UN Interviews

If ever the world needed to agree on stopping plastic pollution, it’s now, supporters of a deal say.

According to the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), plastic production and waste is due to triple by 2060.

In Geneva, where international talks are underway this week for a legally binding deal to stop plastic pollution, campaigners are also having their say.

They include Shellan Saling, from California, who’s the interim chair of the Youth Plastic Action Network (YPAN). Achieving an ambitious treaty is critical today because plastic impacts everything from climate change to people’s health and much more besides, she explains.

Human trafficking is a global threat driven by organised crime and each year, more and more women, children and men are being exploited, including for forced labour and sex.

That’s according to the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) which works to provide humanitarian, legal and economic assistance to survivors.  

Through the UN Voluntary Trust Fund for Victims of Trafficking in Persons (UNVTF), the UN prioritises working with grassroot organisations carrying out survivor-led initiatives, facilitating on-the-ground assistance and protection to victims of trafficking.

On the World Day Against Trafficking in Persons, UN News’s Emma Trager-Lewis met with Mira Sorvino, Oscar-winning actress and UNODC’s Goodwill Ambassador for the global fight against human trafficking.

UN agencies continue to draw attention to the dire conditions in Gaza, where food security experts warned this week of mounting evidence of famine and widespread starvation due to conflict, displacement and the near-total collapse of essential services.

Ricardo Pires, Communication Manager with the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), is fresh from a mission to the enclave, where a man-made drought is also looming.

He told UN News’ Daniel Johnson that lack of drinking water means children are dehydrated and at risk of disease as families resort to using contaminated water sources.

Around the world, women and girls of African Descent continue to face the double burden of racism and sexism, often navigating systemic barriers that hinder their development and violate their rights, according to the UN reproductive health agency, UNFPA.

Last year, the UN General Assembly voted to recognise 25 July as the International Day for Women and Girls of African Descent as they continue to face multiple and overlapping forms of discrimination, manifesting in higher rates of poverty, barriers to education, limited access to quality healthcare, and underrepresentation in decision-making.

UNFPA’s “Leave No One Behind" commitment focuses on dismantling systemic barriers and ensuring equal access to rights, services, and health outcomes for all women and girls.

UN News’s Emma Trager-Lewis sat down with Patricia DaSilva, UNFPA Senior Programme Adviser and Global Coordinator for “Leave No One Behind” to discuss how the agency is working to uplift women and girls across the African diaspora. 

Over one billion people live in slums and informal settlements globally, with that number expected to triple by 2050. And yet, in official data and national censuses, these people are often invisible.  

Denis Jobin, a senior evaluation officer at UN children’s agency, UNICEF, visited multiple slums across four countries in order to change this, collecting quantitative and qualitative data to illuminate the challenges informal settlements face.  

UN News’ Naima Sawaya sat down with Mr. Jobin following a side-event at the High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) in New York to better understand the conditions of people living in informal settlements.  

Regulations to govern the exploration and extraction of rare earth minerals on the seabed of international waters are being hammered out by the UN’s International Seabed Authority (ISA) despite the reported decision by the US government to go “alone”.

The demand for rare earth minerals, which are needed to make batteries and other technology, is on the increase globally. Jamaica-based ISA is a specialised agency mandated to regulate the deep seabed of international waters, which makes up over 50 per cent of the world’s underwater surface area.

Its 170 Member States are developing a code of conduct to mine for minerals in a sustainable and equitable way which benefits all nations, not just technologically advanced ones. Eileen Travers spoke to the organization’s Secretary-General, Leticia Carvalho, and began by asking her about the status of the code.

Read our explainer on ISA and why it matters now here.

Greater political will is needed to change patriarchal norms in the face of the backlash against gender equality, an independent expert appointed by the UN Human Rights Council has said.

Surya Deva, Special Rapporteur on the right to development, participated in a major meeting at the UN in New York to review progress towards achieving the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), many of which are off track as the 2030 deadline approaches.

Gender equality, SDG 5, was among a handful of Goals in the spotlight at the High-Level Political Forum (HLPF), which concludes on Wednesday.

UN News’ Mehboob Khan spoke to Mr. Deva, who began by explaining why the SDGs are at risk. 

• UNFPA warns of ‘catastrophic birth outcomes’ in Gaza 

• Nigeria: WFP aid for 1.3 million at risk of ending,

• $10 million allocation to support Afghans returning from Iran  

Amid reports of a fragile calm in Syria’s Sweida governorate, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) confirmed on Monday that it is helping to provide assistance to those displaced by the violence – and the country’s many returnees.

The development follows deadly clashes between Bedouin and Druze communities in Sweida that has drawn in Syrian government forces and the Israeli military, highlighting the regional implications of unresolved tensions inside Syria.

With more on the crisis and the challenges facing Syrians returning home after well over a decade of civil war, here’s WFP’s head of emergency communications, Jonathan Dumont, with UN News’s Daniel Johnson in Geneva.