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Digital concerts unite citizens in Mexico City
 Mexico City a UNESCO Creative City of Design since 2017 has transformed into a worldrenowned centre of art and a hotspot for creativity The constantly growing and developing megalopolis home to 22 million inhabitants has been recognized for its innovative approach to design after being awarded the title of the World Design Capital in 2018 Design and Creativity are widely acknowledged as lever for social economic and cultural change and are at the heart of the citys social development strategy Mexico City has array of design festivals including the Abierto Mexicano de Diseño Mexican Open Design Design Week Mexico and City Mextrópoli To provide city inhabitants with regular access to cultural service as well as to strengthen social ties and foster cooperation between communities during the current spread of COVID19 the Ministry of Culture of Mexico City launched a dedicated and innovative website Cultural Capital in Your Home It allows inhabitants to participate in scheduled cultural events and activities virtually thereby supporting artists and cultural workers in spite of the restrictions on public gatherings This online platform gathers and provides access to all the digital cultural activities provided by both the city and other city based cultural institutions One of the flagship events that was facilitated through this innovative platform was the digital concert Spring Night held on March 21 2020 to celebrate the beginning of springtime Many acclaimed Mexican musicians of diverse genres and backgrounds participated in this concert The event was broadcasted from the Teatro de la Ciudad and gathered 15 million online spectators making it a great success Thanks to this dedicated website the Great Festivals composed of 17 festivals usually organized throughout the year will be streamed as scheduled in the coming months Links httpwwwcapitalculturalennuestracasacdmxgobmx   Hashtags ennuestracasa quédatencasaCDMX
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United Nations Response to COVID-19 Outbreak in Lebanon
Thursday 9 April 2020 United Nations In recent weeks Lebanon had to adapt to new restrictions imposed by the government in an effort to curtail the outbreak of COVID19 pandemic in Lebanon United Nations UN agencies in Lebanon are fully engaged in assisting Lebanon in responding to the unfolding health crisis Joining hands with local partners including governmental entities and civil society the UN is working on preventing and containing the transmission of the virus and avoiding an overstretching of the health system as well as responding to rising socioeconomic challenges generated by the economic and financial crisis now exacerbated by the health emergency
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Indigenous Peoples and COVID-19: The view from Mexico
COVID19 has had a strong impact in Mexico UNESCOs office in Mexico City has been engaging with indigenous peoples to support targeted actions to respond to the crisis and their particular needs Indigenous Peoples in Mexico face particular vulnerabilities in the context of COVID19 and the UNESCO Office in Mexico has carried out actions to address this in the framework of the COVID19 response and recovery UNESCO in Mexico has been invited to lead pillar 5 Social cohesion and community resilience of the socioeconomic response to COVID19 from the United Nations System in Mexico with special attention to the peoples indigenous youth and women The COVID19 pandemic is having drastic social and economic consequences for indigenous peoples and for everyone on the path to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals SDGs According to the 2015 Intercensus survey the indigenous population accounts for 12 250 947 people and constitutes 101 of the total national population Historically this population group has lived in conditions of social and economic precarity indicated by the fact that 695 of the indigenous population 84 million people lives in poverty situation and 279 in extreme poverty 34 million people as stated by the National Council for the Evaluation of Social Development Policy Official data from the National Institute of Indigenous Peoples INPI to 27 July 2020 reported 4140 positive cases of COVID19 and 719 casualties among indigenous language speakers Meanwhile the pandemic is continuing to evolve in the Mexican territory The momentum of the pandemic and the prior inequalities already faced by indigenous people in Mexico are not favorable for the wellbeing of indigenous peoples in the face of the pandemic Among the disadvantages experienced by indigenous peoples access to water stands out as critical in the context of the current health crisis Of the rural population in Mexico 21 of those who speak an indigenous language lack water due to access problems while among those who do not speak an indigenous language the lack of service is 168