The COVID pandemic has taken four million lives, devastated the global economy, pushed a further 124 million people into extreme poverty and continues to inflict profound suffering – dramatically impacting progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the UN chief said on Tuesday at a key international forum.
Extracting minerals, metals and other valuable raw materials from the earth, represents a “crucial juncture” between resources, ecosystems and people, all of which have an essential role to play in advancing sustainability and equity, the UN chief said on Tuesday.
With the number of new COVID-19 cases nearly doubling over the past two months, approaching the highest infection rate the world has seen during the pandemic, the unequal distribution of vaccines is not only a moral outrage, but economically and epidemiologically self-defeating, the head of the UN health agency told a special ministerial meeting of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) on Friday.
Women need better opportunities and resources to help improve “under-performing” smallholder food production, especially in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.
That’s according to Libor Stloukal of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO); who specializes in Gender, Equity and Rural Employment issues.
Progress has been made on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) issues, but more work remains to be done in the coming year.
So says Charles Radcliffe of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).
Veronica Reeves spoke to Mr Radcliffe and asked him about his expectations for the year ahead with regard to LGBT issues.
Duration: 3’20”
There can be no sustainable future if half the world’s population lacks equal rights, according to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
The UN chief is urging world leaders to make gender equality a global priority to achieve his vision of “a 50:50 Planet by 2030.”
Dianne Penn reports.
Duration: 3'18"