UN Interviews

Transformative change is needed to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) – mobilizing civil society and individuals - but also through securing “national and a global leadership”. That’s according to the President of the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA), Mr. Ola Elvestuen, who is also Norway’s Minister of Environment. In an interview with UN News’s Ben Malor, Mr. Elvestuen underscored the need to have environment challenges addressed urgently.

More than 100 leading scientists from all regions of the globe contributed to a major new UN report on the effects on climate change on land that was published on Thursday.

One of those experts is Dr. Valérie Masson-Delmotte, and in an interview with UN News’s Daniel Johnson, she warns that although land use today is “absolutely unsustainable” for many reasons, it can also be part of the solution to reducing carbon dioxide emissions.

The UN’s peacekeeping mission in Cyprus is the first to be led solely by women

Force Commander Major-General Pearce, of Australia, told May Yaccoub, from UN News, that the idea of ‘breaking a glass ceiling” is not something that she thinks about very often.

From becoming a school teacher to training as a football player, 40 girls between the ages of 6 and 18 trapped in humanitarian crises shared their dreams with award-winning photographer Vincent Tremeau. A photographer for the UN office coordinating humanitarian affairs, known as OCHA, Mr. Tremeau explained that “it started as a game” in which the girls dressed up in clothes depicting what they would like to be as adults.

Fighting hunger and all forms of malnutrition has been the mandate of José Graziano da Silva, head of the UN Food and Agriculture Agency (FAO), during his eight years at the helm. As the UN agency enters a new leadership phase, Mr. Graziano da Silva reflects on his time as Director General of FAO. 

The UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali, MINUSMA, is one of the toughest UN peacekeeping operations. 

The Force Commander of MINUSM A is   General Dennis Gyllensporre.  

Ben Malor from UN News asked General Gyllenspore to outline why the UN must maintain its presence in Mali.

Karelia in the Russian Federation is a land of lakes, rivers and forests whose culture inspired Lord of the Rings author, J.R.R. Tolkien – the community proudly says - but it is at risk from climate change, big industry and a language that is in danger of dying out.  In an interview with Daniel Johnson, Alexey Tsykarev, from the Centre for Support of Indigenous Peoples in Karelia, maintains that indigenous languages and centuries-old practices need far greater protection.

A “continued flow” of Venezuelans out of their country is to be expected, UN humanitarians said on Friday, highlighting the many risks faced by families on the move, such as begging, child labour and even so-called survival sex.  In an interview with UN News’s Samuel Mungai, UN refugee agency spokesperson Liz Throssell, explains that one in two families have encountered problems on their perilous journeys.

An Ebola virus outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has already killed more than 1,700 people since last August, but communities there are more worried about measles and basic services, says the World Health Organization (WHO). In an interview with UN News’s Daniel Johnson, Dr. Margaret Harris explains how the added focus on DRC since the outbreak was declared an international emergency earlier this week, could be an opportunity to do much more to help people in the longer term.