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Updated December 26th, 2019 at 18:19 IST

UN 'Decade in Review': From Haiti quake to Paris accord, stories that made 'global impact'

With the twenty-first century coming to an end, the UN declared the big stories which unfolded between 2010 and 2019 including Haiti quake to Paris Accord.

Reported by: Aanchal Nigam
UN Decade
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With the twenty-first century coming to an end, the United Nations declared the big stories which unfolded between 2010 and 2019 including the devastating Haiti earthquake, the Syrian conflict, Mala Yousafzai's work, Paris climate accord, and the launch of the UN's 2030 Agenda. The decade began with an immense disaster in the poorest country of the Western Hemisphere with a 7.0 magnitude earthquake in January while the Syrian conflict's beginning in 2011. This decade also saw the inspiring stories by young girls' education activist Malala and two other girls who were shot by a Taliban gunman in 2012.

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The Haiti earthquake which struck the island on January 12 in 2010 killed 2,20,000 according to country's government figures. Nearly seven days after the disaster, the UN Security Council authorised an increase of 3,500 peacekeepers for Haiti along with the 9,000 already on the island. The Syrian conflicts are still ongoing, eight years since they first began causing a major refugee crisis. According to the report, more than five or six million people have fled the country since 2011 and millions have displaced within the country. Even today, the fighting in Syria is 'far from over'. In 2019, the UN-brokered talks brought together nearly 150 representatives from the Syrian government, opposition, and teh civil society for the first face-to-face talks in five years which could be a 'door-opener'. 

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UN's 'most dangerous mission'

According to the decade in review report, the UN established a mission in Mali in April 2013 which is called the UN's 'most dangerous mission'. The officials sustained 'severe and regular' casualties from the activities of armed groups in the north of the country while protecting the civilians from 'deadly' inter-ethnic clashes. UN launched MINUSMA 'to use all necessary means'  for the stabilization of the country and protect the natives. The creation of the UN mission in Mali came after the fight which broke out in January 2012 between Government forces and Tuareg rebels, leading to the occupation of Northern Mali by radical Islamists. Even in 2019, the situation in the country is described by a UN human rights expert as 'critical'. 

In 2014, the UN made efforts to tackle the 'worst' Ebola outbreak in history. The World Health Organisation declared the outbreak as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern to ensure a worldwide response. UN recorded 28,616 cases of Ebola in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, and 11,310 deaths. 

The degrading environmental conditions in the planet led to the adoption of the Paris Agreement in 2015 which raised hopes for the climate. It was for the first time when all countries of the world pledged to tackle the climate crisis and adapt to its drastic consequences. Even though the then Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon hailed the agreement as a 'monumental triumph', the recent climate report stated that the crisis is still far from being 'controlled'. The UN chief Antonio Guterres has made climate crisis one of the central pillars of his mandate and instituted several initiatives to ensure the issue was given a fresh start yet again. 

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Published December 26th, 2019 at 18:19 IST

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