Jobs, livelihoods and the well-being of workers, families and businesses across the globe, continue to take a hit from the COVID-19 pandemic; with micro, small and medium enterprises in particular, suffering the dire economic consequences.

Or 1 per cent of humanity – was forcibly displaced at the end of 2019.

Living in the African mountain kingdom of Lesotho comes with its fair share of challenges, including land degradation and climate change.

Global displacement reached a staggering 79.5 million people last year – almost double the number of people in crisis registered a decade ago – owing to war, violence, persecution and other emergencies, the UN refugee agency, UNHCR.

In 2018, the United Nations (UN) declared 2021-2030 as the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration in an effort to reverse centuries of damage to forests, wetlands and other ecosystems.

Something’s got to give.

The UN World Health Organization (WHO) on Wednesday hailed news from the United Kingdom that a common steroid, dexamethasone, can potentially help save the lives of patients with severe cases of COVID-19, but it warned that it is by no means a cure-all.

The UN Secretary-General has called for “a new contract for nature” to address ongoing global challenges connected to land degradation, such as forced migration, hunger and climate change.

Land degradation affects almost 2 billion hectares of land that 1.5 billion people worldwide call home, representing an economic loss in the order of 10% of annual global gross product.

Devastating floods, desert locusts and the COVID-19 pandemic constitute a ‘triple threat’, that risks reversing political and security gains made in Somalia in recent years, the United Nations is warning.