Articles

The arranged marriage typically involves the exchange of a highly prized and culturally important Zebu cow for teenage girls as young as 13 years old. Now two UN agencies UNICEF and the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) are working together with the local authorities to educate women and also men, through sessions focusing on positive masculinity, about the dangers of the practice and how to treat women as equals. Daniel Dickinson of UN News spoke to Lehilahy Modely, who joined one of the...

Droughts, partly caused by climate change and the resulting lack of water, have driven many communities to the brink as they have been unable to grow the crops they rely on for survival. Many are forced to rely on humanitarian aid. But now, the availability of electricity and water is reviving many villages, including Fenoaivo in the Anosy region, according to the WFP’s Avimaro Mikendremana. “The people of Fenoaivo have suffered greatly. In 2020, they experienced famine-like conditions...

Global perspective Human stories Emergency food aid from Ukraine arrives in war-torn Sudan. 28 February 2024Humanitarian Aid More than 7,000 tonnes of wheat donated by war-ravaged Ukraine will help to feed one million conflict-affected people in Sudan for a month, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) said on Wednesday. The in-kind donation – part of the ‘Grain from Ukraine’ humanitarian initiative launched by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy – arrived in the coastal city of...

Briefing ambassadors on the UN Security Council, Valentine Rugwabiza, Special Representative for the Central African Republic (CAR), recalled the 15 January explosion which targeted a patrol from the mission, killing one peacekeeper and wounding five others. “Explosive ordinance devices (EODs) and light weapons are not only a threat to the population and peacekeepers but equally the most serious constraint to the delivery of humanitarian assistance in the western region where 50 per cent of...

People living in Madagascar are learning to adapt to rapidly altering climatic conditions in what is said to be the fourth most climate change affected country worldwide; that’s according to the UN Resident Coordinator, the most senior UN official in the Indian Ocean island nation. As Issa Sanogo nears the end of his posting in the capital Antananarivo, he sat down with UN News to reflect on the progress the country and its citizens have made in responding to the climate crisis. UN...

18 February 2024Health Ongoing humanitarian crises in southern Madagascar have worsened the situation for people with mental health disorders, but the UN’s World Health Organization (WHO) has been supporting patients by providing more psychiatric consultations. Henrielle Emasignavy works for WHO in Ambovombe, where the Androy Regional Referral Hospital is based. She spoke about the care that is being provided to people who are struggling with mental health crises. WHO’s Henrielle...

13 February 2024Health As the world celebrates World Radio Day, marked on 13 February, we dug into the UN archives for a vintage podcast classic from 1959, when famed Frankenstein actor Boris Karloff narrated an episode describing a visit to a leprosy clinic in Tiranka, Nigeria. Actor Boris Karloff. Famous for his role in the film adaptation of Mary Shelley’s 1818 novel, Mr. Karloff also acted in 130 movies, playing, as he called it, many “spine-chilling roles”. Stepping out of...

Peter Graaff, acting representative of the UN World Health Organization (WHO) in Sudan, warned that displaced people sheltering in overcrowded areas lack access to water and sanitation, food, and the most basic services. “The situation in Sudan was a perfect storm as the health system is hardly functional. The childhood immunization programme is breaking down and infectious diseases are spreading,” he said. He was speaking to correspondents at the regular press briefing at the UN Office at...

11 February 2024Economic Development Small-scale chicken farmers in the south of Madagascar are hatching a plan to boost their incomes and improve the stock of local poultry breeds, thanks to support from the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). Over 80 chicken rearers in Anosy Region have so far received the possibly life-altering birds, which originate in India but which are now thriving in Tanzania. FAO brought eggs from the East African country to hatch chicks in...

7 February 2024Humanitarian Aid The United Nations on Wednesday urged countries not to forget millions of people caught up in the war between rival militaries in Sudan, as it called for $4.1 billion to help stave off famine and help those who have fled into neighbouring countries. “Half of Sudan’s population, 25 million people, needs humanitarian assistance,” Martin Griffiths, UN Emergency Relief Coordinator, told journalists in Geneva. He emphasized that far too many of those in need...