Secretary-General António Guterres arrived on Wednesday to Lviv, the largest city in Western Ukraine.
“Tomorrow, he will join President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in a meeting hosted by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine,” UN Deputy Spokesman Farhan Haq told a regular press briefing in New York.
“He will go on to visit Odesa and then Istanbul in the following days,” he added.
During his visit, the UN chief will stop by one of the three Ukrainian ports involved in the framework of the Black Sea Initiative to export wheat grain.
Prior to the start of the conflict in February, Ukraine was exporting up to six million tonnes of grain a month.
However, the war triggered grain shortages that have left African countries among the most heavily impacted.
Yesterday as the first humanitarian boat under the Initiative left for the Horn of Africa, the head of the World Food Programme (WFP), David Beasley, had said that getting the Black Sea Ports open is “the single most important thing we can do right now”.
“It will take more than grain ships out of Ukraine to stop world hunger, but with Ukrainian grain back on global markets we have a chance to stop this global food crisis from spiraling even further,” he stated.
Travel ahead
Prior to returning to New York, Mr Guterres will make a stop in Istanbul, Turkey, to visit the Joint Coordinating Centre, the mechanism that supports implementation of the UN-brokered Black Sea Initiative on grain exports.
This is the second call that Mr. Guterres has made on Ukraine after the Russian invasion that began on 24 February.
The Secretary General first flew to the country at the end of April when he visited the devastated outskirts of the capital, Kyiv, and met with President Zelensky and other high-ranking officials of the country.
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While I may not read as much as I’d like to, there is nothing I enjoy more than sitting down at a friend’s home and browsing the beautiful books they have displayed on their coffee tables. This is specifically the case when the books are tailored to show off the personal interests and hobbies of my friends. Coffee table books are special because they aren’t just created for the written word, but instead, heavily focus on photographic or artistic imagery and the physical design of the book itself. A good coffee table book is both informative and engaging, as well as aesthetically pleasing.
For sports lovers, there are tons of incredible options. With so much rich history and so much of it recorded in such close detail, you can choose from a number of coffee table books that give you a rich textual and photographic experience of the game you love. However, finding the right coffee table book for the sport you love is still an incredibly difficult process, especially as more and more continue to get made. Instead of spending hours upon hours searching for the absolute perfect choice, check out our list of the best coffee table books for sports lovers.
Boxing is a sport that has the most lore and history behind it. As such, it is nearly impossible to encapsulate the sport let alone one fighter in just a single coffee table book. The Fight instead chooses to give an in-depth visual and textual history of the fight between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman that took place in Kinshasa, Zaire. Filled with original photographs restored to the best resolution and commentary from Norman Mailer, the book is the most in-depth look at every step of the fight for the Heavyweight Championship of the World.
New York Times Golf History Book
For all the dads out there who spend at least a few Sundays a year watching golf through a perfect afternoon, the New York Times Golf History Book is the perfect addition to any coffee table. Filled with the biggest golf headlines and moments from the entire history of the New York Times, you can travel through time and read exactly what was written about the biggest achievements from golf’s greatest players through the years. Furthermore, you can get the book personally created to have the name of whoever you want to give this gift to.
Ballparks Past and Present
One of the most beautiful parts about sports and in particular, baseball, is the incredible stadiums and arenas in which they are played. Ballparks Past and Present gives you a look at the hundreds of historic ballparks throughout the history of baseball. With so many classic stadiums and fields being destroyed and rebuilt over time, you can get a feeling of what it was like to actually watch a game at some of the most historic stadiums in the game. Furthermore, the book is bound in a beautiful leather cover that only adds to its aesthetic appeal
Virgil Abloh. Nike. ICONS
For those of us that love the influence and design of the many shoes worn across the wide world of sports, there are few names as influential as Nike. Virgil Abloh. Nike. ICONS shows off the incredible history of Nike sneakers while also showing off the limitless fashion possibilities of them at the hand of fashion designer Virgil Abloh. The book offers a closer look at the details of what makes Nike shoes and Virgil Abloh’s artistic eye so influential in the world of fashion. The open spine also gives the look of a binder of ideas and the exterior cover shows off the classic bold Taschen design.
Match Point: Tennis by Martin Parr
For those who love the graceful and dramatic game of tennis, Match Point: Tennis by Martin Parr gives you a closer look at some of the most iconic moments, tournaments and players of the game through the unique lens of photographer Martin Parr. Across dozens of Grand Slams, you can see the crowds and emotions of the game at a level you never could before. The book features 85 photos never published prior to this coffee table book for you to experience.
City/Game: Basketball in New York
When it comes to basketball, the game is inextricably linked to the many courts around the city of New York. City/Game: Basketball in New York is the comprehensive history of the game as it has been played in the city. Gathering photos and history from the earliest examples of the game all the way to sold-out crowds watching the Knicks today, the book encompasses the link between New York City and basketball. From the Mecca of Basketball at Madison Square Garden to the street courts in local neighborhoods, this coffee table book is perfect for any basketball lover or city dweller alike.
Sports Illustrated: The Football Book
From the biggest game in the United States to the biggest sports magazine in the world, Sports Illustrated: The Football Book shows off 50 years of Sports Illustrated covering football. From the old-school leather pads all the way to the incredible catches of the modern era, this coffee table book not only shows off some impressive photography of the game’s greatest moments but provides a history of its progression of it from its early days to the nationwide phenomenon it has become.
The Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) on Wednesday highlighted the need to support millions facing starvation and disease in the Horn of Africa.
Speaking from Geneva, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said drought, conflict, climate change and increasing prices for food, fuel and fertilizer, are all contributing to lack of access to sufficient food.
The countries affected are Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan and Uganda.
“Hunger and malnutrition pose a direct threat to health, but they also weaken the body’s defenses, and open the door to diseases including pneumonia, measles and cholera,” he explained.
Tedros said the crisis is forcing some people to choose between paying for food and healthcare, Many are migrating in search of food, which can put them at increased risk of disease.
WHO has provided more than $16 million from an emergency fund to address needs, but more support is required.
The agency is appealing for $123.7 million which will be used to prevent and control outbreaks, treat malnutrition, and provide essential health services as well as medicines.
Tedros said the drought is compounding the “man-made catastrophe” in the Tigray region of northern Ethiopian, where war has raged for nearly two years.
Some six million people are under siege by Ethiopian and Eritrean forces, he said, “sealed off from the outside world, with no telecommunications, no banking services and very limited electricity and fuel.”
As a result, they are facing multiple outbreaks of malaria, anthrax, cholera, diarrhea and other diseases.
“This unimaginable cruelty must end. The only solution is peace,” said Tedros.
At the end of the briefing, he appealed for greater global attention to the situation in Tigray.
“I can tell you that the humanitarian crisis in Tigray is more than (in) Ukraine, without any exaggeration. And I said it many months ago, maybe the reason is the colour of the skin of the people in Tigray”.
Ukraine nuclear readiness
Also at the briefing:
A senior WHO official has underscored the agency’s readiness to respond to any potential nuclear incident in Ukraine.
