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The COVID-19 pandemic has shaken the world at its core, deepening pre-existing inequalities. This global crisis has intensified violence against women

You wouldn’t guess it by looking at the building from the outside. Just a small, standard office building. Nothing remarkable. But inside the meeting rooms of migrant shelters in northern Brazil, dreams are being hatched. 

For the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-based Violence, the UN’s call to “Orange the World” comes with the rallying cry to “Fund, Respond, Prevent and Collect” – bridge the funding gaps, ensure essential services for survivors of violence, focus on prevention and collect the data that we need to adapt and improve life-saving services for women and girls. This year we are handing over the mic to them. 

Together with governments and partners, UN country teams worldwide are working to help protect the safety and security of communities, particularly those facing humanitarian crisis. Teams are stepping up their effort to obtain more essential lifesaving supplies and shelter for those most at-risk. We highlight some of the coordinated efforts.

The United Nations agencies, funds and programmes in Argentina were immediately deployed at the onset of COVID-19 as the UN recognized the health, economic and social implications this virus would have in the country. 

The conflict in Tigray erupted so suddenly as to catch thousands of Ethiopians unawares. To respond to the rapidly growing influx of refugees in Sudan, the UN and partners have finalized a humanitarian preparedness plan to assist nearly two million people.

Born into the privilege and comforts of a high-caste Brahmin family in Nepal, Ratna Khawas’s life changed drastically when she got married to someone outside her social class, in 1968. She and her new husband moved to his home village in Belbari, where there were no toilets or handwashing facilities. That shock set her on what became a lifelong quest to improve sanitation for her and her neighbours. 

Tens of thousands of refugees have been crossing the border from Ethiopia to Sudan since 7 November, fleeing conflict in Ethiopia’s Tigray region. In addition to the current emergency response, UN humanitarian agencies have launched the development of a response plan targeting 200,000 individuals for a 6-month period.