Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, Domitilla Noh, 45, has found it difficult to access healthcare services. She lives in Guinea Grass, a small village in the Orange Walk District of Belize. When the town’s only nurse was relocated to assist with pandemic relief efforts, residents were left with few options.
You never know what crisis might strike, something that calls on the UN to act big and fast. If the world didn’t understand this before COVID-19, it does now. But an emergency can strike at any level.
United Nations country teams around the world continue to provide medical, logistical and socio-economic support to local authorities, coordinating resources to respond to the COVID-19 crisis. Through stronger coordination, these teams are mobilising local, regional, and global partners to provide life-saving medical supplies to vulnerable communities, combat misinformation on vaccine efficacy, and ensure equitable distribution of vaccine through the COVAX programme.
The United Nations has launched a $29.2 million global funding appeal to help those affected by the eruptions of the La Soufrière volcano in St. Vincent and the Grenadines and other impacted countries.
The aim of the UN-backed COVAX scheme is to get two billion vaccine doses into the arms of around a quarter of the population of poorer countries by the end of 2021. What are the main challenges that need to be overcome, if this historic global effort is to be achieved?
Across the Caribbean, young women and single mothers are getting the support they need to weather the pandemic and achieve their potential. Here, we visit UN projects in Trinidad and Tobago and, further north, in Saint Lucia.
We are living in unprecedented times. COVID-19 continues to devastate health systems, cripple economies, and exacerbate inequalities across the globe. As I write these words, the Caribbean region remains a hotspot of a disease, which is highlighting a simple reality: global crises require global solutions. This pandemic is our opportunity to strengthen regional collaboration and global solidarity to address our shared challenges and move forward. This can only happen if we are courageous and dedicated enough to seize the opportunities presented to us.
As a 42-year-old man, who has worked for almost three decades in local construction, Jonathan acknowledges that it wasn't strange that women that walk passed a construction job site were victims of all kinds of personal attacks - insults, hisses, catcalling – and other forms of harassment.
COVAX has been trending in stories about the COVID-19 pandemic in recent days, particularly in relation to the shipment of vaccines to Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire, the first to arrive in Africa. Here’s a UN News recap of what COVAX is, and why it is so important.
In response, UN teams around the world have marshalled forces not only to stop the spread of the disease, but to deal with its many secondary effects—from massive job losses to increases in gender-based violence. Here are five ways the UN is combating the pandemic.