Dr. Michael Ryan, Executive Director, was answering a journalist’s question regarding the deteriorating situation around the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant.
WHO has been involved with the Ukrainian authorities since the beginning of the war, he said, including through the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
“We’re in constant communication with the IAEA and remain ready as a member of the UN system to react, if there’s a need to react,” said Dr Ryan.
“A nuclear accident obviously would be catastrophic in the situation, to human life and to the environment, so we do remain concerned about that. We’re guided by our colleagues at the IAEA, and will continue to offer medical response support to them and to the Government of Ukraine.”
Nicaragua: police ban Catholic procession in Managua
Nicaraguan police banned a procession of the Catholic Church in the capital on Saturday “for reasons of internal security,” the Archdiocese of Managua announced Friday, August 12, in a statement, while the bishop of Matagalpa (northeast) has been besieged by police since August 4.
Relations between the Catholic Church and the government of Daniel Ortega have been strained since 2018 when protesters calling for the resignation of the Nicaraguan president took refuge in churches. The crackdown on the protests has left more than 350 people dead. President Ortega accuses the Catholic clergy of complicity in what he calls a coup attempt engineered by Washington. The crisis even led to the expulsion in March of the apostolic nuncio (Vatican ambassador) Bishop Waldemar Sommertag.
However, the archdiocese invited the faithful to go to the cathedral in the capital Managua on Saturday to “pray for the Church in Nicaragua”. A strong police presence around the cathedral was noted Friday by AFP.
Holy See expresses concern over Nicaragua, calls for dialogue
The Holy See’s Permanent Observer to the Organization of American States has expressed on Thursday concern over the social and political situation in Nicaragua, calling for dialogue that serves the common good.
“the Holy See cannot fail to express its concern in this regard, while assuring those who are committed to dialogue as an indispensable instrument of democracy and guarantor of a more humane and fraternal civilization that it always wishes to collaborate with.” Msgr. Juan Antonio Cruz Serrano, the Holy See’s Permanent Observer
He added that “the Holy See appeals to the parties to find ways of understanding, based on respect and mutual trust, seeking above all the common good and peace.”
Photo credit: Church of Scientology Hungary. August 2022 has seen the 12th Scientology ordained minister in Hungary and the 8th woman this year.
August 2022 has seen the 12th Scientology ordained minister in Hungary and the 8th woman this year.
BUDAPEST, HUNGARY, August 17, 2022 /EINPresswire.com/ An article by the Catholic Herald says that “Catholicism is a driving force in (…) countries of central and eastern Europe, such as Hungary and Poland, where Catholicism is heavily associated with (…) freedom and democracy…”.
Other sources say that religious vocations and seminars in historical religions are decreasing. Still, the Church of Scientology of Hungary seems to be the complete contrary, having ordained just up to August 2022, 12 ordained ministers, of which 8 are women.
This would correspond more to the trend announced by Catholic Herald for a country like Hungary, even if the religious freedom practices of some officials have room for quite some improvement. There are reports at the UN Human Rights Council, the OSCE and other supranational organizations that show the discrimination that some minority religions still suffer in Hungary.
Ivan Arjona, President of the European Office of the Church of Scientology for Public Affairs and Human Rights, said that
“Despite any barriers, Hungarians, and especially the Scientologists, are not the type of people who give up their freedoms and this is proven by the growing community of Scientologists, and in the growing number of charitable actions of our parishioners helping Catholics, Buddhists, Muslims, and Christians in general”.
While there are different types of vocations in Scientology churches who dedicate their time and skills to support their Church, ordained ministers hold a special place in the congregation. In fact, Arjona says, in a ever-increasing trend, more and more Scientologists in Hungary are choosing to learn more about the religious and practical teachings of Scientology “as well as those of other main religions, and with that make an even greater impact in their communities, by becom¡ng ordained ministers”.
Photo credit: Church of Scientology Hungary. Right to left: Rev. Aniko Mártonyi, in a ceremony conducted by Reverend Attila Miklovicz
This August, it was Rev. Aniko Mártonyi, in a ceremony conducted by Reverend Attila Miklovicz, who took her perpetual religious vows. The symbol of the oath for the Scientologists is seen in the eight-pointed cross of Scientology, which Miklovicz placed around Anikó’s neck. And with this, she became an ordained minister, “with all the beauty and responsibility that entails in making this one a better society for all everywhere,” sentenced Miklovicz.
Photo credit: Church of Scientology Hungary. Scientology cross being placed on neck of new ordained minister
Aniko started studying Scientology 5 years after she had heard of it for the first time. She had worked alongside Scientologists and admired them enormously, but it was only in 2011 that she decided to set out on this journey after a stranger’s advice. She has never stopped ever since.
As a result, her life has taken, as per her statement, “a radical turn for the better”. This evolution had further sped up when she recently decided to start her formation to become an Ordained Scientology Minister. She aims to help those around her and inspire positive change in anyone crossing her path, and she “will be doing just that with the different rites and ceremonies of our religion”, said the most recent ordained minister of the Hungarian Scientologists.
In her message to the community during the ceremony, Rev. Mártonyi asked them to:
“Dare to look, dare to find out what it’s all about, even through the fog of judgement and prejudice. See for yourselves what this is all about. And then decide whether it needs to be listened to, studied, or thrown in the bin.”
After hearing her choice to follow the vocation, it becomes evident that she decided to study Scientology with an approach of service and study the other religions (a mandatory part of the course to be ordained). “Knowledge about all religions is key and enriching,” says Arjona, confirming what Dr. Urbano Alonso Galan said in a scientific report of 1996:
“As Max Muller affirmed, ‘he who knows only one religion knows none,’ which would express the idea with complete precision.”
Alonso Galán, a Doctor in Philosophy and Licentiate in Theology by the Gregorian University and Saint Bonaventure Pontifical Faculty in Rome, further stated in the article that:
“Even though the founder himself [L. Ron Hubbard] places Scientology in the tradition of the oriental religions, inheritors of Buddhism and the Vedas, it nevertheless has ceremonies which to a large degree remind one of the western religions”.
“But due to its tradition, it possesses various and very personal rites which, although reminiscent of the Judeo-Christian tradition, turn out to be completely coherent with the body of beliefs of Scientology” confirms this expert on religion, who had been a moderator in Ecumenical Congresses directed by the Vatican and who, in this capacity, worked with Pope John XXIII and Pope Paul VI on religious matters.
The European Commission has approved a €218 million Bulgarian scheme to support certain agricultural producers in the context of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The scheme was approved under the State aid Temporary Crisis Framework, adopted by the Commission on 23 March 2022 and amended on 20 July 2022, based on Article 107(3)(b) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (‘TFEU’), recognising that the EU economy is experiencing a serious disturbance.
