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Beirut Port after an explosion on 4 August 2020.
© UNOCHA

Beirut blast: ‘The faster we act, the better we can reduce human suffering,’ says UN deputy chief

To help Lebanon overcome the tragedy and recover better, “we will need all hands on deck”, deputy UN chief Amina Mohammed told a virtual donors conference on Sunday, convened to rally international support in the wake of last week’s massive explosion at the Beirut port, which killed some 150 people, wounded thousands and caused destruction throughout much of the city.

Sabra Kauka is a cultural practitioner and teaches Hawaiian studies on the island of Kauai in Hawaii.
ILO Photo/Kevin Cassidy

First Person: COVID-19 helping Hawaiians to ‘recognize the importance of heritage’

Sabra Kauka is a cultural practitioner and teaches Hawaiian Studies at the Island School on the island of Kauai, in Hawaii, while acting as a coordinator for the Department of Education. As the daughter of an army officer, she spent much of her youth living overseas, but “felt the call to come home” to Hawaii as an adult after reading a newspaper article which highlighted the poor standard of living for indigenous Hawaiians in Hawaii.

Artisanal brickmakers in Uruguay put the raw material into a mold, and then lay it out to dry.
Pablo Montes Goitia/UN Uruguay

Building a green economy, brick by brick

In Uruguay, thousands of families earn a precarious livelihood making bricks, using traditional methods that are often inefficient and harmful to the environment. A UN project, in collaboration with the Uruguayan government, aims to make the industry less polluting, whilst preserving jobs for the many artisans who depend on it.