Confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Syria are in the low hundreds, but it is only a matter of time before the disease reaches those sheltering in camps in the war-torn country.

That’s according to Dr Akjemal Magtymova, the World Health Organization’srepresentative in Syria, who has just visited a camp in the northeast that is hosting tens of thousands of youngsters caught up in the more than nine-year conflict.

As the coronavirus continues to spread worldwide, in developing countries it’s rural girls who are proving to be the most vulnerable to abuse during economic collapse and lockdown.

That’s the view of a young woman activist from Uganda, Zahara, who in this special edition of our Lid is On podcast, hosted by the UN sexual and reproductive health agency, UNFPA, joins the agency’s chief Natalia Kanem, plus leading child rights NGO, Plan International’s AB Albrectsen, in conversation to talk about the challenges facing women and girls during this unprecedented health crisis.

Music credit: Heart Chakra, by Ketsa

The importance of being informed about the coronavirus – from how to recognize the symptoms, to what to do to manage day-to-day life – is essential for all, and not to include people with disabilities is to leave them “without information that could save their lives”. That’s according to Rosemary Kayess, vice-chair of the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, who has spoken candidly to UN News from home in Australia, about her own fears and the intense challenges that people with disabilities are living with, during the pandemic. 

The importance of being informed about the coronavirus – from how to recognize the symptoms, to what to do to manage day-to-day life – is essential for all, and not to include people with disabilities is to leave them “without information that could save their lives”. That’s according to Rosemary Kayess, vice-chair of the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, who has spoken candidly to UN News from home in Australia, about her own fears and the intense challenges that people with disabilities are living with, during the pandemic.