Amid mounds of garbage and pools of stagnant water, flies found their home, mosquitos made their breeding ground and rats scavenged. For the people living nearby, the situation was grim.

For too long, community health centres across rural Sierra Leone have been forced to operate with little access to power. Now, a forward-thinking project aims to strengthen energy infrastructure in these areas, improving essential services for over 300,000 residents.

The Palais des Nations in Geneva once was the headquarters of the world’s most important multilateral institution – the League of Nations, otherwise known as the League. Established in 1919, under the Treaty of Versailles, the League was created to promote international cooperation and achieve peace and security. The League dissolved in 1946 after failing in its attempts to prevent a second world war and was replaced by today’s United Nations.

As countries strive to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, some will require support in order to reach their national targets. The Government of Japan and UNOPS are working together to provide that support.

Home to eight of the world’s highest mountains, Nepal is famed for its beautiful terrain. But that same terrain can make driving dangerous.

UNOPS has helped 160 families reconstruct their homes. Some of the families we worked were asked to describe something they lost during the conflict. These items along with their stories are represented below.

To ensure safe and effective operations for teams that work with explosive hazards, UNOPS developed an Explosive Detection Dog Quality Standard. This standard is currently being used in 18 field locations around the world, with *194 dogs accredited. In partnership with UNMAS, the standard is implemented across three UNMAS programmes - in Mali, Somalia and South Sudan.

Rapid development across Africa in recent years has highlighted the need for more infrastructure that will be sustainable now and in the future. And that requires more home-grown engineers to apply their skills in local contexts.

This International Day for South-South Cooperation, we take a closer look at how UNOPS works with the Government of Mexico in its efforts to strengthen development cooperation and improve infrastructure throughout Central America and the Caribbean.

In 2014, UNOPS partnered with the Government of the state of Jalisco, Mexico, and UN Environment, to develop and implement a series of joint programmes and projects to foster sustainable urban development and a more efficient, transparent use of public resources in Jalisco.

Accessing maternal healthcare in Turkana, Kenya

The third and final part of our series comes from the maternity ward of Turkana’s only referral hospital, full with brand new babies, their mothers and the people who care for them all.