Executive Vice-President Margrethe Vestager, in charge of competition policy, said: “The agricultural sector has been hit particularly hard by the increases of energy prices and other input costs caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the related sanctions. This €218 million scheme approved today will enable Bulgaria to support farmers affected by the current geopolitical crisis. We continue to stand with Ukraine and its people. At the same time, we continue working closely with Member States to ensure that national support measures can be put in place in a timely, coordinated and effective way, while protecting the level playing field in the Single Market.”
The Bulgarian measure
Bulgaria notified to the Commission under the Temporary Crisis Framework a €218 million (BGN 426 million) scheme to support certain agricultural producers in the context of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The measure will be open to micro, small and medium-sized companies active in the primary production of certain agricultural products, which have been affected by the price increase of energy, fertilizers and other input costs, caused by the current geopolitical crisis and the related sanctions. The primary production of the following agricultural products is covered by the scheme: small and large ruminants, horses, beehives, fruits and vegetables (in particular salads and lettuce, okra and courgette), rose oil, wine vines, nuts and tobacco.
Under this scheme, the eligible beneficiaries will be entitled to receive limited amounts of aid in the form of direct grants. The aid amount per beneficiary will be calculated on the basis of the number of animals and of hectares of agricultural land.
The Commission found that the Bulgarian scheme is in line with the conditions set out in the Temporary Crisis Framework. In particular, the aid (i) will not exceed €62,000 per beneficiary; and (ii) will be granted no later than 31 December 2022.
The Commission concluded that the Bulgarian scheme is necessary, appropriate and proportionate to remedy a serious disturbance in the economy of a Member State, in line with Article 107(3)(b) TFEU and the conditions set out in the Temporary Crisis Framework.
On this basis, the Commission approved the aid measure under EU State aid rules.
Background
The State aid Temporary Crisis Framework, adopted on 23 March 2022, enables Member States to use the flexibility foreseen under State aid rules to support the economy in the context of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The Temporary Crisis Framework provides for the following types of aid, which can be granted by Member States:
Limited amounts of aid, in any form, for companies affected by the current crisis or by the subsequent sanctions and countersanctions up to the increased amount of 62,000€ and 75,000€ in the agriculture, and fisheries and aquaculture sectors respectively, and up to 500,000€ in all other sectors;
Liquidity support in form of State guarantees and subsidised loans;
Aid to compensate for high energy prices. The aid, which can be granted in any form, will partially compensate companies, in particular intensive energy users, for additional costs due to exceptionalgas and electricityprice increases. The overall aid per beneficiary cannot exceed 30% of the eligible costs and – in order to incentivise energy saving – should relate to no more than 70% of its gas and electricity consumption during the same period of the previous year, up to a maximum of €2 million at any given point in time. When the company incurs operating losses, further aid may be necessary to ensure the continuation of an economic activity. Therefore, for energy-intensive users, the aid intensities are higherandMember States may grant aid exceeding these ceilings, up to €25 million, and for companies active in particularly affectedsectors and sub-sectors up to €50 million;
Measures accelerating the rollout of renewable energy. Member States can set up schemes for investments in renewable energy, including renewable hydrogen, biogas and biomethane, storage and renewable heat, including through heat pumps, with simplified tender procedures that can be quickly implemented, while including sufficient safeguards to protect the level playing field. In particular, Member States can devise schemes for a specific technology, requiring support in view of the particular national energy mix; and
Measures facilitating the decarbonisation of industrial processes. To further accelerate the diversification of energy supplies, Member States can support investments to phase out from fossil fuels, in particular through electrification, energy efficiency and the switch to the use of renewable and electricity-based hydrogen which complies with certain conditions. Member States can either (i) set up new tender based schemes, or (ii) directly support projects, without tenders, with certain limits on the share of public support per investment. Specific top-up bonuses would be foreseen for small and medium-sized enterprises as well as for particularly energy efficient solutions.The Temporary Crisis Framework also indicates how the following types of aid may be approved on a case-by-case basis, subject to conditions:
(i) support for companies affected by mandatory or voluntary gas curtailment, (ii) support for the filling of gas storages, (iii) transitory and time-limited support for fuel switching to more polluting fossil fuels subject to energy efficiency efforts and to avoiding lock-in effects, and (iv) support the provision of insurance or reinsurance to companies transporting goods to and from Ukraine.Sanctioned Russian-controlled entities will be excluded from the scope of these measures.The Temporary Crisis Framework includes a number of safeguards:
Proportional methodology, requiring a link between the amount of aid that can be granted to businesses and the scale of their economic activity and exposure to the economic effects of the crisis;
Eligibility conditions, for example definingenergy intensive users as businesses for which the purchase of energy products amount to at least 3% of their production value; and
Sustainability requirements, Member States are invited to consider, in a non-discriminatory way, setting up requirements related to environmental protection or security of supply when granting aid for additional costs due to exceptionally high gas and electricity prices.The Temporary Crisis Framework will be in place until 31 December 2022 for the liquidity support measures and measures covering increased energy costs. Aid supporting the roll-out of renewables and the decarbonisation of the industry may be granted until end June 2023. With a view to ensuring legal certainty, the Commission will assess at a later stage the need for an extension.The Temporary Crisis Framework complements the ample possibilities for Member States to design measures in line with existing EU State aid rules. For example, EU State aid rules enable Member States to help companies cope with liquidity shortages and needing urgent rescue aid. Furthermore, Article 107(2)(b) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union enables Member States to compensate companies for the damage directly caused by an exceptional occurrence, such as those caused by the current crisis.Furthermore, on 19 March 2020, the Commission adopted a Temporary Framework in the context of the coronavirus outbreak. The COVID Temporary Framework was amended on 3 April, 8 May, 29 June, 13 October 2020, 28 January and 18 November 2021. As announced in May 2022, the COVID Temporary Framework has not been extended beyond the set expiry date of 30 June 2022, with some exceptions. In particular, investment and solvency support measures may still be put in place until 31 December 2022 and 31 December 2023 respectively. In addition, the COVID Temporary Framework already provides for a flexible transition, under clear safeguards, in particular for the conversion and restructuring options of debt instruments, such as loans and guarantees, into other forms of aid, such as direct grants, until 30 June 2023.The non-confidential version of the decision will be made available under the case number SA.103875 in the State aid register on the Commission’s competition website once any confidentiality issues have been resolved. New publications of State aid decisions on the internet and in the Official Journal are listed in the Competition Weekly e-News.More information on the Temporary Crisis Framework and other actions taken by the Commission to address the economic impact of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine can be found here.
UN News/Laura Quiñones - McBean Lagoon National Natural Park is located in Providencia, an eight-square-mile Colombian island off that country's northern coast.
A tiny Caribbean Island known as 'the flower of the ocean' was decimated by Hurricane Iota in 2020. Although the loss of human life was minimal, the impact on precious ecosystems deeply changed the perspective of its inhabitants. Two years after the storm, they’re still working to restore their environmental treasures and preparing for whatever curveballs climate change might throw at them next.
The mountainous Colombian island of Providencia – which lies midway in the extension of the Caribbean Sea that separates Costa Rica and Jamaica – is home to stunning colours of the sea, lush underwater landscapes, extensive mangrove forests, and even tropical dry forests.
