28 May 2020 (UN Environment)* — Even before the outbreak of COVID-19, families and businesses around the Adriatic Sea were faced with a serious threat. One of the countries hardest-hit by coastal erosion in Europe, almost a third of Albania’s 427km coastline is being eroded by violent waves. And the challenge is accelerating at an alarming speed due to climate-induced storm surges and rising sea levels.
Photo by UNEP / Lisa Murray
“One time I was driving my children to school when the sea came in front of me and flooded the car,” explains Pati. “If the coast is not protected, then God save us.”
In Lezha District, where Pati’s business operates, nuclear bunkers built in the 70s during Albania’s communist era are now lost under the sea, the barely perceptible roofs only just emerging above water.
Ensuring the health of humanity and the planet requires a consolidated effort that acknowledges and incorporates the vision of those who have protected nature for so long. | Español
For the last three months I’ve watched time passing through my window. In country after country, city after city, we have felt the fear and pain of loss, we’ve honoured the work of health professionals and frontline workers, we’ve joined in solidarity with our neighbours.
Being forced apart has brought us closer together.
29 May 2020 (UNHCR)* — Several difficult months after the Díaz family arrived in Chile, following a gruelling, 7,000-kilometre-long overland journey from their home in Venezuela, they finally achieved a degree of stability.
Eileen, the mother, had given birth to a healthy baby boy, and the father, José Domingo, had just secured a job in the Chilean capital, Santiago. Then came the coronavirus pandemic, knocking the family back to square one.
Washington, DC – State and local authorities in Tulsa, Oklahoma should provide reparations for the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, when a white mob killed several hundred black people and destroyed a prosperous black neighborhood, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today [29 May 2020].
(UN News)* — Shocked over the killing last weekend of five men in Nepal, who had planned to escort home one of their girlfriends from a higher caste, the UN human rights chief on Friday [29 May 2020] stressed that ending caste-based discrimination is “fundamental” to the overall sustainable development vision of leaving no one behind.
World Bank/Peter Kapuscinski | People walk down a street of shops in Kathmandu, Nepal. (file)
“It is distressing that caste-based prejudices remain deeply entrenched in our world in the 21st century, and I am filled with sadness for these two young people who held high hopes of building a life together despite the obstacles presented by their accident of birth” said High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet, referring to the couple at the centre of the tragedy.
Hajjah, Yemen, 29 May 2020 (UNFPA)*– In mid-May, just as the COVID-19 pandemic arrived in Yemen, funding for UNFPA’s life-saving reproductive health services dried up. UNFPA has been forced to suspend the provision of reproductive health care in 140 out of 180 health facilities. Now only 40 health facilities across the country are providing these services.
29 May 2020 (Wall Street International)* — We need to reform our teaching of history so that the emphasis will be placed on the gradual growth of human culture and knowledge, a growth to which all nations and ethnic groups have contributed.
This article is a joint collaboration between UNFPA and UNICEF, lead agencies in the effort to ensure the health and rights of all people who menstruate. See a version of this article on UNICEF’ s website.
UNITED NATIONS, New York, 28 May 2020 (UNFPA)* — Menstruation is misunderstood and stigmatized around the world, a fact likely to worsen under the COVID-19 pandemic. Below are nine things you need to know about periods and the pandemic – and what the world needs to do about it.
Interview with Johannes Refisch, United Nations Great Apes Survival Partnership Programme, Programme Manager and Coordinator
Photo by Unsplash/ David Clode
29 May 2020 (UN Environment)* — For decades, ecotourism has helped to conserve nature and protect endangered species. COVID-19 and the subsequent closure of ecotourism sites has had an indelible impact on wildlife and the communities that protect it.
The upcoming Southern Hemisphere winter will be the first truly cold weather the Díaz family has ever experienced. © UNHCR/Hugo Fuentes
