UN Interviews

   On Tuesday the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) revealed that a stark proportion of the world’s children are not receiving adequate nutrition, with half of all children under-five lacking essential vitamins and nutrients in their diets for proper development.  

The agency’s Senior Advisor for Infant and Young Child Nutrition says the figures from UNICEF’s most comprehensive report on the issue in 20 years, demonstrate a need for families and children to “demand nutritious food.” 

Although United Nations peacekeeping operations are over in Haiti, the Caribbean country will not “be alone” as a new political mission focused on sustainable development begins its work there on Wednesday.

That’s the message from Jean-Pierre Lacroix, UN Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping, who has been reflecting on achievements during that 15-year period.

Every year, around one-third of all food produced for human consumption is lost or wasted.

A new report from FAO, explains how countries are stepping up to tackle the problem.

Andrea Cattaneo, a senior economist at FAO, outlines the report.

Fifty years since the first moonwalk, space technology has made a huge difference to life on earth – just think about all those weather and telecommunications satellites orbiting way above us.

Now, with the help of high-precision satellite imagery and a nifty mobile phone app, UN satellite experts are aiming to give small island States threatened by natural disasters and climate change, the best chance of survival.

In an interview with UN News’s Kina Vujanic-Beck to celebrate World Space Week 2019, UNOSAT’s Dr. Einar Bjorgo, explains how technology out there in orbit, can be applied for development and humanitarian ends.

Over half of all UN staff work in field duty stations, some of which have “extraordinary stressors” that need to be faced every day.  

That’s from Fabrizio Hochschild, the UN Assistant Secretary-General for Strategic Coordination, who spent 30 years working around the world as a humanitarian with the Organization, and has battled with mental health issues himself. 

In an interview with UN News’s Natalie Hutchison, he explained why the UN launched the initiative, to address concerns from Headquarters in New York, to the world’s conflict zones.

In an era when a lone cybercriminal can sow chaos, taking whole countries offline, everybody in the world with a smartphone in their pocket, has “a role to play” in the fight against the growing scourge. That’s the view of Neil Walsh, chief of the cybercrime team which is part of the UN’s Office on Drugs and Crime. Matt Wells asked Mr. Walsh to describe the state of the underground cybercrime industry worldwide today.

Millions are trafficked around the world each year, and more than 70 per cent of them are women, according to UN figures. In an interview with UN News, Hilary Gbedemah, chairperson of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) says that poverty, male impunity and forced migration are just a few of the factors boosting the numbers. 

What does it mean to be stateless? After her story was highlighted by UNCHR Goodwill Ambassador Cate Blanchett on Monday, UN News’s Daniel Johnson caught up with Maha Mamo, who grew up in Lebanon before being given Brazilian nationality.

During a three-day mission to Djibouti, Ursula Mueller, the UN’s Humanitarian Affairs chief, saw for herself the huge impact that extreme weather events are having on the country.

Ms. Mueller spoke with the Saviano Abreu, from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) about the many humanitarian challenges facing the people of Djibouti.

Emily Kasriel, editor of the BBC's Crossing Divides web series, spoke with UN News’s Natalie Hutchison in the SDG Media Zone during the General Assembly high level week.