She is outspoken, candid, and speaks truth to power. She is known to lecture governments and tell them how to improve their track record on xenophobia, racism, racial discrimination, and all forms of intolerance.
A Caribbean-based prime minister, a scientist, a group of indigenous women, and an entrepreneur were announced on Tuesday as this year’s winners of the United Nations’ Champions of the Earth awards.
Eddie Ndopu, an award-winning disability activist from South Africa, and one of 17 United Nations advocates for the Sustainable Development Goals, lives with spinal muscular atrophy, and faces many difficulty daily challenges. Ahead of International Day of Persons with Disabilities, on 3 December, Mr. Ndopu discusses how he has overcome barriers to travel the world advocating for others with disabilities.
Since the creation of the World Wide Web, we have had access to more information than ever before. However, we are also bombarded with dangerous disinformation. The UN’s Verified campaign has launched an online course to help us decide which is which, and protect vulnerable people from potential harm.
Farzeen Alam, a Bangladeshi entrepreneur, was laughed off when he approached banks for a loan to start his farming business: today, Oggro Dairy is helping to lower unemployment, particularly amongst marginalized youth.
Of the many agreements and initiatives announced at the 26th UN Climate Conference (COP26) in Glasgow, the UN Climate Communications Lead at the Department of Global Communications narrowed down the three that she deemed most impactful.
After extending the COP26 climate negotiations an extra day, nearly 200 countries meeting in Glasgow, Scotland, adopted on Saturday an outcome document that, according to the UN Secretary-General, “reflects the interests, the contradictions, and the state of political will in the world today”.
Fittingly, the sun broke through the clouds over Glasgow on Thursday as delegations and participants prepared for ‘energy day’ at COP26, one of the key thematic sessions taking place during the UN climate summit.
As the World Leaders Summit opened on day two of COP26, UN chief António Guterres sent a stark message to the international community. “We are digging our own graves”, he said, referring to the addiction to fossil fuels which threatens to push humanity and the planet, to the brink, through unsustainable global heating.
Masami Ogata is a survivor of Minamata Disease, a debilitating illness caused by industrial mercury poisoning, which originated in the Japanese town of the same name in the 1950s. As a UN conference on preventing future poisoning outbreaks gets underway, we hear Mr. Ogata’s story.