The diversity of marine ecosystems and surrounding natural wonders, including the yearly spectacle of thousands of rare black crabs descending from the mountains and heading to the sea to lay their eggs, and one of the world’s largest barrier reefs, which supports a stunning array of marine life, has led to its declaration as part of the Seaflower UNESCO Biosphere Reserve.
However, as with all islands in the world, Providencia’s unique natural treasures are highly threatened by climate change and sea level rise, threats that are not ‘theories’ looming on the horizon, but that are instead terrible facts already impacting every facet of life there.
Its 6,000 inhabitants will never forget the night of November 16th, when Iota, the last and strongest hurricane of the 2020 Atlantic storm season— deemed then a Category 5* — decimated their beloved land.
Iota destroyed 98% of the island’s infraestructure
“The most shocking thing was the sound. Our people say that the hurricane came with the devil because the sound was so strange and scary,” recalls Marcela Cano, a biologist and long-time resident who has made it her life’s work to preserve Providencia’s environmental treasures.
But that night, she would spend hours fighting to survive the storm.
She was at her home sleeping when at around midnight, she started hearing strange noises. This turned out to be wind gusts of over 155 miles an hour tearing across the island.
Power and communication were shortly lost.
“I stood up and noticed that my ceiling lights looked as if they were higher than usual. That’s when I realized that part of my roof had flown away,” Ms. Cano recalls now, adding that minutes later she heard two loud bangs from her guestroom and saw water pouring down the walls.
Her immediate reaction was to get out of the house, a decision that looking back now was definitely the best one, she says, because not only the roof but most of the walls of her house collapsed in the darkness under the force of the pounding rains and the wind.
“It was raining very hard; I almost couldn’t make it out of my house because the wind wouldn’t let me open the door. I made it just where I had parked my Mula [her motorized golf cart]. I was completely soaked, and I just sat there.”
She spent over 10 hours sitting in her golf cart hoping that the wall next to it and a big pine tree would hold up.
“Every time I would hear loud bangs, I would point my flashlight towards the tree. If it had broken, that would’ve been it for me.”
It was the longest night Providencia had ever experienced. And even after sunrise, the hurricane let barely any light come through.
“Very strong wind gusts would come and go for hours and hours, and all I could think was ‘please God make it stop, it’s been too long, please stop’. It felt like the longest time of my life. At about 11 am it finally got a bit better, but it was still raining pretty hard.”
It was then that she saw her neighbours up the road calling her. She gathered the courage to walk up the debris-strewn little hill towards them and realised their house had also been lost.
But for Marcela, the loss was about to become even bigger and more painful.
Ms. Cano is the Director of Old Providence McBean Lagoon Natural National Park, a unique and highly important protected site on the island and the Seaflower UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. She has worked for over 30 years to protect it, and with her team, has been a pioneer in ecosystem restoration and ecotourism.
“I looked around and all the vegetation on the island was gone, everything was black, and all the trees no longer had leaves. It was as if everything had been burnt, and the sea was up high. I could see Santa Catalina Island from there; I couldn’t see it before. And I could see how destroyed it was,” she remembers, telling UN News that every time she tells this story she can barely hold back the tears.
That night, she took refuge with 10 families under a concrete ledge that hadn’t given an inch to the winds and the rain. It was actually the second floor of a house under construction.
“We made a common makeshift bed. It was also the middle of a COVID-19 peak in Colombia, but no one could care about that at that moment,” Ms. Cano says.
It was still raining, and the island had been without communication for over eight hours. The whole mainland of Colombia wondered for almost a day if Providencia had survived hurricane Iota or not.
In the following days, as help arrived, other locals described how people were walking around like “zombies” searching for food and shelter. Miraculously, only four people lost their lives that night, but over 98 per cent of the island’s infrastructure was destroyed and 6,000 people were left homeless.
“I went walking to ask about my team at the National Park. We were all fine, but we lost everything we had worked for. Our office, our library, the research data stored in our computers, everything was lost.”
Invemar
Satellite images show how mangroves and vegetation at Manchineel Bay in Providencia were affected after hurricane Iota.
An environmental tragedy
Sometime later, Ms. Cano was able to return to Providencia after spending time with her family in Bogotá and working to gather household items and basic necessities for some families affected by the storm.
It was then that she was able to evaluate the environmental damage inside the National Park.
“I’ve spent most of my life here in Providencia and to see that all our efforts to maintain the National Park had vanished from one day to the next, was heartbreaking.”
According to Colombia’s National Natural Parks, around 90 per cent of the Park’s mangroves and forests were affected, as well as the coral reefs in shallow waters, many of which had been in nurseries as part of an ongoing restoration effort.
“We are working to restore vegetation and saline formations. We also carried out rescue and replanting of coral colonies that were uprooted by the hurricane,” Ms. Cano explains while standing in what’s left of the pier of Crab-Cay, once the most visited attraction in Providencia.
UN News/Laura Quiñones
Marcela Cano stands over the remnants of the pier that once stood over Crab Cay, McBean Lagoon National Park.
The small island rises sharply and dramatically off the coast surrounded by turquoise waters. Tourists used to climb to the top for 360-degree views of the park. Now a new viewing deck and pier are being built**, and some vegetation planted last year, has begun to sprout.
“Was this here before the hurricane?” she asks her team, pointing to some algae-covered metal debris.
UN News/Laura Quinones/PNN Colom
(Left) Crab Key in June 2022 (right) Crab Cay right after Hurricane Iota.
Coral reefs
Thanks to its field work and reef restoration experience over the past decade, McBean Lagoon National Park is currently the largest contributor to the nationwide project One Million Corals for Colombia to restore over 200 hectares of coral reef, with over 55,000 coral fragments in nurseries and over 6,000 transplanted.
UN News visited some of the transplanted colonies and witnessed the miracle of coral fragments fusing together and attracting young fish, bringing life back to the sea currently threatened by warming seas and extreme weather events.
“The water is getting warmer, so algae colonies are getting bigger and fighting coral reef for its resources,” explains young Marine Biologist Violeta Posada, a member of Ms. Cano’s team at the Park.
UN News/Laura Quiñones
Marine Biologist Violeta Posada cleans a transplanted coral colony.
She underscored that ecosystem restoration work is a daily effort, as the team must constantly clean the colonies of the algae and other dangers that might hinder their growth.
Ms. Posada, born and raised in Providencia, has been able to witness the pay-off of the restoration efforts.
“My dad also worked at this park. These new colonies that you see here were built with fragments that my own father planted in nurseries 12 years ago,” she says, adding that as an islander, caring for the ecosystems is a responsibility.
“They give us food, shelter and protection. They also attract tourists, which this island depends on,” she emphasizes.
UN News/Laura Quiñones
Dead mangrove at the shores of Santa Catalina Island.
