The Lid is On

In the last of our mini-series recorded in The Gambia, we look at the challenges and opportunities for entrepreneurs, and how the UN is helping new companies to grow, bringing much-needed jobs to rural areas.

Conor Lennon meets Musa Darbo, who quit his well-paying job in the US to return home and start a rice business, in order to employ struggling smallholder farmers, and end The Gambia’s dependence on imported rice.

Music: Within the Earth, Ketsa

When it comes to climate action, The Gambia can proudly lay claim to being the first country to meet its commitments under the 2015 Paris Climate Agreements.

But, like all developing countries, its people are suffering disproportionately from the effects of the climate crisis, particularly more unpredictable rainfall, and flooding.

Many women and girls in The Gambia are affected by “period poverty”, meaning that they are unable to afford menstrual products, which puts them at risk of infection, and discourages them from attending school.

The Gambia, the smallest country on the African mainland, and one of the least developed countries in the world, has been going through a transition to full democracy since 2017, the end of a two-decade long dictatorship.

It’s been a year since Russian forces invaded neighbouring Ukraine, the beginning of a conflict that led to the displacement of more than 14 million Ukrainians, and around 40 per cent of the population in need of humanitarian aid.

Several months into the fighting, Denise Brown took up her position as Resident Coordinator, the most senior UN official in Ukraine. She told Conor Lennon from UN News that, despite the huge challenges faced by the Ukrainian people, their defining feature has been their courage, and their determination.

Music: Within the Earth, Ketsa

It is becoming increasingly clear that the climate crisis is having a major impact on migration flows, with millions forced to move from their homes as a result of a disaster, or because they have been affected by slower-moving environmental changes that leave their homes uninhabitable, such as desertification or sea-level rises.

Appointed by the UN Human Rights Council, but independent, unpaid, and free to  speak their minds, Special Rapporteurs occupy a curious space within the UN System.

$4.3 trillion: that’s the estimated cost of the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, a blueprint for a fairer future, covering all of the big issues facing the world, from eradicating poverty and hunger, to building societies free from fear and violence, and taking urgent action on climate change.

To help bridge that funding gap, UN chief António Guterres set up the Global Investors for Sustainable Development Alliance (GISD) in 2019, made up of prominent business leaders from across the world.

Californian teenager Kale Ilac’s dream is to become a diplomat. The 16-year-old, who is battling cancer, is hopefully on the way, thanks to the Make-a-Wish Foundation, who arranged for Kale and his family to take a special tour of the UN in January, meeting senior diplomats and UN officials.