COVID-19 is like a rainstorm, a thunderous and powerful rainstorm all over the world. If we didn’t know before, we certainly know now just where the holes are in our roofs, or where there are no roofs. We see ever more clearly who is getting drenched and who is dying, and who remains dry.
Together with governments and partners, UN country teams worldwide are working to help protect the safety and security of communities, particularly those facing humanitarian crisis. Teams are stepping up their effort to obtain more essential lifesaving supplies and shelter for those most at-risk. We highlight some of the coordinated efforts.
Tens of thousands of refugees have been crossing the border from Ethiopia to Sudan since 7 November, fleeing conflict in Ethiopia’s Tigray region. In addition to the current emergency response, UN humanitarian agencies have launched the development of a response plan targeting 200,000 individuals for a 6-month period.
Sometimes, the crisis in West Africa and the Sahel region is so difficult and so complicated as to seem virtually unsolvable. But where many people see only a mission impossible, the United Nations sees an opportunity.
Traditional storytellers in Chad, known as troubadours, are taking life-saving messages to remote communities in the Sahelian country, as the Government steps up its efforts with the support of the UN to counter the COVID-19 pandemic.
Here are nine ways our UN teams are working to address what UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres described as the greatest global crisis since World War II.
