Rapid growth in innovations that are designed to help people overcome their disabilities could soon offer a fix to all manner of mobility, sight and other difficulties, UN patent experts WIPO said on Tuesday.

Tea garden workers in Bangladesh, who are mainly women, are one of the most marginalized groups in the country, with limited access to education for their children and prone to dire health risks. A programme supported by the UN’s Joint SDG Fund, which funds initiatives focused on sustainable development, aims to boost social protection for these works, helping them access their rights and improve their life prospects.

Recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic should lead to stronger action to safeguard the world’s forests, a senior UN official said on Friday, highlighting how these natural resources have helped to protect health and well-being during the global crisis. 

Although the world’s indigenous peoples live in areas that contain around 80 per cent of the planet’s biodiversity, many still struggle to maintain their legal rights to lands, territories and resources, according to a new UN report published on Friday.