缅北禁地

John Wilmoth, Clare Menozzi, Lina Bassarsky and Danan Gu

As the World's Population Surpasses 8 Billion, What Are the Implications for Planetary Health and Sustainability?

Ultimately, planetary health and the sustainability of our economic system will depend on the social, demographic, economic and environmental choices that we make. 

Photo by Luke Paris on Unsplash
Sooyeon Laura Jin and Nancy Aburto

Healthy Forests Are Vital to Human Health and Sustainable Development

The global community, and national policymakers in particular, need to adopt a multifaceted 鈥淥ne Health鈥 approach that views human, plant and animal health as intertwined and codependent.

Rwanda: Agnes Mukamushinja Nova coffee1 - Agnes Mukamushinja
Pamela Coke-Hamilton

Micro-, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises Are Key to an Inclusive and Sustainable Future

Micro-, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) are engines of economic growth and employment, accounting for 90 per cent of businesses, up to 70 per cent of all jobs and 50 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) at the global level.  

United Nations Deputy Secretary-General Amina J. Mohammed addresses the event 鈥淗er Land. Her Rights: Advancing Gender Equality and Land Restoration Goals鈥 in the General Assembly Hall on June 2023. 缅北禁地Photo/Manuel El铆as.
Amina J. Mohammed

The Future We Want Requires More Women in Diplomacy

At the United Nations, we, the women working in diplomacy, along with our feminist male allies, have an opportunity to drive forward the change we need. 

4.	Growing Hope Across Borders: The Great Green Wall, Africa's Epic Response to Global Challenges Led by Senegalese Women. 漏Makewaves 鈥 UNCCD
Tarja Halonen

Securing Women鈥檚 Land Rights for Increased Gender Equality, Food Security and Economic Empowerment

This World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought, governments must immediately eliminate legal barriers to women and girls鈥 ownership or inheritance of land. 

Rose Tonga married at 18 years, suffered obstetric fistula for 21 years. She has now received treatment and regained her dignity, thanks to UNFPA and partners.聽漏UNFPA South Sudan
Bridget Asiamah

Twenty Years of Progress Is Not Enough: We Must Act Now to End Obstetric Fistula

Obstetric fistula can be prevented when there is access to quality, comprehensive sexual and reproductive health services and information. 

Bryan Stevenson

Countering the Legacy of Enslavement with Hope and Justice

As the world’s preeminent international organization, the United Nations is the only institution that can connect the multiple players and partners implicated in the global tragedy of the transatlantic trade in enslaved Africans.

Forest biodiversity in the Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve, Ecuador, 28 February 2019. F盲hrtenleser, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Edward Norton

Protecting the Tree of Life: The Path Forward

Though we humans share the earth with the rest of its life forms, and we are an integrated part of its biodiversity, we have an outsized impact on the health of the planet. 

Richard Gowan

The United Nations General Assembly Can Do More to Address Threats to Peace and Security

Historically, the General Assembly has played a large role in peace and security in periods when the Security Council is severely divided.

An argan tree in a valley near Tafraoute, Morocco. Photo: Bj酶rn Christian T酶rrissen/Wikimedia Commons
Omar Hilale

Cultivation of the Argan Tree Can Help Combat Climate Change and Support Sustainable Development

The proclamation of the International Day of Argania by the General Assembly reflects the mobilization of the international community around the important cause of safeguarding and preserving the argan tree. 

Dutch tall sailing ship Oosterschelde near Cabo Verde, 2012. Photographer: Arthur Smeets  漏 Shipping Company 鈥極osterschelde鈥
Stewart McPherson

The DARWIN200 Global Voyage

A decade in the making, the DARWIN200 project centres on inspiring a new wave of exceptional environmental leaders by training and empowering some of the world鈥檚 top young (from 18 to 25 years of age) conservationists.

Runners from 88 countries gathered in New York on 1 November 2003 to participate in the International Friendship Run, a four-mile course to Central Park. Many of the runners carried their national flags. 缅北禁地Photo/Evan Schneider
Pegah Zohouri Haghian

Celebrating the International Day of Sport for Development and Peace

The United Nations acknowledges sport鈥檚 role as a vehicle for building and sustaining peace through its capacity for dialogue and trust-building, and in the way it promotes tolerance and respect (SDG 16).

漏 Li Nan | Dreamstime.com
Mariana Lopez and Karima Wardak

The Digital Last Mile: Where the Achievement of Human Rights, Sustainable Development and Women鈥檚 Empowerment Meet

As the United Nations catalytic finance entity for the world鈥檚 46 least developed countries, one of the critical tasks of the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) is supporting the creation of gender-inclusive digital economies. 

Storm clouds and lightning, Nikolaev, Ukraine, 19 June 2021 From the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) 2023 Calendar Competition. Yurii Bershadskiy
Petteri Taalas

The Future of Weather, Climate and Water across Generations

The history of WMO data exchange is a success story of scientific collaboration and coordination to save lives and livelihoods.

The population of the southern regions of Madagascar has historically suffered multiple deprivations, a situation that has become a humanitarian crisis due to the impact of El Nino. UNICEF/Lalaina Raoelison
Gilbert F. Houngbo

Take Time to Reflect on Water

We need two things to happen at once: the United Nations must take the global lead on water as a critical issue, and water must be mainstreamed across all other intergovernmental processes related to sustainable development.