The mangrove that saved lives
But while corals are starting to thrive again and the dry forest has also seen recovery, the almost 60 hectares of mangroves that are impossible to miss while visiting Providencia represent a bigger trial for the community.
“We have a big challenge specifically with the Red Mangrove, the one that grows by the coast. Over 95 per cent of this species died during the hurricane, and it does not regenerate naturally,” describes Marcela Cano.
According to the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), mangroves support rich biodiversity and provide a habitat for fish and shellfish, as well as a landing strip and nesting area for large numbers of birds. Their roots are also a refuge for reptiles and amphibians.
Their ecosystem can capture up to five times more carbon than tropical forests and their soils are highly effective carbon sinks, making them important ‘lungs’ for our heating planet.
Mangroves also act as a natural coastal defence against storm surges, tsunamis, sea level rise and erosion – something the inhabitants of Santa Catalina, a small island connected to the north of Providencia by a bridge, witnessed first-hand.
“The mangroves along the coast of Santa Catalina Island saved the lives of this community during Iota. Without mangroves and their ecosystem services, there is going to be a decrease in fish and biodiversity [affecting livelihoods], and if we don’t restore it, it also won’t be around to protect us again,” Ms. Cano underlines.
UN News/Laura Quiñones
Marcela Cano at the mangrove nursery of McBean Lagoon National Natural Park.
In the same golf cart that saved her life during the hurricane, Marcela Cano drove the UN News team to the Park’s Mangrove Nursery, where over 4,000 seedlings are growing.
“We have red and black mangroves here. We go and find all the seeds we can and put them in water buckets. When they grow roots, we then put them in sandbags. After four to five months, we can transplant them to their natural habitat,” she explains.
The restoration does not come without challenges. Along with the general scarcity of red mangrove seeds, Ms. Cano says that two species of crabs like to eat the young plants, and some iguanas chew their leaves.
“So, we have had to come up with creative ideas to protect them,” she says, mentioning water bottles, and baskets as some of the makeshift solutions.
The National Park restoration strategy also involves the community, and the Park is teaching young children who live near the mangroves how to grow and care for these ecosystems.
“It is going to take us about 10 years to be able to have the mangroves with the structure and function they had before the hurricane. These are long-term restoration processes, it is important for governments to understand this,” the expert urges.
UN News/Laura Quiñones
98 per cent of the infrastructure of the island of Providencia was damaged after hurricane Iota, including impacts on infrastructure, loss of property, belongings and road blockages.
Tourism and local businesses
The local population of the island comprises Raizals, descendants of African Slaves and British Sailors, who speak English Creole, although most speak Spanish as well. There is also a smaller population of “migrants” from the mainland, who call Providencia their home.
The local economy revolves around tourism and traditional fishing and hunting. Due to COVID-19 restrictions and the devastation wrought by the hurricane, the tourism sector has been sluggish for the past two years.
It wasn’t until mid-2022 that the island opened back to the public but, to this date, it still doesn’t have the capacity to receive the average of 3,000 visitors monthly that flocked there in 2019.
A few of the still-standing hotels and businesses have been able to continue functioning thanks to the arrival of Government officials, contractors and volunteers who have been participating in reconstruction efforts.
UN News/Laura Quiñones
Juanita Angel, hotel owner in Providencia, is working to restore her family property to its former glory.
Juanita Angel, co-owner of the hotel Cabañas de Agua Dulce, saw her family business destroyed by the hurricane.
“At first, I thought, ‘no one is going to put this back together’. We were closed for a year [due to] the pandemic and had put in loan to repair the roofs. Every time I saw a roof tile flying during the hurricane all I could think was ‘there goes our money, and our hope.’”
Ms. Angel says that no one on the island expected Iota to cause such devastation because they had all made it through other hurricanes.
“That is why no one took this seriously, we never thought something like this could happen to us… We are such a small island, a dot in the map, but we need to be prepared for the future,” she adds.
According to experts on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), there are many ways in which climate adaptation can be undertaken in small islands, including reducing socioeconomic vulnerabilities, building adaptive capacity, enhancing disaster risk reduction, and building longer-term climate resilience.
Recently, the UN Secretary-General described the Caribbean region as “ground zero for climate emergency,” and called on developed countries to match climate action to the scale and urgency of the crisis.
This would mean providing financial support to small islands so that they can build stronger adaptation capacity, and ultimately, reduce carbon emissions, one of the main culprits heating our planet and driving the climate changes that are making hurricanes more powerful and more frequent.
UN News/Laura Quiñones
By June 2022, some structures remained in ruins in Providencia such as this former hotel.
Why go through all this?
One way to build resilience and adaptation is by investing in ecosystem restoration, Marcela Cano underscores.
“A healthy ecosystem is more resilient. We must guarantee this so that when disaster comes the ecosystems can keep offering the environmental goods and services that contribute to a better quality of life for our population,” she explains.
Ms. Cano reminds us as well that one of the most effective strategies to tackle climate change is the declaration of Marine Protected Areas.
These areas provide reduced stress on ecosystems and species, allowing them to carry on the natural processes that mitigate climate impacts, such as carbon storage.
For example, according to UNEP, protecting whales is a nature-based solution against climate change. Whales accumulate carbon in their bodies during their long lives, some of which stretch to 200 years. When they die, they sink to the bottom of the ocean, taking the carbon with them.
“We need more of these protected areas, and we also need more resources to manage them well, always involving and giving value to the knowledge of the local community,” she underscores.
The McBean Lagoon National Park chief underlines that restoring and protecting the ecosystems in Providencia is not only a self-serving task, but it benefits the whole planet.
“We thought that climate change was something that was happening in other places, but this hurricane created a common conscience, and we are working on mechanisms to be more prepared for the future because we know that the risk of extreme weather events is only going to grow.”
The mountainous Colombian island of Providencia – which lies midway in the extension of the Caribbean Sea that separates Costa Rica and Jamaica – is home to stunning colours of the sea, lush underwater landscapes, extensive mangrove forests, and even tropical dry forests.
The diversity of marine ecosystems and surrounding natural wonders, including the yearly spectacle of thousands of rare black crabs descending from the mountains and heading to the sea to lay their eggs, and one of the world’s largest barrier reefs, which supports a stunning array of marine life, has led to its declaration as part of the Seaflower UNESCO Biosphere Reserve.
However, as with all islands in the world, Providencia’s unique natural treasures are highly threatened by climate change and sea level rise, threats that are not ‘theories’ looming on the horizon, but that are instead terrible facts already impacting every facet of life there.
Its 6,000 inhabitants will never forget the night of November 16th, when Iota, the last and strongest hurricane of the 2020 Atlantic storm season— deemed then a Category 5* — decimated their beloved land.
“The most shocking thing was the sound. Our people say that the hurricane came with the devil because the sound was so strange and scary,” recalls Marcela Cano, a biologist and long-time resident who has made it her life’s work to preserve Providencia’s environmental treasures.
But that night, she would spend hours fighting to survive the storm.
She was at her home sleeping when at around midnight, she started hearing strange noises. This turned out to be wind gusts of over 155 miles an hour tearing across the island.
