SDGs

Anna-Luisa Beserra from Brazil is a previous winner of the Young Champions of the Earth prize. She created Aqualuz, a low-cost filter that uses solar radiation to disinfect rainwater captured in cisterns (file photo).
UN Environment Programme/Todd Brown

Young innovators vying for top UN environmental prize

20 July 2020
Global

Thirty-five young people with innovative ideas for tackling challenges such as protecting indigenous Amazonian land through adventure travel, converting harmful emissions into valuable commodities in the United States, and generating electricity from water in Nigeria, have been named as regional finalists for one of the UN’s most prestigious environmental awards.

Northwest Somalia has suffered from recurrent droughts over decades.
UNDP Somalia

FROM THE FIELD: Frontline resilience in Somalia

18 July 2020
Africa

 One hundred thousand households in Somaliland in northwest Somalia have better access to water, protecting them not just from the ravages of climate change but also against the spread of COVID-19, thanks to a project supported by the UN Development Programme.  

Women in Nigeria collect food vouchers as part of a programme to support families 
struggling under the COVID-19 lockdown.


WFP/Damilola Onafuwa

World’s poorest being pushed ‘closer to the abyss’ of famine, warns WFP chief

17 July 2020
Global

Hunger threatens to soar to devastating levels in 25 countries in the coming months due to the impact of the global COVID-19 pandemic, the World Food Programme (WFP) and Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) are warning.

Displays at the United Nations Headquarters in New York illustrate the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
UN Photo/Manuel Elías

COVID-19 highlights need for renewed, inclusive multilateralism: UN chief

17 July 2020
Global

With the COVID-19 pandemic putting development gains at risk, exposing vulnerabilities and inequalities both within and among nations, the UN Secretary-General is urging governments to reexamine how they work together to solve global challenges.

A woman and children use new handwashing facilities installed by UNICEF in Embratel, an informal urban settlement in Boa Vista, in northern Brazil.
© UNICEF/Yareidy Perdomo

Global Acceleration Framework to speed up water and sanitation access for all

9 July 2020
Global

A new mechanism launched on Thursday aims to speed up action so that people everywhere will have access to water and sanitation by the end of the decade, in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Women are among the marginalized, disempowered and excluded, whose needs must be addressed to build the future we want.
© World Bank/Stephan Bachenheimer

Identify and address ‘real needs’ to recover from COVID-19, UN rights expert urges

8 July 2020
Global

There is no doubt that the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in “a serious setback” for the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, an independent UN human rights expert said on Wednesday, urging a high-level meeting to “take a hard look” at implementation efforts to live up to the promise to leave no one behind.

UN Police hold a COVID-19 information session for vulnerable street children in Kananga, Democratic Republic of the Congo.
MONUSCO

A sustainable future for all depends on ‘resolve to act together in solidarity’

6 July 2020
Global

The United Nations vision for a sustainable future for all “will depend on our policy choices today, and our resolve to act together in solidarity”, a senior UN official told delegates on Monday at a meeting to discuss post-pandemic recovery.

A man buys fresh produce at a green market in Kenya.
World Bank / Sambrian Mbaabu

‘Stay the course together to emerge stronger’ from COVID-19 crisis: UN chief’s message to major sustainability forum

5 July 2020
Global

As a major United Nations forum prepares to assess progress towards a fairer future for people and the planet, UN Secretary-General António Guterres has warned that each of the Goals of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, is being impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

A worker at a vertical farm in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (edit)
Courtesy of VFarm

Business sector still far from reaching sustainability goals, UN report shows, 20 years on from landmark summit

4 July 2020
Global

A new UN report on tbe private sector, released by UN Global Compact, shows that progress on bringing about a sustainable future for people and the planet is patchy, and the majority of companies involved in the Compact, are not doing enough to help bring about the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Twelve-year-old boy in Dhaka, capital of Bangladesh, sorts through hazardous plastic waste without any protection, working to support his family amidst the lockdown.
© UNICEF/Parvez Ahmad

Impacts of COVID-19 disproportionately affect poor and vulnerable: UN chief

30 June 2020
Global

Addressing poverty eradication on Tuesday in front of the General Assembly, UN chief António Guterres warned that the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic are falling “disproportionately on the most vulnerable: people living in poverty, the working poor, women and children, persons with disabilities, and other marginalized groups”.