As part of our “Americans in the UN” project to share the stories of Americans who work for the United Nations, we connected with Raluca Eddon, the Peace Consolidation and Transition Advisor in the Office of the UN Resident Coordinator in Côte d’Ivoire. Prior to joining the UN, she was an academic. A resident of New York City, she received her Bachelor of Arts from Bryn Mawr College and her PhD from Yale. What is […]

Displacement is currently at the world’s highest recorded levels, with more than 65 million people forced from their homes by conflict, violence, and persecution. Over 740,000 refugees – mostly fleeing from violence in Syria – are registered in Jordan. Forced from homes, accessing basic services like food, water, and electricity can be a challenge. The United Nations and partners are leveraging technology to better deliver urgent services for refugees living in camps and urban areas

  By Nicole Savage. Nicole is currently on detail to WHO Headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. Every May, delegates from nearly all 194 World Health Organization (WHO) Member States descend on the mountain-lined city of Geneva, Switzerland for the World Health Assembly. Delegates will review WHO’s lifesaving work and set new goals for the organization. This year’s challenges include improving access to quality medicines and vaccines, helping countries better respond to health emergencies—like the current Ebola

  A recent UN-supported study compiled by over 550 researchers re-emphasized a dire finding about the state of life on Earth: Species of plants and animals across the globe are disappearing at alarming rates. If not halted, this loss could amount to a sixth mass global extinction in our lifetime. As envisioned by Sustainable Development Goal 15: Life on Land, we must preserve biodiversity and use ecosystems sustainably to ensure the survival of our own

As part of our “Americans in the UN” project to share the stories of Americans who work for the United Nations, we connected with Sarah Poole, the Deputy Director of UN Development Programme’s Regional Bureau for Arab States. Poole began her career with the U.S Agency for International Development and the U.S. Department of State on issues related to overseas humanitarian response, crisis recovery, and refugees. She has served the UN Development Programme (UNDP) since 1999

An important milestone was reached this week, with agreement by the 193 Member States of the United Nations on how to make it better able to deliver on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). What are the changes, what will they mean, and how do they fit into a broader plan for reform? Secretary-General António Guterres came to office last year with an ambitious agenda for transforming the UN. In his very first speech to the

More than 1 billion people around the world live without access to electricity, and in many communities, health clinics don’t have reliable power. To achieve sustainable development, we need sustainable energy. In recent weeks, energy has been talked about in several global conferences – including the World Health Assembly and the Sustainable Energy for All Forum – as a key to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The discussions have been about more than just

  There was a new vibe in Geneva last week – and it wasn’t just the musicians serenading the delegates as they entered the Assembly Hall in the Palais des Nations. This was the first World Health Assembly under the leadership of Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the former Ethiopian health minister and foreign minister who was elected at last year’s Assembly and took office on July 1. He placed his imprint on the week by

The recent launch in Nairobi of the Africa Regional Data Cube (ARDC) coincided with Kenya’s rainy season. Heavy rains caused flooding, landslides, and a burst dam, among other impacts, killing hundreds of people and displacing hundreds of thousands. Cholera, a waterborne illness, is now reportedly spreading in areas such as the Dadaab refugee camp in the north of the country. Climate change, environment, infrastructure, sustainable cities – these are just a few of the many,