the north of Central America, gender-based violence carried out by criminal groups is one of the primary factors driving women and girls—like Mercy and her daughter—to flee their homes for safety.
Our UN teams are on the ground, working with governments and key stakeholders to bolster countries’ responses to the COVID-19 pandemic, helping ensure a smooth recovery. They tackle a range of multi-faceted priorities and key initiatives on a daily basis—from climate action to gender equality and food security—and utilize innovative approaches to problem-solving to better serve communities. Below are some highlights of their work this month.
UN Deputy Secretary-General Ms. Amina Mohammed has called on UN Resident Coordinators in Europe and Central Asia to help ensure the region does not lose momentum as its 18 countries and territories strive to meet the ambition of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. “The 2030 Agenda remains our blueprint for action. Rescuing the Sustainable Development Goals in the Decade of Action across the region is, and will remain, the absolute priority for our work,” Ms. Mohammed told the Resident Coordinators gathered in Geneva for a meeting back to back with the Regional Forum for Sustainable Development.
Addressing the UN Security Council, Secretary-General António Guterres added his voice to the growing international calls for a war crimes investigation into the killing of civilians in the Ukrainian town of Bucha.
Turkmenistan was the first country in the Europe and Central Asia region to adopt national Sustainable Development Goals or SDGs. The UN Country Team acted swiftly to respond to the call of the UN chief and offered comprehensive and well-coordinated support to Turkmenistan in scaling up climate action and in supporting the country’s initiatives on ensuring environmental sustainability.
Our UN country teams and their partners around the world, including host governments, are continuing to work together in tackling the multifaceted impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and recovering better together to accelerate progress towards the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. We are also responding to other challenges, focusing on providing support to those most vulnerable. Below are some highlights of our work in March 2022.
The United Nations Deputy Secretary-General on Monday called on countries in Asia and the Pacific to speed up the shift from fossil fuels to new, low-carbon development models, in a just and inclusive way.
The UN chief on Friday welcomed the declaration of an indefinite humanitarian truce on the part of the Ethiopian Government, and the commitment by forces in the Tigray region to comply with the immediate ceasefire, amid deep concern for the five million people who need emergency aid there.
