When Nigerian Blessing Ojukwu became pregnant after she was raped, her family disowned her. She was forced to live with her abuser, who continued to attack her. Now, a UN-backed initiative is giving her, and others in similar situations, a chance to become financially independent, and start new lives.
“Ghost fishing” occurs when abandoned fishing gear dumped in the ocean traps and kills fish or other underwater life, and it is causing devastation to marine environments, warns the UN food agency, FAO.
Drones are providing life-saving care to women in remote parts of the southern African country, Botswana, who otherwise may die in childbirth, thanks to support from the United Nations.
Australian biologist Sacha Dench has been nicknamed “the Human Swan”, in recognition of her record-breaking, 7,000 kilometre, paramotor (motorized paraglider) flight, tracking Bewick swans across 11 countries, from Arctic Russian to the UK. Ahead of International Day for Biological Diversity, Ms. Dench explains why a drastic shift is needed in the global economy, to save endangered wildlife.
A renewed focus on boosting the production of millets and highlighting their benefits, is critical to reducing over-reliance on more commonly grown crops, boosting diverse diets, and food security. That’s especially true during periods of natural disaster when food becomes scarce, according to Dr Nancy Aburto, an agriculture expert at the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
Panel discussions exclusively made up of men, or ‘manels’ need to stop, says Valerie Julliand, the United Nations Resident Coordinator in Indonesia. Ms. Julliand has taken steps to promote gender parity by pledging that the UN will only participate in panels which include women’s voices.
In response to the apparent forced landing of a commercial passenger plane in the Belarusian capital, Minsk, the International Civil Aviation Organization, ICAO, convened an urgent diplomatic meeting on Thursday. What is ICAO saying about the incident, and what powers does the agency have?
A young soldier from the United Kingdom says he must stay on his “A-game” on patrol with the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Mali, to keep himself, colleagues and Malians safe in one of the most dangerous UN postings anywhere in the world.
The small mountain nation of Bhutan has so far managed to contain the COVID-19 pandemic, despite sharing a border with China and India, two countries which have been badly affected by the pandemic. Bhutan is now on the way to vaccinating more than 90 per cent of the eligible adult population. Gerald Daly, the UN Resident Coordinator there, says that volunteers, and preventative government action, have been key to the country’s success.
Swarm grids, an innovative technology designed to work with renewable energy sources, are bringing reliable electricity to some of the world’s poorest and remote regions for the first time, providing a major boost to the livelihoods of those who live there.
