UN Interviews

Technological advances have transformed space exploration, making it more accessible but also more commercially driven, a senior official with the UN Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) has been telling UN News, ahead of the international day that marks the first manned space flight by Yuri Gagarin in 1961. 

Thanks to private capital, missions to study the Moon have surged, accompanied by a significant rise in space launches over the past decade. 

But these developments raise questions about the regulations governing space, increasing space pollution and diversity within space agencies, UNOOSA Director Aarti Holla-Maini, tells Anton Uspensky.

A vehicle filled with UNICEF humanitarians was hit by live fire earlier this week while waiting to enter northern Gaza. UN News on Thursday spoke with one of them, Tess Ingram, who said there’s a similar incident almost every day, "not always to us, but to the children as well." 

Restrictions to aid access by Israel have increased, so civilians have limited access to the care they need, the UNICEF spokesperson said, telling Ezzat El-Ferri that children in the enclave are experiencing repeated trauma, every day, which is likely to impact them long into the future. 

At least 38 migrants, including women and children, lost their lives in a shipwreck off the coast of Djibouti on Monday and although 22 people were saved by local fishermen, six others remain missing and are presumed dead.

UN migration agency, IOM, which is assisting survivors with treatment and other support, told UN News this was far from an isolated tragedy.

Much more needs to be done to avoid such tragedies impacting those in search of new opportunities said IOM’s Yvonne Ndege, who gave Vibhu Mishra the latest on the disaster and the ongoing relief effort for survivors. 

In what is a “hand to mouth” aid operation hampered by Israeli restrictions, the UN has no ability to pre-position aid if hundreds of thousands of Gazans are forced to leave Rafah ahead of Israel’s planning invasion, said the humanitarian coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory on Sunday.

Jamie McGoldrick was speaking in-depth to UN News’s Arabic team chief, Reem Abaza, who said until the spread of famine in the north could be averted, there was no way the UN could get aid in place in the south, what is a race against time.

The decades-long occupation compounded by Israel’s economic blockade and current military campaign in Gaza, highlights the importance of meticulously documenting alleged rights abuses, according to the head of the UN rights office in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Ajith Sunghay.

He says its crucial for informed decision-making and to counter disinformation: “We do not want to leave any stone unturned in order to bring the world's attention to the problems in Gaza,” he explains in an interview with UN News’s Anton Uspensky. 

Mr. Sunghay addressed violations on both sides of the conflict, and emphasized the importance of Israel granting OHCHR access so that justice can be served.

Children in Haiti are “terrorised and traumatised” by the gang violence which continues across the country’s capital, killing people and forcing them to flee their homes. That’s according to the UNICEF representative in the Caribbean island country, Bruno Maes.

Armed gangs reportedly now control 80 to 90 per cent of Port-au-Prince, and over 360,000 people – the majority of them children – have been displaced.

Mr. Maes said there is a growing sense of desperation and a lack of hope among people who have been struggling to survive through a period of Haitian history characterised by a confluence of humanitarian, economic, political and security crises.

UN News’s Daniel Dickinson asked Mr. Maes about the current situation in the beleaguered country.

An award-winning Palestinian photojournalist said he has lost trust in the world but maintains hope in its people.

Motaz Azaiza has garnered global recognition for his arresting coverage of the current hostilities in Gaza, earning him millions of followers on Instagram. 

He has been travelling the world to raise awareness and was at UN Headquarters in New York on Thursday to meet senior officials.

UN News’s Abdelmonem Makki sat down with Mr. Azaiza and asked him about his work and what his colleagues in Gaza need most from the international community. 

He began by explaining what it is like to be a journalist in Gaza today.

In today's rapidly evolving world, characterized by conflicts, climate change, and the advent of new technologies like AI, navigating that can be daunting for anyone. However, for individuals with disabilities, even minor shifts can significantly impact their lives.

Egyptian sociologist Heba Hagrass is the Special Rapporteur – or Human Rights Council-appointed independent human rights expert - on the rights of persons with disabilities.

She tells UN News’s Anton Uspensky that people with disabilities face unique challenges and the role played by families to inspire and help young people overcome obstacles, is crucial.

The war between rival militaries in Sudan doesn’t get the international attention it deserves, UN humanitarians said on Thursday, as they described the terrible human cost of nearly 12 months of conflict across the country.

According to the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) 24 million children in Sudan have been exposed to the conflict which shows no sign of letting up - and a staggering 730,000 are severely acutely malnourished. 

Jill Lawler - Chief of Field Operations in Sudan for UNICEF - is one of the UN humanitarians leading the aid effort for those in need, including in Omdurman city near Khartoum. 

She told UN News’s Daniel Johnson, what she had seen.

Israel’s planned invasion of Rafah would “break the back of our response” when it comes to preventing the aid crisis in Gaza from getting even worse, said the UN Deputy Special Coordinator in the region on Monday.

In an interview with UN News, Jamie McGoldrick who is the number two in the Office of the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, said politics aside, it is crucial to get more aid to those who need it. 

He told Ezzat El-Ferri that in decades of frontline aid work he has never seen a conflict have such an intense, far reaching and speedy impact on a population as in Gaza today.