UN Interviews

Acts of terrorism driven by hateful ideologies continue to injure, harm and kill thousands of innocent people each year.

For Hassan Ndugwa – a survivor of the 2010 terrorist attack targeting a screening of the football World Cup Final in Kampala, Uganda – the experience became a call for action.

Angered by the misrepresentation of Islam in the aftermath of the attacks, Mr. Ndugwa and a fellow survivor founded the Uganda Muslim Youth Development Forum to prevent violent extremism and promote peace through religious and community engagement.

In an interview with UN News’s Assumpta Massoi, he emphasised the importance of survivor voices and the role of remembrance in healing.

When a major disaster strikes, the first hours are critical. Within 48 hours of receiving a formal request from an affected country, the UN Disaster Assessment and Coordination (UNDAC) system can deploy a team of experts to support national emergency response.  

The teams, managed and trained by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), bring together specialists from different countries and organisations, based on the specific needs identified on the ground. 

Sérgio da Silva, leader of the UNDAC team, explained to UN News’s Felipe de Carvalho how this global network is mobilised in the immediate aftermath of earthquakes, floods, hurricanes and other environmental or man-made disasters.

Can fashion help bring people together as well as set trends and mould culture worldwide? Fashion designer and environmentalist Runa Ray believes it can. 

Her exhibition Repurposing Fashion: Reimagining Peace, now open at UN Headquarters in New York, transforms discarded textiles into works of art carrying messages of peace from 30 countries. 

Speaking to UN News' Cristina Silveiro, she explains why she believes "fashion has a greater purpose" than glamour alone

Scaling up Ebola response in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo must include measures such as increased surveillance, more transport options to bring patients to treatment centres and greater engagement with the public. 

That’s the message from Dr. Anne Ancia, the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Representative in the country, speaking from Bunia – the epicentre of the crisis. 

She told UN News’s Eleuterio Guevane that communities are also asking for the international community to address other health pressing concerns in a region where women still die in childbirth and people are facing famine-like conditions. 

She began by outlining the immense needs, and the vast amount of work that still needs to be done. 

Colombia's search and rescue operations continue after Monday's magnitude 7.4 earthquake, which has killed at least 111 people. The United Nations is now assessing where its presence and resources can be most useful.

UN Resident Coordinator in Colombia María José Torres Macho said the Government has already reached out to the UN, and the Organization has teams on the ground in some of the hardest-hit areas – with potential support ahead in food security, health, water and sanitation, and protection.

She said UN teams are also beginning to look past the emergency, toward recovery and reconstruction.

Laura Quiñones spoke with her about the situation and what comes next.

With the worst Ebola outbreak in the history of DR Congo still raging, UN peacekeepers must continue to protect civilians from both the virus and violence at the hands of multiple armed groups operating in the region, the Force Commander there has told UN News.

MONUSCO's General Ulisses de Mesquita Gomes said 'blue helmets' had increased their presence to ensure civilians are fully protected, while troops were working with local authorities and the World Health Organization to ensure there is enough security amid the outbreak.

He told Eleuterio Guevane troops were playing other key roles including conducting vital community awareness campaigns and establishing rapid mobile operating bases to protect treatment centres.

Every day, judges make decisions that change lives forever. They do so while reckoning with some of the worst of human nature, overwhelming workloads and constant public scrutiny - pressures that can ultimately affect the quality of justice they deliver.

The Honorable Rangajeeva Wimalasena, Judge of the National and Supreme Courts of Papua New Guinea, told UN News that judicial well-being is not simply about providing support for the profession, it's also about safeguarding the integrity of courts and ensuring fair, impartial justice for all.

He spoke to Jolina Dong – who last year saw the law in action up close after interning at the US Supreme Court – just ahead of the International Day of Judicial Well-being on 25 July.

Operating in some of the world’s worst humanitarian hotspots, the World Food Programme’s (WFP) aviation service is the backbone of emergency relief efforts and a lifeline for isolated communities.

From war-torn Sudan to Ebola-affected eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo and beyond, millions of civilians rely on aid to survive.  In turn, more than 680 humanitarian organizations worldwide count on the UN Humanitarian Air Service (UNHAS) to reach populations cut off by conflict, disease or natural disaster.

Hedley Tah, UNHAS Head of External Relations, spoke to UN News’s Nathalie Minard about the critical role the service plays. 

Little progress has been made for the future management of the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway through which an estimated 20 per cent of the world’s oils and gas supplies pass and which is now effectively closed as Iran and the United States continue to ratchet up strikes and counterstrikes.

That’s according to the head of the UN’s International Maritime Organization (IMO), Arsenio Dominguez, who told UN News that some 6,000 seafarers are still trapped on around 500 ships, in the Persian Gulf behind the strait.

IMO is advising shipping not to attempt the passage until the conflict has been resolved.

Daniel Dickinson spoke to Mr. Dominguez about what options are available to reopen the waterway but began by asking him for an update on the current situation in the gulf.

For Elisha Acheampong Darko, the climate crisis is personal.

Since losing his friend to a flood in Ghana, which he attributes partially to climate change, Mr. Darko has worked to empower young people to fight for climate justice.

As an undergraduate student at the University of Education, Winneba, in Ghana, Mr. Darko founded Join Me Today, a youth-led organization dedicated to protecting the environment from pollution and climate-related hazards.

UN News’ Isaiah Steinberg asked him how a degree from the UN University fits into his journey in climate research and civil society.