Out of all children worldwide who die under the age of 5 years, half are in Africa. WHO, UNICEF and partners are working to reduce the number of childhood deaths and the agony that goes with them.
The pandemic has presented a complex set of challenges, especially for seniors like Marco Antonio. he To support the country’s seniors, the Chilean National Service for Older Persons (SENAMA) , created a national phone line 800-400-035, named FONO Mayor COVID-19.
For Sister Juliet Lithemba, the past year has been “nothing short of grace and mercy from above,” as she explains it. The 77-year-old resident of Mt Royal Convent of the Sisters of Charity of Ottawa, located in Lesotho’s Leribe district, didn’t know much about COVID-19 until her convent home and fellow sisters were infected by the deadly virus.
The United Nations has launched a $29.2 million global funding appeal to help those affected by the eruptions of the La Soufrière volcano in St. Vincent and the Grenadines and other impacted countries.
When I met Akuvi Sossah, 52, mother of four, at a medical centre in a suburb of Lomé, the capital city of Togo, in early April, she proudly showed me the confirmation code that her son had helped her obtain after she registered on her mobile phone for COVID-19 vaccination.
Across the Caribbean, young women and single mothers are getting the support they need to weather the pandemic and achieve their potential. Here, we visit UN projects in Trinidad and Tobago and, further north, in Saint Lucia.
We are living in unprecedented times. COVID-19 continues to devastate health systems, cripple economies, and exacerbate inequalities across the globe. As I write these words, the Caribbean region remains a hotspot of a disease, which is highlighting a simple reality: global crises require global solutions. This pandemic is our opportunity to strengthen regional collaboration and global solidarity to address our shared challenges and move forward. This can only happen if we are courageous and dedicated enough to seize the opportunities presented to us.
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.
Every Thursday, Jennifer Barros goes to Rondon 3, a refugee camp in northern Brazil near the border of Venezuela. The camp hosts 844 Venezuelan refugees and migrants, and Jennifer teaches Portuguese there. Kaleth Colmenares, 12, is always waiting for Jennifer at school. Last February he started attending a Brazilian public school and was still adapting to the new language when the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Now, once a week, he gets tutoring sessions in several subjects, not least of all Portuguese.
Anong is 20 years old. She suffered serious health issues and anxiety due to the COVID-19 crisis. “I was living with a man, and things were not easy. He was forcing me to have intimate relations,” she says. “After the lockdown, he was seeing someone else while being with me. I was silent and accepted my situation. I was not protected and contracted a sexually transmitted infection.”