Power and communication were shortly lost.
“I stood up and noticed that my ceiling lights looked as if they were higher than usual. That’s when I realized that part of my roof had flown away,” Ms. Cano recalls now, adding that minutes later she heard two loud bangs from her guestroom and saw water pouring down the walls.
Her immediate reaction was to get out of the house, a decision that looking back now was definitely the best one, she says, because not only the roof but most of the walls of her house collapsed in the darkness under the force of the pounding rains and the wind.
“It was raining very hard; I almost couldn’t make it out of my house because the wind wouldn’t let me open the door. I made it just where I had parked my Mula [her motorized golf cart]. I was completely soaked, and I just sat there.”
She spent over 10 hours sitting in her golf cart hoping that the wall next to it and a big pine tree would hold up.
“Every time I would hear loud bangs, I would point my flashlight towards the tree. If it had broken, that would’ve been it for me.”
It was the longest night Providencia had ever experienced. And even after sunrise, the hurricane let barely any light come through.
“Very strong wind gusts would come and go for hours and hours, and all I could think was ‘please God make it stop, it’s been too long, please stop’. It felt like the longest time of my life. At about 11 am it finally got a bit better, but it was still raining pretty hard.”
It was then that she saw her neighbours up the road calling her. She gathered the courage to walk up the debris-strewn little hill towards them and realised their house had also been lost.
But for Marcela, the loss was about to become even bigger and more painful.
Personal archive – Marcela Cano’s house after the hurricane.
A life protecting nature
Ms. Cano is the Director of Old Providence McBean Lagoon Natural National Park, a unique and highly important protected site on the island and the Seaflower UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. She has worked for over 30 years to protect it, and with her team, has been a pioneer in ecosystem restoration and ecotourism.
“I looked around and all the vegetation on the island was gone, everything was black, and all the trees no longer had leaves. It was as if everything had been burnt, and the sea was up high. I could see Santa Catalina Island from there; I couldn’t see it before. And I could see how destroyed it was,” she remembers, telling UN News that every time she tells this story she can barely hold back the tears.
That night, she took refuge with 10 families under a concrete ledge that hadn’t given an inch to the winds and the rain. It was actually the second floor of a house under construction.
“We made a common makeshift bed. It was also the middle of a COVID-19 peak in Colombia, but no one could care about that at that moment,” Ms. Cano says.
It was still raining, and the island had been without communication for over eight hours. The whole mainland of Colombia wondered for almost a day if Providencia had survived hurricane Iota or not.
In the following days, as help arrived, other locals described how people were walking around like “zombies” searching for food and shelter. Miraculously, only four people lost their lives that night, but over 98 per cent of the island’s infrastructure was destroyed and 6,000 people were left homeless.
“I went walking to ask about my team at the National Park. We were all fine, but we lost everything we had worked for. Our office, our library, the research data stored in our computers, everything was lost.”
Invemar – Satellite images show how mangroves and vegetation at Manchineel Bay in Providencia were affected after hurricane Iota.
An environmental tragedy
Sometime later, Ms. Cano was able to return to Providencia after spending time with her family in Bogotá and working to gather household items and basic necessities for some families affected by the storm.
It was then that she was able to evaluate the environmental damage inside the National Park.
“I’ve spent most of my life here in Providencia and to see that all our efforts to maintain the National Park had vanished from one day to the next, was heartbreaking.”
According to Colombia’s National Natural Parks, around 90 per cent of the Park’s mangroves and forests were affected, as well as the coral reefs in shallow waters, many of which had been in nurseries as part of an ongoing restoration effort.
“We are working to restore vegetation and saline formations. We also carried out rescue and replanting of coral colonies that were uprooted by the hurricane,” Ms. Cano explains while standing in what’s left of the pier of Crab-Cay, once the most visited attraction in Providencia.
UN News/Laura Quiñones – Marcela Cano stands over the remnants of the pier that once stood over Crab Cay, McBean Lagoon National Park.
The small island rises sharply and dramatically off the coast surrounded by turquoise waters. Tourists used to climb to the top for 360-degree views of the park. Now a new viewing deck and pier are being built**, and some vegetation planted last year, has begun to sprout.
“Was this here before the hurricane?” she asks her team, pointing to some algae-covered metal debris.
UN News/Laura Quinones/PNN Colom – (Left) Crab Key in June 2022 (right) Crab Cay right after Hurricane Iota.
Coral reefs
Thanks to its field work and reef restoration experience over the past decade, McBean Lagoon National Park is currently the largest contributor to the nationwide project One Million Corals for Colombia to restore over 200 hectares of coral reef, with over 55,000 coral fragments in nurseries and over 6,000 transplanted.
UN News visited some of the transplanted colonies and witnessed the miracle of coral fragments fusing together and attracting young fish, bringing life back to the sea currently threatened by warming seas and extreme weather events.
“The water is getting warmer, so algae colonies are getting bigger and fighting coral reef for its resources,” explains young Marine Biologist Violeta Posada, a member of Ms. Cano’s team at the Park.
UN News/Laura Quiñones – Marine Biologist Violeta Posada cleans a transplanted coral colony.
She underscored that ecosystem restoration work is a daily effort, as the team must constantly clean the colonies of the algae and other dangers that might hinder their growth.
Ms. Posada, born and raised in Providencia, has been able to witness the pay-off of the restoration efforts.
“My dad also worked at this park. These new colonies that you see here were built with fragments that my own father planted in nurseries 12 years ago,” she says, adding that as an islander, caring for the ecosystems is a responsibility.
“They give us food, shelter and protection. They also attract tourists, which this island depends on,” she emphasizes.
UN News/Laura Quiñones – Dead mangrove at the shores of Santa Catalina Island.
The mangrove that saved lives
But while corals are starting to thrive again and the dry forest has also seen recovery, the almost 60 hectares of mangroves that are impossible to miss while visiting Providencia represent a bigger trial for the community.
“We have a big challenge specifically with the Red Mangrove, the one that grows by the coast. Over 95 per cent of this species died during the hurricane, and it does not regenerate naturally,” describes Marcela Cano.
According to the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), mangroves support rich biodiversity and provide a habitat for fish and shellfish, as well as a landing strip and nesting area for large numbers of birds. Their roots are also a refuge for reptiles and amphibians.
Their ecosystem can capture up to five times more carbon than tropical forests and their soils are highly effective carbon sinks, making them important ‘lungs’ for our heating planet.
Mangroves also act as a natural coastal defence against storm surges, tsunamis, sea level rise and erosion – something the inhabitants of Santa Catalina, a small island connected to the north of Providencia by a bridge, witnessed first-hand.
“The mangroves along the coast of Santa Catalina Island saved the lives of this community during Iota. Without mangroves and their ecosystem services, there is going to be a decrease in fish and biodiversity [affecting livelihoods], and if we don’t restore it, it also won’t be around to protect us again,” Ms. Cano underlines.
