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.”
In response, UN teams around the world have marshalled forces not only to stop the spread of the disease, but to deal with its many secondary effects—from massive job losses to increases in gender-based violence. Here are five ways the UN is combating the pandemic.
Women are in public decision-making roles more than ever before, but equality is far off: women hold only about 21 percent of ministerial positions globally, and only 22 countries are headed by a woman. At the current rate of progress, gender equality will not be reached among Heads of Government until 2150, another 130 years.
Yet, women persist, and continue to prove that when they lead, they bring transformative change to their communities and the world. Such change is vital in an era of COVID-19, climate change, deepening inequalities, conflict and democratic backsliding.
Gender inequality hurts women and girls, and it prevents whole societies from developing. When women are free, equal, and empowered, they are happier and healthier individually, and they contribute more to the lives of their families, communities, and countries.
The UN team in Serbia has long been dedicated to addressing gender inequality, so that no women or girl in Serbia is left behind. This effort has many facets, from ending child marriage to stopping domestic violence to promoting women’s health during COVID-19.
Thanks to collective efforts and the safe classroom and remote learning models set in place, more than a million students returned to school in Costa Rica. With the United Nations' support, Costa Rica has become one of the first countries to open its educational institutions on time, providing security and inclusion for thousands of children, adolescents, and young people.
The conclusion of the Africa Regional Review meeting, hosted by the Government of Malawi, kicks off a series of meetings and events leading to the the landmark Fifth UN Conference on the Least Developed Countries (LDC5) taking place in Doha, Qatar in early 2022.
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.
