March 29, 2020 No comments
First Person: Hawaii’s ‘silver tsunami’: the challenge of caring for kupuna elders
INTERNATIONAL, 29 March 2020, Health - The International Labour Organization (ILO) marked its centenary in 2019 and as part of the commemoration launched a photography project called “Dignity at Work: The American Experience” to document the working life of people across the United States. UN News joined the ILO on a visit to the US state of Hawaii. Diane Paloma is the CEO of Lunalilo Home and the King William Charles Lunalilo Trust which cares for elderly people in Honolulu, the capital of the US state of Hawaii. Some 80 residents and day-care clients are looked after at Lunalilo, which was established in 1883 following a bequest by King William Charles Lunalilo, the first of a long line of Hawaiian kings to be...
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March 28, 2020 No comments
First Person: False promises in Mauritania
INTERNATIONAL, 28 March 2020, Migrants and Refugees - Women and girls face particular challenges as migrants, whatever their reason for leaving their country of origin. UN agencies are learning more about these difficulties, and how to address them. Mauritania, where the job market has been tight in recent years, has seen many people fall prey to the patter of so-called hiring agents, who sell false promises of lucrative job opportunities abroad, and charge a hefty price for their services. Mouna*, a mother in her thirties, fell into this trap. A hiring agency told her that they had secured a secretary position for her at the ministry of foreign affairs, in one of the Gulf nations, with a $400 dollar per month salary. However, when she...
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March 28, 2020 No comments
COVID-19: UN donates quarter of a million face masks to NYC health workers
INTERNATIONAL, 28 March 2020, Health - On behalf of the city, the Mayor of New York, Bill de Blasio, was on hand to receive 250,000 face masks donated by the UN on Saturday, destined for health workers in the metropolis that is home to the Organization’s Headquarters. Coronavirus Portal & News Updates Readers can find information and guidance on the outbreak of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) from the UN, World Health Organization and UN agencies here.For daily news updates from UN News, click here. In a statement, Mr. Guterres said that the face masks stored in United Nations facilities, werer part of UN stocks, deemed surplus to requirements. The UN chief praised medical professionals in New York City who, he said, have been working “courageously, selflessly,...
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March 28, 2020 No comments
COVID-19: UN envoy hails strong Israel-Palestine cooperation
INTERNATIONAL, 28 March 2020, Health - Nickolay Mladenov, the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, has praised the coordination between the Israeli and Palestine authorities in reacting to the COVID-19 pandemic. Mr. Mladenov’s comments were made during a telephone conversation with the other members of the Middle East Quartet, a body set up to mediate the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. It is made up of representatives of the European Union, Russia, the USA, and the United Nations. Coronavirus Portal & News Updates Readers can find information and guidance on the outbreak of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) from the UN, World Health Organization and UN agencies here.For daily news updates from UN News, click here. During the call, which took place on Thursday, Mr. Mladenov...
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March 28, 2020 No comments
First Person: Heartbreak and hope – one doctor’s story from China’s coronavirus ground zero
INTERNATIONAL, 28 March 2020, Health - Xiang Lu is one of the thousands of Chinese doctors who was dispatched to fight the COVID-19 outbreak in the hardest-hit province of Hubei, as it reached its peak. When UN News spoke to him on 23 March, he said that the situation is vastly improved and he may, at last, be able to return home. Since the original outbreak of the coronavirus in Hubei, China, at the end of January, 346 medical teams, from 29 Provinces in China, have been sent to Hubei to save lives, aiding local medical teams. The hospital that Xiang oversees, the Yifu Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, got notification to go on the mission, on 24 January, just before Chinese New Year, the...
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