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Hauwa's GOGLA lamp helps her cook and carry out other chores around her home, and it helps her children study.
IOM/Jorge Galindo

Shining a light on sustainable power: how clean energy is helping to improve camps for displaced people

Hauwa, from Borno State in north-eastern Nigeria, fled her home village of Adamari with her husband and four children in March, when violence struck. Now, she is in the relative safety of a UN-run camp but, with little electricity available at night, lighting is scarce, and darkness can mean danger. However, thanks to a solar-energy initiative from the UN migration agency IOM, that is beginning to change.

Relatives of missing persons from Sri Lanka’s 26-year long civil war hold their pictures during a meeting in the capital Colombo.
Photo: IRIN/Amantha Perera

Families deserve answers when loved ones go missing in conflict: Security Council adopts historic resolution

The 15 members of the United Nations Security Council adopted on Tuesday the very first ever resolution focused on the issue of missing persons in armed conflict. The aim is to encourage countries to fulfil their obligations, take action to step up prevention, and tackle the issue earlier, so that ultimately families separated by conflict can be reunited, or at least given answers as to the fate of their loved ones.

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Oceans and seas are home to vast biodiversity.  A woman in Entebbe, is photographed on the shores of Lake Victoria, Uganda.
Arne Hoel/World Bank

Promoting gender equality a ‘crucial contribution’ in effort to restore, protect our planet’s oceans

Women are engaged in all aspects of interaction with our ocean, yet their voices are often missing at the decision-making level, the head of the United Nations cultural agency said on World Oceans Day, emphasizing that “we must ensure diversity and gender inclusiveness at all levels” to set a balanced course for humanity and foster innovative solutions for the ocean.