UN Interviews

With an estimated nine million children out of school across Ethiopia, the global fund for education in emergencies, Education Cannot Wait (ECW), announced on Monday a new $5 Million First Emergency Response grant, bringing its total investments in the African nation to $93 Million.

Following a high-level visit to the Tigray region last week, which is recovering from a three-year conflict that brought education there to a halt, ECW’s Executive Director Yasmine Sherif told UN News it’s essential to keep youngsters in a safe school environment.

Speaking to Ana Carmo from Tigray, Ms. Sherif warned that without access to the classroom, boys and girls are more vulnerable to forced recruitment, child marriage and gender-based sexual violence. 

Young people around the world should use their voices together to call for climate action according to one of the youngest ever speakers at a UN conference.

Eight-year-old Kiara Kaur has been attending a global meeting of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) currently underway in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

The conference is focusing on halting desertification around the world while looking at ways to restore and sustainably use degraded land.

She told Martin Samaan that individually young people are just one drop, but together they make an ocean. 

The humanitarian situation in Syria has reached devastating new lows following the latest hostilities in Aleppo and elsewhere, compounding the country's ongoing struggles after 13 years of war.

With 178,000 newly displaced people and hundreds of civilian casualties, the crisis is escalating rapidly, leaving families without vital support as humanitarian operations are forced to a halt. 

Speaking to UN News’s Khaled Mohamed, Adam Abdelmoula, UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Syria, paints a dire picture of the worsening crisis and highlights the international response required to mitigate it.  

Haiti is facing one of the worst food crises in its history, with 5.4 million people in urgent need of assistance.

Recent escalations of violence and displacement have made an already difficult situation worse, further complicating the delivery of aid and pushing families to the brink of survival.

UN News’ Jerome Bernard spoke on Monday with Erwann Rumen, Deputy Country Director of the World Food Programme (WFP) in Haiti, about the severity of the crisis, the resilience efforts underway, and the challenges of reaching those most in need.

Stigma, discrimination, and punitive laws are hindering progress in global efforts to stamp out HIV and AIDS.

Ahead of World AIDS Day on 1 December, the UN agency leading the fight against the disease is highlighting how upholding human rights is key to ending AIDS as a public health threat by 2030.

Dr. Angeli Achrekar, Assistant Secretary General and Deputy Executive Director of UNAIDS, discusses their latest report with UN News’s Dianne Penn.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) recently issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defence minister Yoav Gallant, together with a former Hamas commander, citing allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

These warrants, according to ICC spokesperson Fadi El Abdallah, signify that the judges have found sufficient evidence establishing reasonable grounds to believe the suspects are responsible for crimes within the Court’s jurisdiction.

Mr. El Abdallah spoke with UN News’s Reem Abaza on what comes next, including cooperation with and responsibilities of States Parties to the Rome Statute, the 1998 treaty that established the Court. 

The President of the UN Human Rights Council has a critical mission: fostering consensus among Member States on pivotal human rights issues while navigating geopolitical tensions that often threaten the Council’s work.

Independent and impartial, the President also helps bridge divides, promote cooperation, streamline priorities, and above all, guide Council meetings efficiently and in line with its rules and procedures.

Against this background, UN News’ Vibhu Mishra spoke with Omar Zniber, the current Council President, about what his work entails and how he is keeping vital human rights issues in the spotlight.

The veteran diplomat from Morocco started off by explaining his role and that of his Office.

War in Sudan between rival militaries has been raging for 19 months, uprooting well over 11 million people both inside Sudan and beyond and leaving a staggering 24.8 million people in need of assistance.

In addition to the struggle for survival, investigators appointed by the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva have warned that women and girls have been subjected to large-scale sexual violence, gang-rape, abduction and detention akin to sexual slavery.

To find out more about this disturbing development, UN News’s Nancy Sarkis sat down with Mona Rishmawi, member of the Fact-Finding Mission on Sudan, who told her a battle is “being fought on the bodies of women.”

The start of the war in Gaza following the Hamas-led attacks of 7 October was “like an avalanche” that caught the international community by surprise, including the UN, the senior official leading peace efforts between Israelis and Palestinians recalled this week.

Tor Wennesland, Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, sat down for an exclusive interview with UN News’s Reem Abaza as he prepares to leave the post after four years and following decades of service with Norway’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 

Mr. Wennesland discusses the aftermath of the escalation in Gaza, prospects for a two-State solution despite attempts at undermining it, and why the international community must take the lead in helping the sides to reach a resolution. 

Members of the international community must unite and take stronger, coordinated action against the military junta in Myanmar, which overthrew the elected government in February 2021.

This is the view of the Tom Andrews, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, who was appointed by the Geneva-based Human Rights Council to monitor and report on the situation in the country.

While individual countries such as the United Kingdom, Canada, and the European Union (EU) bloc have imposed sanctions which have had some impact, Mr. Andrews told UN News’ Vibhu Mishra that these actions remain insufficient and disjointed.

Mr. Andrews began by reflecting on how the situation has changed compared with the last time he spoke to UN News, a year ago.