A community health worker in the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince, has been describing how she is going door-to-door to raise awareness about cholera prevention.
Young people from some of the most vulnerable and violent gang-controlled neighbourhoods of the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince have been talking about the power of getting together to share experiences and engage in sporting and entrepreneurial activities.
After successfully reclaiming her people’s territory in Northern Argentina, Celestina Ábalos turned to tourism to share and promote her indigenous culture. UN entrepreneurship training during the COVID-19 pandemic helped her business to grow.
As extreme weather events grow in intensity and frequency, nowhere is guaranteed to be safe from danger, as New Yorkers discovered on 1 September 2021, when Hurricane Ida struck, causing floods that led to some 29 deaths, and shutting down much of the subway system. Amrita Bhagwandin was at her home in the New York Borough of Queens on that traumatic day.
With Haiti’s highways increasingly in the grip of gangs, aid delivery by ship is becoming increasingly critical. Captain Madeleine Habib, a shipping officer working for the World Food Programme in Haiti, spoke about her experiences ahead of World Humanitarian Day, which is marked annually on 19 August.
Najiba*, a mother, counsellor, and former university lecturer, helps women heal from trauma in Afghanistan. Despite threats and restrictions on her freedom to move, she continues to enable women to learn and heal.
Zarina* is a young Afghan woman entrepreneur. Her drive for innovating, and passion for baking made her one of Afghanistan’s youngest entrepreneurs. Her business is still running, but her clients are scarce and her plans for expansion across the country had to be shut down.
Mahbouba Seraj, one of the world’s most prominent women’s rights activists, chose to stay in Afghanistan after the Taliban takeover in August 2021, to witness what was happening to her country, and to work for a society that benefits all of its people.
Nasima*, 36, is a peacebuilder and a women’s rights activist in Afghanistan. After the Taliban regained effective control of the country a year ago, she continued to work in Afghanistan, in what would soon become one of the world’s most complex humanitarian emergencies.
On 14 August 2021 a 7.2 magnitude earthquake struck Haiti, destroying, or rendering uninhabitable tens of thousands of houses across three departments in the south of Haiti, including Plaisimond Milaure’s home. Since then, she’s been living in a tent outside the city of Les Cayes, supported by UN agencies. One year on, she is ready to return.