The roll-out of vaccinations to prevent COVID-19 infections rising in the Maldives is a good example of “vaccine equity in action” according to Catherine Haswell, the UN Resident Coordinator for the Indian Ocean island nation.
“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.
UN country teams worldwide are continuing the fight against COVID-19 by stepping up efforts to support governments in their response and recovery efforts, including the vaccination efforts via the COVAX Facility.
The family life of Fagnosea Alphonse and Masy Suzanne, respectively 40 and 39 years old, originally from Tanandava, district of Amboasary south in the Anosy region (in the south of Madagascar), have now evolved well. Even their children can recall the hardships their family experienced before.
Monday morning. As usual, Stéphanie, 4 years old, a kindergartener, has to go to school. At 6am, her mother Hélène goes to wake her up so that she can get ready. She finds her daughter unconscious. Panic-stricken and distraught, she tells her husband and they rush to the hospital. The diagnosis was made: Stéphanie was suffering from neuromalaria or pernicious access, the most severe form of malaria. She was taken to the intensive care unit and regained consciousness only days later, on Friday.
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are perhaps the most ambitious undertaking for global peace and prosperity since the formation of the United Nations. Achieving the goals requires that the UN system work together within and across countries like never before.
“I can tell you, perseverance pays,” says Bernadette Gomina, who ran unsuccessfully for the legislature in 2005 and 2010. She was elected in 2015 and reelected in 2020. “[Women parliamentarians] face issues at many levels: [lack of] finances, discriminatory behaviours and mindsets, but us women … we have our part to play; we must change our mindsets and get to work, together, to change this situation.”
It is a sunny day on the Nakai Plateau in central Lao People’s Democratic Republic, or Lao PDR. Noi has just returned from the market, where she bought a new shirt for her 3-year-old son, Seng. Seng has grown much taller in the two years since Noi left for Thailand in search of better wages.
On 1 May, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has appointed Silvia Rucks of Uruguay as the United Nations Resident Coordinator in Brazil, with the host Government’s approval.
United Nations country teams around the world continue to provide medical, logistical and socio-economic support to local authorities, coordinating resources to respond to the COVID-19 crisis. Through stronger coordination, these teams are mobilising local, regional, and global partners to provide life-saving medical supplies to vulnerable communities, combat misinformation on vaccine efficacy, and ensure equitable distribution of vaccine through the COVAX programme.
