Plastic pollution blocks rivers, chokes oceans and makes its way into the food chain as microplastics. It’s a global environmental crisis, and Small Island Developing States are especially vulnerable, having to cope with detritus washing up on their beaches, as well as the waste they generate themselves. 

Becoming a successful international fashion photographer is hard for anyone, but it’s particularly difficult if you grow up in Dominica, a small Caribbean country regularly hit by hurricanes. This hasn’t deterred Josiah Johnson, an aspiring photographer who is taking advantage of digital technology training to find new opportunities well beyond the borders of his home.

As gang violence increases in Haiti, the international community must continue to stand in solidarity with the population, the UN Special Representative for the country told the Security Council on Monday.

A youth activist in Haiti has described how years of gang violence, kidnappings and insecurity in the country’s capital, Port-au-Prince, has forced their “tears to run dry”.

Vanessa Winston’s home and business in the Caribbean island of Dominica were destroyed by Hurricane Maria in 2017. Starting from scratch, the mother of four fought back and today, with UN support, she has rebuilt her life. 

Dominica aims to become the world’s first “climate-resilient" nation, and the indigenous Kalinago people are playing a leading role in developing the country and helping its people to thrive in the face of the climate emergency.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres has welcomed the establishment of a transitional council in Haiti tasked with choosing new political leadership and setting up elections in the crisis-torn Carribean country.

Colombia has reached an “important juncture” in advancing peace after decades of war, but efforts to sustain the current momentum must be redoubled, the head of a UN mission in the country told the Security Council on Tuesday.

Against the backdrop of a humanitarian crisis and gang violence in Haiti, UN agencies are warning that children are suffering not just from a lack of schooling but also through witnessing violence.

The decision by Ecuador to forcibly enter the Mexican Embassy on Saturday and arrest a former vice president of the Andean country on corruption charges represents a breach of international law, the UN Secretary-General has said.

As a siege imposed by heavily armed gangs on Port-au-Prince, Haiti, stretches into a second month, the UN migration agency sounded an alarm on Thursday about the ever-worsening humanitarian situation.

Restoring public order and ensuring access to aid must be priorities in Haiti, where criminal gangs continue to terrorize the population, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said on Tuesday in Geneva. 

Immediate and bold action is required to tackle the “cataclysmic” situation in Haiti, the UN human rights office, OHCHR, said in a report issued on Thursday. 

Haiti is in the grip of widespread gang violence, the country’s institutions are on the verge of collapse and its citizens are facing a daily fight for survival. Yet, in the midst of this catastrophic security and humanitarian crisis, the UN continues to provide critical assistance to the beleaguered population.

Humanitarians continue to deliver aid in Haiti, where the situation in the capital, Port-au-Prince, remains tense and volatile in the face of escalating gang violence and political instability. 

Out-of-control gang violence has created a humanitarian crisis in Haiti that the UN aims to help alleviate with the creation of an airbridge with the neighbouring Dominican Republic.

The UN World Food Programme (WFP) warned on Tuesday that Haiti is on the brink of a devastating hunger crisis, with aid operations at risk of “grinding to a halt” amid rampant violence as Prime Minister Ariel Henry resigned on Monday and armed gangs tightened their grip on the capital, Port-au-Prince.

Waves of violence have displaced more than 15,000 Haitians in just a week amid ongoing looting at the country’s main port, according to the latest report from the UN agency for migration, as the Security Council on Monday strongly condemned “destabilizing” criminal activity by armed gangs ravaging the Caribbean nation.

Amid a mass prison breakout, expanding gang violence and rising hunger, the UN human rights chief on Wednesday urged the international community to act “swiftly and decisively to prevent the Caribbean country’s further descent into chaos”.

The UN Secretary-General reiterated his deep concern on Tuesday over the “rapidly deteriorating” security situation in Haiti as violent gangs tighten their grip on the country in the wake of a jailbreak at the weekend which saw nearly 4,000 criminals return to the streets.

More funding is needed to support small island developing States (SIDS) on the frontlines of climate change, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said on Saturday in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres appealed on Friday for greater support for an international mission to help Haiti combat rampant gang violence in remarks to regional leaders meeting in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. 

The Nicaraguan Government continues to perpetrate “serious systematic human rights violations, tantamount to crimes against humanity", an expert group appointed by the UN Human Rights Council said on Thursday. 

Humanitarians are hoping that donors will robustly support a $674 million appeal for Haiti, where armed gangs continue to terrorize the population, a senior UN official said on Wednesday during a briefing to journalists in New York. 

The UN human rights office (OHCHR) is evaluating its next steps while continuing to engage with Venezuelan authorities following the Government’s announcement on Thursday that the office must suspend operations in the country and its staff leave within 72 hours.

The already dire human rights situation in Haiti has deteriorated even further amid unrelenting and expanding gang violence, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk warned on Friday. 

Judges in the United States must be free to speak about important issues that threaten judicial independence or affect the administration of justice, an expert appointed by the UN Human Rights Council said on Monday. 

Experts appointed by the UN Human Rights Council unequivocally condemned the recent execution of an American inmate by nitrogen gas inhalation – the first time ever that the method has been used. 

The UN human rights chief has expressed deep regret over the execution of a prisoner in the United States on Thursday night through the country’s first ever use of nitrogen asphyxiation as a method of implementing the death penalty.