UN News/Laura Quiñones – Marcela Cano at the mangrove nursery of McBean Lagoon National Natural Park.
In the same golf cart that saved her life during the hurricane, Marcela Cano drove the UN News team to the Park’s Mangrove Nursery, where over 4,000 seedlings are growing.
“We have red and black mangroves here. We go and find all the seeds we can and put them in water buckets. When they grow roots, we then put them in sandbags. After four to five months, we can transplant them to their natural habitat,” she explains.
The restoration does not come without challenges. Along with the general scarcity of red mangrove seeds, Ms. Cano says that two species of crabs like to eat the young plants, and some iguanas chew their leaves.
“So, we have had to come up with creative ideas to protect them,” she says, mentioning water bottles, and baskets as some of the makeshift solutions.
The National Park restoration strategy also involves the community, and the Park is teaching young children who live near the mangroves how to grow and care for these ecosystems.
“It is going to take us about 10 years to be able to have the mangroves with the structure and function they had before the hurricane. These are long-term restoration processes, it is important for governments to understand this,” the expert urges.
UN News/Laura Quiñones – 98 per cent of the infrastructure of the island of Providencia was damaged after hurricane Iota, including impacts on infrastructure, loss of property, belongings and road blockages.
Tourism and local businesses
The local population of the island comprises Raizals, descendants of African Slaves and British Sailors, who speak English Creole, although most speak Spanish as well. There is also a smaller population of “migrants” from the mainland, who call Providencia their home.
The local economy revolves around tourism and traditional fishing and hunting. Due to COVID-19 restrictions and the devastation wrought by the hurricane, the tourism sector has been sluggish for the past two years.
It wasn’t until mid-2022 that the island opened back to the public but, to this date, it still doesn’t have the capacity to receive the average of 3,000 visitors monthly that flocked there in 2019.
A few of the still-standing hotels and businesses have been able to continue functioning thanks to the arrival of Government officials, contractors and volunteers who have been participating in reconstruction efforts.
UN News/Laura Quiñones – Juanita Angel, hotel owner in Providencia, is working to restore her family property to its former glory.
Juanita Angel, co-owner of the hotel Cabañas de Agua Dulce, saw her family business destroyed by the hurricane.
“At first, I thought, ‘no one is going to put this back together’. We were closed for a year [due to] the pandemic and had put in loan to repair the roofs. Every time I saw a roof tile flying during the hurricane all I could think was ‘there goes our money, and our hope.’”
Ms. Angel says that no one on the island expected Iota to cause such devastation because they had all made it through other hurricanes.
“That is why no one took this seriously, we never thought something like this could happen to us… We are such a small island, a dot in the map, but we need to be prepared for the future,” she adds.
According to experts on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), there are many ways in which climate adaptation can be undertaken in small islands, including reducing socioeconomic vulnerabilities, building adaptive capacity, enhancing disaster risk reduction, and building longer-term climate resilience.
Recently, the UN Secretary-General described the Caribbean region as “ground zero for climate emergency,” and called on developed countries to match climate action to the scale and urgency of the crisis.
This would mean providing financial support to small islands so that they can build stronger adaptation capacity, and ultimately, reduce carbon emissions, one of the main culprits heating our planet and driving the climate changes that are making hurricanes more powerful and more frequent.
UN News/Laura Quiñones – By June 2022, some structures remained in ruins in Providencia such as this former hotel.
Why go through all this?
One way to build resilience and adaptation is by investing in ecosystem restoration, Marcela Cano underscores.
“A healthy ecosystem is more resilient. We must guarantee this so that when disaster comes the ecosystems can keep offering the environmental goods and services that contribute to a better quality of life for our population,” she explains.
Ms. Cano reminds us as well that one of the most effective strategies to tackle climate change is the declaration of Marine Protected Areas.
These areas provide reduced stress on ecosystems and species, allowing them to carry on the natural processes that mitigate climate impacts, such as carbon storage.
For example, according to UNEP, protecting whales is a nature-based solution against climate change. Whales accumulate carbon in their bodies during their long lives, some of which stretch to 200 years. When they die, they sink to the bottom of the ocean, taking the carbon with them.
“We need more of these protected areas, and we also need more resources to manage them well, always involving and giving value to the knowledge of the local community,” she underscores.
The McBean Lagoon National Park chief underlines that restoring and protecting the ecosystems in Providencia is not only a self-serving task, but it benefits the whole planet.
“We thought that climate change was something that was happening in other places, but this hurricane created a common conscience, and we are working on mechanisms to be more prepared for the future because we know that the risk of extreme weather events is only going to grow.”
UN News/Laura Quiñones – Marcela Cano stands on the re-built deck of her house in Providencia.
Standing on the deck of her recently rebuilt house as part of a Government programme that has built back most of the homes in the community, Ms. Cano recalled that before the hurricane, she could not so easily see the ocean.
“All the tall trees were swept away, and now I get this beautiful view, but I am replanting those [trees] too. Just imagine how much we lost.”
She wants to make sure that the world knows that rebuilding houses is just a start.
“We also need to prepare our people for stronger events, and we have to include climate change in the development policy of our island so that we can prepare and adapt for what’s coming.”
McBean Lagoon National Park was awarded a Blue Park Award for its exceptional marine wildlife conservation during the recent UN Ocean Conference in Lisbon, Portugal.
“Before the hurricane, I was about to retire, but now I can’t. I can’t just leave my post without making sure this Park is strong and ready for future generations,” the biologist highlights, admitting that she once thought she would never spend another November in Providencia, and with the 2022 peak hurricane season looming, the frightening memories of Iota are slipping back.
Ecosystems support all life on Earth. The healthier our ecosystems are, the healthier the planet – and its people. The UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration aims to prevent, halt and reverse the degradation of ecosystems on every continent and in every ocean. It can help to end poverty, combat climate change and prevent mass extinction. It will only succeed if everyone plays a part.
*Hurricane Iota was initially deemed Category 5 in 2020 as instruments picked up wind speeds of over 160mph. In 2021, Iota was downgraded to Category 4 by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration after a post-storm analysis that determined that its maximum wind speed was 155 mph.
This is Part II in a series of features on ocean restoration efforts in Colombia. Coming up next, we travel to the island of San Andres in the Seaflower UNESCO Biosphere Reserve to explore how women and the community are leading the protection of marine ecosystems.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has provided emergency assistance, in an urgent response to the needs of communities affected by floods in Yemen, the UN agency said on Wednesday.
In addition to health and laboratory supplies, it has supported specialized trauma teams and joined field missions along with national health authorities and other humanitarian partners.
“The risk of water- and vector-borne diseases, including malaria, cholera and other communicable diseases is unfolding,” warned Adham Rashad, WHO Representative to Yemen.
Triggered by the heavy seasonal rains, extensive floods have ravaged several governorates in Yemen since mid-July.
Tens of thousands of people have been affected so far, with more than 35,000 households impacted across 85 districts in 16 governorates, according to local authorities.
