The many families on the island nation of Tonga who rely solely on the ocean for their food and income, are struggling to recover from last month’s volcanic eruption and tsunami.
From survivors of rape to young women entrepreneurs, the UN Deputy Secretary-General has spent the week meeting some of those whose lives have been upended by conflict in Ethiopia, but also hearing stories of hope that point towards the “indispensable” value of a return to lasting peace across the African nation.
A young Haitian man is rebuilding his life, with the support of the UN, after being held in detention for three years, from the age of 15, when he was wrongfully accused of stealing from a local shopkeeper. Many others, like him, spend a prolonged period of time behind bars, before their case comes to trial.
Forty years ago, Martha Isabel Ruiz Corzo, known as Pati, left the Mexican city of Querétaro with her family in search of a simple rural life. Instead, she ended up leading and inspiring a group of some 17,000 local environmental activists, devoted to protecting the remote and beautiful Sierra Gorda.
For the last three years, a retired cook in northern Burkina Faso has been providing shelter for people displaced by armed attacks in the country, where the security situation continues to deteriorate.
In Somalia, over 90 per cent or more of girls and women, have been subjected to female genital mutilation, or FGM. Despite the practice having devastating health ramifications for women and girls - including pain, bleeding, permanent disability and even death - discussion over how to end the harmful tradition, remains taboo.
Around 1.5 million Ukrainians have been forced from their homes since fighting in the far east of the country began in 2014. The UN and other humanitarian organizations are supporting those who have been displaced, as they try to adjust to their new lives.
Scenes of relatives desperately trying to find oxygen supplies for hospitalized COVID-19 patients in India last year, alerted the world to an acute, deadly problem. Yet that was not this first time the country’s hospitals have been hit by a shortage of the life-saving gas, prompting the question of whether there will be enough supplies, when the next major health crisis hits.
Earth’s permafrost is thawing, and indigenous communities in the Arctic and scientists around the world say it’s high time this alarming loss of ground ice receives the global attention – and dedicated research – it deserves. As this phenomenon reshapes landscapes, displaces whole villages, and disrupts fragile animal habitats; it also threatens to release dangerous microorganisms and potential carbon emissions that have been locked in ice for thousands of years.
Alice Wairimu Nderitu, the UN Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide, and a recognized voice in the field of peacebuilding and violence prevention, is committed to the peaceful resolution of conflicts. As part of this week’s 2022 remembrance events, she recalls how she felt when she learned about the Holocaust.
