Bjorn Andersson

When Vithika Yadav returned to India in 2008 after living in the United States, she saw that many young people—especially girls—didn’t have a space to openly talk about the difficult issues they faced. Gender-based violence, child marriage, and other harmful social practices remain commonplace, and are hardly ever discussed.

Imagine it is the year 2050. In Asia Pacific, one in four people will be over the age of 60 years—three times the number of older people in 2010.

As we mark the World Humanitarian Day today, we need to take urgent action to engage in climate adaptation, build climate resilience and prepare all the better for the escalating disasters, displacement and cycles of vulnerability that the climate crisis is creating—a crisis that is proving particularly devastating for the health and wellbeing of women and girls.

Mona’s village was located in the far west of Nepal when the devastating 2015 earthquake struck.

In a relatively short time, Covid-19 has devastated the lives of millions globally. For hundreds of millions more, the toll wrought by the pandemic could have lasting effects for decades.

One glaring truth the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic has reinforced when it comes to gender-based violence is that it is a humanitarian, development and socioeconomic crisis—a persistent and daunting triple threat whose solutions must be grounded in gender equality and human rights.