Features

As the Transforming Education Summit kicks off on Friday, during the opening week of the 77th UN General Assembly session in New York, Ingrid Macdonald, the UN Resident Coordinator in Bosnia-Herzegovina, reflects on the important progress that the United Nations has made in supporting the authorities efforts to advance more equitable and inclusive education across the country. 

One of the centrepieces of the opening week of the new General Assembly session is an event aimed at focusing fresh attention on the global crisis surrounding learning, and proposing solutions to make education fit for the Twenty-First Century. Ahead of the event, UN News spoke to Leonardo Garnier, the Special Advisor charged with making the Transforming Education Summit a success.

2022 marks the tenth anniversary of the UN-run Za’atari refugee camp in Jordan. It is the largest in the Middle East – and one of the largest in the world – and home to some 80,000 Syrians. UN News spoke to some of the refugees about life at the camp, and their hopes for the future.

China has a dizzying range of rich natural resources. The country is home to 10 per cent of all known plant species, and 14 per cent of all known fauna. The UN, with the Chinese authorities, is working to ensure that the benefits from these resources are shared in a fair and equitable way.

The latest flagship UN report on human development, released on Thursday, warns that multiple crises are halting progress on human development, which is going backwards in the overwhelming majority of countries. Here are five things to look out for in the report.

International Day of Clean Air for Blue Skies, marked on 7 September, takes place in a world where almost all the air we breathe is polluted, and some seven million people die from air pollution every year. Ahead of the Day, UN News spoke to two experts about the scale of the problem, and the solutions that already exist.

Migrants who return home often face significant obstacles in rebuilding their lives. When her situation in Egypt became too difficult, Fatima decided to move back to Sudan, her homeland. With the help of the UN, she has started a small business, and is providing for her family.

Regional authorities in Egypt, the host country of the 2022 UN climate conference (COP27), are ramping up initiatives designed to improve the country’s environmental credentials, and speed up its transition to a low carbon economy. The event will begin on 4 November, in the Egyptian resort city of Sharm El-Sheikh.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has reported an increase in the levels of mental disorders amongst the population of the Gaza Strip, especially among children, many of whom were already in need of mental health services and psychosocial support.

Thousands of Senegalese have been forced to flee their homes and seek refuge in The Gambia, after clashes broke out earlier this year, in parts of Senegal occupied by separatists. The UN is providing psychological support for many of those displaced, who are coping with the fact that a return home is an uncertain prospect.