UN Interviews

With increasing violence contributing to global crises, the UN has repeatedly raised concerns about diminishing access to education at all levels.

To address this growing emergency, the UN culture and education agency, UNESCO, has implemented measures to create pathways to education and employment for refugees, according to Sara Osman, an Associate Programme Specialist at UNESCO.

She explained to UN News’s Cecily Kariuki how the organization is working to boost educational opportunities, especially across the African continent in countries like the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Zambia, Kenya and more.

More than 215 people, including 35 children, have lost their lives, with dozens still missing after heavy rains triggered flash floods and landslides across Nepal.

The capital Kathmandu has been hardest hit, experiencing its heaviest rains in over 50 years. Hundreds of homes, schools and hospitals have been damaged, and parts of the city remain underwater.

The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in Nepal has dispatched emergency teams to the affected regions, providing vital humanitarian aid, as UN News’ Vibhu Mishra has been hearing from Florine Bos, Chief of Communications at UNICEF Nepal.

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With multiple conflicts ravaging the world, staff of various UN agencies are stepping beyond their traditional roles, acting as frontline humanitarian workers dedicated to saving lives. UNFPA, the UN sexual and reproductive health agency, is no exception.

Natalia Kanem, UNFPA Executive Director, highlights the harsh realities faced by women and girls caught in crises, particularly in Sudan, where the agency has been deeply embedded even before the current conflict.

In this interview with UN News’s Anton Uspensky, Dr. Kanem discusses UNFPA’s mission, the resources at their disposal, and the specific actions being taken to empower every girl and woman to make their own choices regarding marriage and motherhood.

Education is always the first public spending to be cut in a crisis and the last to be restored, according to the UN Special Envoy for Global Education Gordon Brown.

But on Thursday he announced a new $1.5 billion commitment to invest in education for those children and youth most in need, powered by the game-changing International Finance Facility for Education.

The former British Prime Minister told UN News’s Ben Malor the cash injection would help get tens of thousands of students back to school – part of a wider, innovative plan to prevent whole generations of children from losing out.

With 70 years of experience in the safe commercial use of nuclear energy, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) says all countries need to follow internationally agreed safety standards, and that safety is the absolute priority.

That’s according to Rafael Mariano Grossi, IAEA’s Director General, who is taking part in the High-Level Week of the UN General Assembly in New York.

In an interview with UN News’s Nargis Shekinskaya, Mr. Grossi said an apparent willingness by Iran’s new Government to resume nuclear inspections and dialogue was a positive development, and he addressed the perilous situation facing nuclear power plants in Ukraine and Russia.

“We need quick reform of the international financial architecture. It simply doesn't work in terms of addressing the financing and the debt challenges that Africa is having.”

That’s the view from Claver Gatete, Executive Secretary of the UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), taking part in a discussion organized by Africa Renewal earlier this week.

UNECA brings countries together alongside the African Union to boost key development issues such as financing, climate action and new technology.

He told UN News’s Julia Foxen about the need for fairer global financial systems and greater investment in climate adaptation efforts. 

With an alarming uptick in antimicrobial resistance (AMR) worldwide, stakeholders will be gathering on Thursday for a High-Level Meeting to discuss ways of combating the growing superbug scourge.

UN News’s Felipe de Carvalho caught up with Yvan Hutin, Director of Surveillance, Prevention and Control at the AMR Division at the World Health Organization (WHO), who’s in New York for the summit.

One key concern is the impact that the brutal wars in Gaza, Ukraine and Sudan are having on the proliferation of antibiotic-resistant strains.

Children make up half of Gaza’s entire population of over two million, but none have been able to attend school since the 7 October attacks triggered nearly a year of devastating war.

Philippe Lazzarini, Commissioner-General of the UN Palestine refugee agency, UNRWA, told UN News during an interview in New York on Tuesday that the longer the fighting goes on, the greater the chance of losing an entire generation.

For 75 years, UNRWA has provided free basic education to millions and the agency is determined to reopen classrooms as soon as possible.

Mr. Lazzarini told Khaled Mohamed what impact the constant targeting of schools and civilian infrastructure was having on Gazans as daily airstrikes continue.

Devastating Israeli airstrikes on communities in southern Lebanon on Monday sent thousands fleeing with little but the clothes they were wearing, according to the UN peacekeeping force in the country, UNIFIL.

Amid fears of an all-out war in Lebanon not seen since 2006, UN News’s Nancy Sarkis has been speaking to UNIFIL spokesperson Andrea Tenenti, to find out what he’s been hearing about this new escalation that’s linked to the ongoing war in Gaza.

“Imagine if every decision we made, we had to think about future generations,” Anne-Marie Slaughter said, discussing the Pact for the Future at UN Headquarters on Sunday.

The former White House policy chief was part of the high-level advisory board for the Pact – adopted by world leaders that day – put together by Secretary-General António Guterres, which formed the centrepiece of the Summit of the Future.

She told UN News’s Julia Foxen that the General Assembly was becoming an increasingly important player in advancing global peace and security.