WORLD FOOD DAY 2023

 
Water is essential for life on Earth. It makes up 50% of our human bodies. It covers about 70% of the planet’s surface.

Turning Trash into Education: Lagos Children Benefit from Plastic Waste School

Ijora Badia, a slum in Lagos, was swimming in plastic waste. Now children pay their school fees in plastic bottles, and these are used to build classrooms.

With Hope and Courage, They Inspire Us

“My dream is to become a teacher,” says 13-year-old Alia. A small glimmer of hope can be traced in her beautiful, almond-shaped, brown eyes. Together with her mother, siblings and aunt, Alia has fled the conflict in Sudan to Chad. With extraordinary courage to survive, she made the harrowing journey at night across checkpoints, threatened by guns and militia roaming around in the dark. While her eyes are still hollow from the flight, I see that sparkle for a split second: she still has hope.

The Taliban Can Reverse the Unacceptable Ban on Girls’ Education

Today, we mark the second anniversary of the ban on secondary school girls’ education in Afghanistan and join the world in calling for it to be lifted now.

Education Cannot Wait Interviews High-Level Steering Group Youth Representative Mutesi Hadijah and Executive Committee Youth Representative Hector Ulloa

 
Youth offer a powerful voice in ECW’s global movement to ensure crisis-impacted children worldwide are offered the safety, hope and opportunity of a quality education. As a global multilateral fund, ECW offers a rare opportunity for youth to participate in its governance structure. In this sweeping two-part interview, ECW connects with Mutesi Hadijah and Hector Ulloa who were recently elected to represent the youth constituency on ECW’s High-Level Steering Group and Executive Committee, respectively.

Climate Action Needs Arts

Environmental issues have been my life’s career. But music has also been important. Arts can shift societal perspectives on tough topics.

Regaining Momentum for a Leprosy Free World

This year marks the 150th anniversary of the discovery of the leprosy bacillus by Dr. Gerhard Armauer Hansen in Bergen, Norway. To prompt reflection on the past and build momentum for a zero leprosy future, the Sasakawa Leprosy (Hansen’s Disease) Initiative and the University of Bergen co-hosted an international conference on June 21–22. The conference was attended by 200 people from 27 countries and opened with video messages from Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization, and Mr. Volker Türk, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.

International Youth Day 2023

 

Today, the world is embarking on a green transition. A shift towards an environmentally sustainable and climate-friendly world is critical.

Education Cannot Wait Interviews The Rt. Hon. Andrew Mitchell, United Kingdom Minister of State (Development and Africa)

 

The Rt. Hon. Andrew Mitchell was appointed as a Minister of State in the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) on 25 October 2022. He was previously Secretary of State for International Development from May 2010 to September 2012. He was elected Conservative MP for Sutton Coldfield on 7 June 2001.

Sexual Violence – In All Forms and Contexts – Must Stop

Sexual violence is unacceptable in any shape or form, in all contexts, including those of conflict. As we come together on the International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict, we must reflect together on the pain, horror, fear and inhumanity that rape, sexual abuse, trafficking, slavery, child marriage and other forms of conflict-related sexual violence bring to a young child’s life, hence, our collective humanity.

Plastic INC-2 finished with a roadmap for INC-3 Of the Global Plastic Treaty

Plastic INC-2 finished up by laying out a roadmap for the time in between meetings leading to INC-3, requiring the creation of a “zero draft” of the new treaty for review at INC-3. Allocating a day to discuss the synthesis report of elements not thought of during INC-2 prior to the meeting. Representing Global Plastic INC-2, Dr. Shahriar Hossain, Secretary General of ESDO provided an overview of the meeting's results today (Thursday) in the media briefing, press briefing organized by Environment and Social Development Organization.

Award-Winning Journalist and Best-Selling Author Christina Lamb Appointed Global Champion for Education Cannot Wait

Education Cannot Wait (ECW), the UN global fund for education in emergencies and protracted crises, today named Christina Lamb as its newest ‘ECW Global Champion’.

Access to Quality Learning Environments Will End Child Labour

Worldwide, 160 million children are engaged in child labour. Without access to safe, quality educational opportunities, their dreams of a better future have been cut short. As we commemorate the World Day Against Child Labour, we must continue to support their protection from child abuse and violations – and the right to 12 years of quality education – for every girl and boy on the planet.

Number of Crisis-Impacted Children in Need of Education Support Rises Significantly: Education Cannot Wait Issues New Global Estimates Study

Armed conflicts, forced displacement, climate change and other crises increased the number of crisis-impacted children in need of urgent quality education to 224 million, according to a new Global Estimates Study issued today by Education Cannot Wait (ECW), the United Nations global fund for education in emergencies and protracted crises.

Education Cannot Wait Interviews United Nations Resident Coordinator in Colombia Mireia Villar Forner

 

Mireia Villar Forner is the United Nations Resident Coordinator in Colombia. Ms. Villar Forner brings more than 25 years of experience, which she acquired within the United Nations and externally, to the position. At the United Nations, she most recently served as Resident Coordinator in Uruguay, where she led the work of the United Nations development system to accelerate the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. She also held senior positions at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), including that of Resident Representative in Uruguay, Deputy Resident Representative in Bolivia and Deputy Resident Representative in Iraq during the country’s political transition. She also served at the UNDP Liaison Office in Brussels, where she played a key role in strengthening the partnership between the Organization and the European Union. Before that, she worked as the focal point for Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as the Arab States, in UNDP’s Bureau for Crisis Prevention and Recovery, after an assignment as Head of the Programme Section of the Electricity Network Rehabilitation Programme in Northern Iraq. She started her career with the United Nations at UNDP’s Regional Bureau for Arab States. Prior to joining the Organization, Ms. Villar Forner worked in the financial sector in Spain. She holds a master’s degree in foreign service from Georgetown University in the USA, and a bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of Barcelona in Spain.