In this edition of A Matter of Interest, Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Coordinator Khyrstal Yearwood explains the relevance of achieving the SDGs for Barbados.

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS INDICATORS

UNICEF's Tess Ingram met Jana in Gaza when she first fell sick last year. Here's a transcript of her message recorded shortly after finding out that the nine-year-old had succumbed to malnutrition amid mass starvation in the Strip: "I just received the news that Jana died. A little girl forced to endure so much pain because of deliberate decisions that were made to restrict the entry of food into the Gaza Strip. 
"I met her in the north in Kamala One Hospital and we were moving her to the south of Gaza in an ambulance to get the life-saving treatment that she so desperately needed. I remember holding her frail little hand and helping her into the ambulance. And after that day, I wondered so many times, where is Jana now? Is she okay? Just a couple of weeks ago, and in Gaza City, I walked into a hospital and found her, again, acutely malnourished. 
"The world failed Jana so many times. Failed her on food. Twice. She recovered and then relapsed. And then the health system, decimated by this conflict, wasn't able to give her the care that she needed. And then, her last hope, medical evacuation out of the Gaza Strip, failed her. No country stepped up and was able to get Jana out of the Gaza Strip. 
UNICEF stands in solidarity with her family, her mother, Nesma, and the rest of their family, for the death of Jana, and also her two-year-old sister, Jouri, who died from malnutrition just a few weeks before Jana did. 
"This war must end now. Aid must be allowed into the Gaza Strip, including food and nutrition supplies. Humanitarians must be allowed to do their jobs. The children of Gaza are being punished by these decisions and it's killing them."  

Gaza: Jana, 9, dies from malnutrition, UNICEF says

Antonio Thomas of the Barbados Licensing Authority shares practical advice on what steps to take if your vehicle is stolen.

SPOTLIGHT ON THE BARBADOS LICENSING AUTHORITY | STOLEN VEHICLES

• Gaza children among latest medical evacuations from war zone
• ‘Trust crisis’ threatens vaccine confidence and global uptake
• Haiti: Security Council approves new force to target gang violence

Audio credit: Daniel Johnson, UN News

UN News Today 01 October 2025 - Gaza, vaccine confidence, Haiti violence

Catch up on information you might have missed during the week.

This week's programme features:
1.	Village Builders Programme
2.	NHC on SurePay
3.	Barbados Job Register

This Week’s In Case You Missed It Opportunities – October 1 - 7:
-	Graydon Sealy Secondary Canteen Tender (to download)
-	Barbados Employment and Career Counselling Service – follow on Instagram @molbarbados246
-	NCF Writer’s Clinic  - follow on Instagram @thencfbarbados and website ncf.bb

To download a copy of these opportunities, go to https://gisbarbados.gov.bb/download/in-case-you-missed-it-october-1-7-2025/


IN CASE YOU MISSED IT OCTOBER 1 - 7 (2025)

In Gaza City, families still ask the same question they’ve been repeating for two years: “where can we go that’s safe?” The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) insists that the answer is “nowhere”.

The south is desperately overcrowded, sanitation is collapsing, and air strikes continue to hit so-called safe zones. Many families cannot afford to leave, nor do they have a tent or a place to put it, insists UNICEF spokesperson James Elder.

“There’s a real level of fear and stress among the community here in Gaza City and in the south,” he told UN News. “People don’t have a choice. They’re well aware of the lack of safety.”

Hospitals are also overwhelmed. At Al Aqsa Hospital in Deir Al-Balah, Mr. Elder described child trauma cases and injuries as “as bad as I’ve ever seen”, while at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younes he saw corridors lined with mothers and newborns as wards buckle under the devastation of Gaza’s health system.

UNICEF warns that with nowhere safe to go and health facilities collapsing, children face unrelenting trauma and danger. Without urgent protection and humanitarian access, their suffering will only deepen, the agency maintains.

Audio credit: UN News
Picture Credit: UNICEF/UNI820856

CLIP – ‘Where can we go that’s safe? Nowhere’: UNICEF on Gaza’s children

• Haiti: Human rights chief Türk condemns use of drones on gangs: #HRC60
• Gaza’s maternity wards full, mothers and babies in danger: UNFPA, UNICEF 
• Syria prison survivor’s pursuit of justice for those still missing 

Audio credit: Daniel Johnson, UN News

UN News Today 02 October 2025 - Haiti crisis, Gaza update, Syria

Terrified children and quadcopter wounds: 30 minutes in Gaza hospitals
Nowhere is safe in Gaza as the Israeli military push continues for full control of Gaza City, UN and partner aid agencies said on Friday.

In this update, UNICEF, WHO and the ICRC describe harrowing conditions in the wartorn enclave’s remaining hospitals which are overcapacity and lacking the lifesaving equipment they need to save lives.  

“I saw children who've been paralyzed, who've been burnt and who've had amputations, all following direct hits on their tents or tents in the surrounding area, all at around two o’clock in the morning,” says UNICEF’s James Elder, who speaks first in this clip, followed by WHO’s Dr Rik Peeperkorn and then ICRC’s Christian Cardon.

Pictured: Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, which has been hit several times by Israeli airstrikes since October 2023. Credit: UNDP

Gaza Update: UNICEF, WHO, ICRC

• Drone victims, terror and death: 30 minutes in a Gaza hospital: UNICEF, WHO
• Haiti: 8,000 people facing famine-like conditions, warns WFP
• Ukraine war more deadly than ever, warns UN rights chief

Audio credit: Daniel Johnson, UN News

UN News Today 03 October 2025 - Gaza, Haiti, Ukraine war

The head of the UN peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, MONUSCO, is urging people in the restive eastern part of the country not to lose hope after years of conflict.

Binto Keita spoke to UN News’s Jérôme Bernard a few days after she briefed the Security Council in New York on the overall situation in the DRC.

She emphasized that the government, the UN and the international community remain engaged in efforts to bring peace to the east, where armed groups continue to terrorise communities.

Ms. Keita expressed compassion and empathy for the Congolese people whose “resilience is also very much admirable.”

Audio Credit: Jérôme Bernard, UN News

DR Congo: UN mission chief salutes resilience amid civilian suffering in the east

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