At least 77 people, including children, were killed in Al Bayda, Amran, Dhamar, Hajja, Ma’rib, and Sana’a governorates.
In addition, displacement sites and infrastructure – including water supply, public services, and private properties – were severely damaged.
On-the-ground-assistance
WHO has supported four specialized trauma teams and six on-duty ambulances, as well as set up 34 epidemiological early warning detection points in Ma’rib – one of the most affected governorates – where thousands of shelters for displaced families were destroyed.
Essential emergency health supplies were also released to the rapid response and emergency medical teams in Hajjah, Al Mahaweet, and Raymah governorates.
Along with its constant monthly supply of 144,600 litres of fuel to 11 hospitals, WHO worked with health authorities to prepare a comprehensive heavy rainfall and floods preparedness and response plan in Al Hodeidah governorate.
It has also provided the Central Public Health Laboratory with equipment and trained 25 laboratory technicians on the microscopic diagnosis of malaria.
Emergency aid
“With heavy rains expected to continue until the end of August 2022, we have scaled up our response to reach affected people and prevent any potential outbreak of these diseases,” said the WHO representative.
Additional cholera kits, IV fluids, rapid diagnostic tests for cholera, and supplementary modules of the interagency emergency health kit are under way. WHO continues to provide aid as the situation evolves.
Sri Lanka is in the midst of the worst socio-economic crisis in its history, and the once robust health-care system is nearing collapse, with patients at risk from power shortages, a lack of medicines, and equipment shortages.
When Ruchika found out she was pregnant with her second child, in October 2021, she could not have imagined that she would find herself, hours before delivering her baby, in a crowded distribution queue, pleading for fuel to get to the hospital.
“The majority of the crowd was sympathetic,” Ruchika recalled. “The authorities allowed me to buy the fuel I needed after examining my medical documents to confirm my story, but there were still a few who were shouting at us.”
Pregnant women in Sri Lanka find themselves in a world that was unimaginable just a few months ago. The crisis is critically undermining sexual and reproductive health services, including maternal health care and access to contraception, and services to prevent and respond to gender-based violence have also been compromised.
Ruchika made it to the hospital the day after her harrowing wait for fuel, just in time to deliver her baby. But fuel was not her only concern.
Two months before her due date, Ruchika heard that women were being asked to supply gloves, blades and other basic materials needed for safe childbirth when they visited the state hospital to deliver. “The hospital had run out and had no way to replenish their stocks,” Ruchika recalled.
She was terrified. “I immediately called my doctor and asked about the availability of materials and if I needed to make preparations as well. ‘We have the material for now,’ is what he told me,” she said. “But he couldn’t give me any assurances about what the situation would be in two months for my delivery. I was worried about how bad things would get so I asked my doctor twice if my baby could be delivered safely even if it was two months early.”
The doctor refused, citing risks to the baby’s health. “He assured me that as long as I got to the hospital in time he would make sure we were both healthy – but even that was such a struggle.”
She ended up not only worried about her own access to fuel, but also that of the hospital staff. “The week before my delivery, my husband asked about my doctor’s fuel status because we’d heard so many stories of doctors and nurses not being able to report to work because of the fuel crisis,” she said.
World Bank/Dominic Sansoni (file)
Mobile health education van in rural Sri Lanka
Appeal for funds
Ruchika’s family continues to struggle. When her four-and-a-half-year-old daughter got sick, they had to go to six pharmacies to find the nebulizer she needed. And weeks after giving birth, Ruchika is well past the date she was due to get her stitches removed. She is waiting for her doctor to let her know when she can come in. Right now, the doctor is required to save the limited fuel he has to travel only when one of his other patients goes into active labour.
“The current economic crisis has far-reaching consequences for women and girls’ health, rights and dignity,” said Dr. Natalia Kanem, Executive Director of the UN sexual and reproductive health agency, UNFPA. “Right now, our priority is to respond to their unique needs and safeguard their access to life-saving healthcare services and support.”
An estimated 215,000 Sri Lankan women are currently pregnant, according to data from the Sri Lankan Ministry of Health, including 11,000 adolescent girls, and around 145,000 women will deliver in the next six months.
UNFPA is appealing for $10.7 million to urgently meet the sexual and reproductive health needs, and protection needs, of women and girls in Sri Lanka. This funding would go towards life-saving medicines, equipment and supplies, including supplies for the clinical management of rape and services for domestic violence survivors.
It would also supply 10,000 delivery, maternity and dignity kits and provide more than 37,000 women with cash voucher assistance for reproductive health services, expand services for violence survivors, and support 1,250 midwives.
Still, with infrastructure and transportation challenges, childbirth could remain a life-threatening prospect for those unable to access skilled medical care.
Kenya, 18 August 2022 – Pirates commandeering a ship – it might seem like a remote, historical problem, seen mostly in movies and children’s adventure books. But modern maritime piracy remains a serious problem across the globe. According to the International Maritime Organization (IMO), there were 229 piracy attacks in 2020, during which over 100 people were held hostage, several of whom were wounded. Piracy attacks also have the power to disrupt transport and trade flows and potentially increase economic and political instability and food insecurity.
Ensuring that perpetrators of such attacks are brought to justice is crucial to a functioning economy and boosting the safety and security of the maritime industry. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), through its Global Maritime Crime Programme (GMCP), works closely with governments across the globe to increase capacity to successfully persecute criminals.
One example of such cooperation is through simulated trials in the Western Indian Ocean region of East Africa, held in cooperation with INTERPOL. During the trials, UNODC simulates a maritime crime case with prosecutors, defense lawyers, investigators and maritime law enforcement officers of a country.
The simulated trials help the government and participants to identify potential gaps in domestic legal frameworks when it comes to maritime crime cases, i.e., loopholes that criminals could exploit. Such inconsistencies can doom efforts to prosecute piracy cases, leading to impunity for the accused and limiting access to justice for wronged parties.
The simulations, which take within real court rooms, also help train prosecutors and judges in maritime crime cases, building capacity on challenges like case preparation, evidence handling, witness examination, and case management. In 2022, UNODC successfully conducted simulated trials in Kenya, Seychelles, and Mauritius, with the objective of expanding such exercises to other countries in the region.
“We held a mock boarding exercise [i.e. the participants boarded a ship], where we were taught how to manage crime scenes and handle evidence found at sea…We were also taught how to present such evidence in court,” noted Everlyne Nyambura, police corporal in Kenya’s Coast Guard Services, after the simulation trial in Mombasa. “After this, I will be a better investigating officer.”
“With the simulated trials, it shows that combating crime is taken very seriously [in Seychelles],” declared Frank Ally, Attorney General of the Seychelles. “We hope that this collaboration will be taken further into setting up a maritime crimes unit and eventually a maritime crimes act.”
The next simulated Trial in 2022 will be held in Tanzania from 12-16 September.
Further information
These simulated trials were held thanks to the generous support of the United States of America’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL). The GMCP program works to strengthen regional cooperation, maritime law enforcement capacity and prison systems. To learn more, click here.
