The UN chief in his message to mark Monday's International Day in honour of Nelson Mandela, hailed the first Black President of post-Apartheid South Africa and racial justice icon, “a giant of our time”, who remains a “moral compass” for us all.
The ocean holds the keys to an equitable and sustainable development path for all. This is the premise behind the UN Ocean Decade and it will be in the spotlight during several major international summits this year to promote ocean health, including the UN Ocean Conference, which is set to open soon in Lisbon, Portugal.
Journalists and media workers are facing “increasing politicization” of their work and threats to their freedom to simply do their jobs, that are “growing by the day”, said the UN chief, marking World Press Freedom Day on Tuesday.
Highlighting it as a period of compassion and empathy, Secretary-General António Guterres said on Friday that the holy month of Ramadan is a “time for reflection and learning, an opportunity to come together and uplift each other”.
The United Nations on Tuesday remembered the horrors of the transatlantic slave trade and its continued impact on the modern world, by honouring the tradition of resistance to slavery and unity against racism, through personal stories of courage.
Nearly five million children born in Syria since March 2011 have known nothing but conflict. After 11 years of war, the crisis continues to leave them struggling with physical and psychological scars, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said on Tuesday.
In full costume and make-up, drag queen Madame Bonjour JohnJ, is teaching children that it’s ok to be different, during storytelling sessions in their native Tokyo.
In his message marking the International Day of Women and Girls in Science, the UN chief on Friday called for an enabling environment where “today’s girls become tomorrow’s leading scientists and innovators, shaping a fair and sustainable future for all”.
The Holocaust “defined the United Nations”, Secretary-General António Guterres told a virtual ceremony marking Holocaust Remembrance Day on Thursday, recalling that the UN Charter was drafted in San Francisco “as the Dachau concentration camp was liberated”.
