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As the UN Secretary-General launches his new Action Agenda on Internal Displacement, Bruno Lemarquis the Deputy Special Representative to the United Nations Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO), and Resident Coordinator and Coordinator of Humanitarian Operations in the DRC reflects on the challenges of addressing the rising levels of internal displacement in the country and sets out his vision for a building longer lasting solutions.

Droughts have become an urgent global issue. Aggravated by human-induced climate change and desertification, they threaten all types of countries, negatively impacting food security and socioeconomic development. And prospects are not reassuring as droughts may affect over three-quarters of the world’s population by 2050.

Originally constructed in 1976 as a supertanker and converted into a floating storage and offloading facility a decade later, the vessel holds an estimated 1.14 million barrels of light crude oil. Maintenance operations were suspended on the tanker in 2015 as the civil war escalated. Since then, the vessel has deteriorated beyond repair and is now at imminent risk of spilling millions of barrels of oil into the Red Sea and surrounding areas.    

On 5 June, the UN celebrates World Environment Day, a day to remind us how fragile and endangered nature is, and how much we all depend on it in order to live and thrive. In Côte d'Ivoire, the UN is helping preserve and ensure the sustainable management of one of the country’s invaluable natural sources of wealth – the “sacred forests”.

In the early 1990s Uzbekistan, the double landlocked country in Central Asia, had just emerged as an independent state from the Soviet Union. With a fragile economy and developing industrial sector, these were challenging times for the newly autonomous country. Dr. Ramiz Alakbarov, the United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Afghanistan, remembers this period well, having spent the early days of his career working for the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in the Regional Office for Central Asia. In Uzbekistan he witnessed first-hand the challenges in expanding healthcare and other essential services.

As Indonesia celebrates Ramadan, Valerie Julliand, the United Nations Resident Coordinator in the country, and Toily Kurbanov, Executive Coordinator, United Nations Volunteers, explain why volunteerism encapsulates the generosity and compassion of the Muslim holy month.

“Li Beirut” is an international flagship initiative launched from Beirut by the Director-General of UNESCO, Audrey Azoulay, in the aftermath of the Beirut explosions, to support the rehabilitation of schools, historic heritage buildings, museums, galleries and the creative industry.