Hazards such as earthquakes, floods, heatwaves, and wildfires, can be prevented from becoming life-threatening disasters, according to the authors of a UN report launched on Wednesday.
31 August marks the International Day for People of African Descent, on which the UN calls for the elimination of all forms of discrimination against persons who fit this description. Ahead of the Day, UN News spoke to Dominique Day, and Verene Shepherd, two experts on the subject, who want to raise awareness about the links between the Transatlantic Slave Trade and the global economy.
With just a few weeks to go until the opening of the 77th session of the UN General Assembly, the UN diplomatic community, as well as residents of New York City, are bracing for the annual arrival of Heads of State and Government from around the world, after two years of disruption wrought by COVID-19. Many details are still to be confirmed, but here are five things to look out for between 12 and 27 September.
Myanmar is believed to be experiencing one of the highest rates of mangrove loss in the world. When a company bought land containing a mangrove forest in the country’s Tanintharyi region, with plans to convert it into prawn farms, the local community fought back.
After successfully reclaiming her people’s territory in Northern Argentina, Celestina Ábalos turned to tourism to share and promote her indigenous culture. UN entrepreneurship training during the COVID-19 pandemic helped her business to grow.
In Jordan, where many struggle to find enough to eat, young people are finding creative ways to tackle food insecurity, and create sustainable, environmentally friendly employment, with support from a UN innovation programme.
Six months after the Russian invasion, Ukraine is the scene of the largest humanitarian crisis in Europe since the Second World War. Almost a third of those displaced by the conflict come from the region around the country’s second largest city of Kharkiv, in the east. Helping those in need is dangerous work.
On Sunday, UN Secretary-General António paid tribute to victims of terrorism, marking the international day established to ensure that “victims and survivors are always heard and never forgotten.”
The Russian invasion of Ukraine shows no sign of letting up, but the UN continues to bring humanitarian supplies to the country, including solar lamps, which bring some respite from the darkness of windowless basement shelters, in regions where electricity infrastructure has been destroyed or damaged by shelling.
As extreme weather events grow in intensity and frequency, nowhere is guaranteed to be safe from danger, as New Yorkers discovered on 1 September 2021, when Hurricane Ida struck, causing floods that led to some 29 deaths, and shutting down much of the subway system. Amrita Bhagwandin was at her home in the New York Borough of Queens on that traumatic day.
