Americas

A transgender woman in Haiti has said she does not want to die in a man’s body, and hopes to leave her native country to fulfill her dream of transitioning from being a man to a woman. Semi Alisha Fermond works with transgender people at Kay Trans Ayiti (the Creole name for Trans House Haiti) and is an activist with the UNDP and UNAIDS-supported organization Community Action for the Integration of Vulnerable Haitians (ACIFVH). “We work specifically with transgender people. We try to...

Women living in Amazon River communities now have increased access to breast cancer screening along even its most remote banks, thanks to two new mammography units installed on Brazilian navy ships. Procured by the UN-backed International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the mammography units will triple the current capacity for such tests in the remote region. One of the ships, Soares de Meirelles, already started delivering services along the vital South American waterway, and will soon be...

A young Haitian man is rebuilding his life, with the support of the UN, after being held in detention for three years, from the age of 15, when he was wrongfully accused of stealing from a local shopkeeper. Many others, like him, spend a prolonged period of time behind bars, before their case comes to trial. Renel*, who spent his childhood in the coastal city of Les Cayes in southern Haiti grew up alongside friends playing hide-and-seek and marbles, swimming in the river flowing near his...

And in the crucial area of vaccination, although the Americas now have some of the highest COVID-19 vaccination coverage rates on the planet, it’s also “the most unequal region in the world” when it comes to shots, said Carissa Etienne, Director of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO). Last week, there were seven million new COVID cases and more than 34,000 COVID-related deaths”, she told the regular weekly media briefing. “However, the rise in infections seems to be slowing down...

More than eight million new COVID-19 cases were reported in the Americas last week, the highest weekly caseload since the start of the pandemic, the head of the regional office of the World Health Organization (WHO) told journalists on Wednesday. Cases increased by 32 per cent over the previous week, while 18,000 new deaths occurred across the region, representing a 37 per cent relative increase during this period. “As COVID cases are spreading more actively – and more quickly – than...

COVID-19 cases continue to accelerate in the Americas amid increased demand for testing, the head of the regional office of the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Wednesday. Dr. Carissa Etienne, Director of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), highlighted the critical need for countries to scale-up testing and, in particular, to leverage “smart” use of rapid antigen tests. Over the past week, COVID-19 cases in the region reached new peaks, with nearly 7.2 million new...

For several years, the number of people transiting through Mexico, many hoping for a better life in the USA, has continued to grow. The UN team in the country, in close collaboration with the Mexican authorities, is working to ensure that they receive essential, and often life-saving, assistance. When life in her country became too dangerous, Natalia* took her children and fled. She managed to cross into Mexico via the southern border, but once she arrived in the country, she had no means...

The funding, announced on Thursday, will support the UN agency’s COVID-19 Response and Recovery Programme, part of its broader One Health programme . The initiative helps safeguard human, animal, plant and environmental health throughout the food chain, from production to consumption and waste management. FAO joins with partners the World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE), forming a tripartite on the One Health approach, and expands its...

In response to the critical needs of a growing number of Venezuelans arriving by foot to Chile’s northern border, UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, said on Thursday that it is stepping up its presence and assistance in the South American country. “Children, adolescents, pregnant women and the elderly often need urgent medical support after several days traveling on foot”, said Rebeca Cenalmor-Rejas, Head of UNHCR’s National Office in Chile. An arduous journey Since November, local...

Venezuela violated a jurist’s right to be tried by an independent tribunal and his right to the presumption of innocence, the UN Human Rights Committee said on Wednesday. In the decision, the Committee requested that Venezuela declare the criminal proceedings against Allan Brewer Carías null and void, and that he be awarded adequate compensation. It also called for the State to take steps to prevent the recurrence of such violations. Mr. Carías has been living in the United States since...