Features

The wisdom and knowledge of indigenous people in Guatemala is central to the realization of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals or SDGs, targets agreed by countries around the world to end poverty, maintain peace and preserve the health of the planet. In this blog, the UN Resident Coordinator in Guatemala Rebeca Arias Flores explains how sustainable development is not new, but simply a new name that draws on ancient wisdom that is renewed with each generation of indigenous people. 

Whilst no country can claim to have beaten COVID-19, some countries have been noticeably more effective in curbing the spread of the disease. Kamal Malhotra, the UN Resident Coordinator in Viet Nam, explains why the country’s response to the pandemic has been so successful.

Tourism is Hawaii’s biggest industry, with some 10 million visitors to the lslands ever year. But that has all changed since the COVID-19 pandemic, and many businesses on the archipelago have been forced to shut down for good, according to a helicopter pilot who flies pleasure trips for tourists.

Polio, a deadly, debilitating, yet easily curable disease, is eradicated in most countries, but is still endemic in Pakistan, partly due to a reluctance to vaccinate amongst some parts of the population. Dennis Chimenya, a health worker with the UN Children’s Fund, UNICEF, is part of a team trying to counter misconceptions, and save lives.

Hundreds of tons of fresh and edible vegetables which are typically dumped because they do not meet the aesthetic requirements for export are ending up on the plates of hungry Kenyan students thanks to the UN’s World Food Programme (WFP).

The COVID-19 disease has added to longstanding challenges in Mozambique which have threatened the southern African country’s most vulnerable people. In this blog, the UN Resident Coordinator Myrta Kaulard, with IOM Chief of Mission, Laura Tomm-Bonde, and Samuel Chakwera, UNHCR Resident Representative, explain how the United Nations is supporting national efforts to protect the people of Mozambique from multiple threats

Despite suffering the after-effects of the COVID-19 virus, Husna Gul, a staff member with the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in Pakistan, is committed to ensuring that as many children as possible are vaccinated against the devastating consequences of polio, which can cause muscle-wasting, paralysis and death. 

The devastation caused by the Beirut explosions on 4 August has focused attention on the risks involved in the transportation and storage of dangerous goods around the world. The UN is at the forefront of international efforts to reduce these risks and save lives. 

Bangladeshi architect Rizvi Hassan is the driving force behind the construction of a safe space for Rohingya women and girls, in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, site of the world’s largest camp for displaced people, and home to around a million Rohingya refugees who fled from Myanmar. The community centre caters to a marginalized, vulnerable group, at risk of gender-based violence. 

The rehabilitation and replanting of mangrove forests in Cuba’s coastal regions is helping to protect the lives of people living on the Caribbean island, and reduce the effects of climate change, thanks to a UN Development Programme project.