UN Interviews

Artificial Intelligence (AI) offers a wide range of solutions from pre to post-production across the film industry but it also represents the most seismic shift in its history, one senior academic tells us.

So-called generative AI is causing anxiety among technicians, actors and creators, warns Rizwan Ahmed, Director of the Media Centre at MANUU, in Hyderabad, India.

 In an interview with UN News’s Sachin Gaur, Mr. Ahmed underscored the need for policies and measures to address concerns over intellectual property rights, human creativity, and to promote transparency in AI-generated content. 

The World Health Organization (WHO) has condemned the reported Israeli airstrike which hit a convoy of ambulances near the Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza City on Friday. 

WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on social platform X that he was “utterly shocked” by the reports, and in an interview with UN News, the agency’s Regional Director Dr. Ahmed Al Mandhari, condemned “such acts of hostility”.

Dr. Al Mandhari told Khaled Mohamed how the cumulative bombardment has not only led to hospital closures but also deprived thousands of healthcare, amounting to a “very criminal breach” of international humanitarian law.

The international community must take three steps, if they are to help end the “nightmare” that people in Myanmar are living every day.  

That’s according to Tom Andrews, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar. First, cut the coup leaders’ cash flow, then the flow of weapons; and finally, deny them any legitimacy.

Mr. Andrews – an independent rights expert who is not a UN staff member – sat down with UN News’s Vibhu Mishra, and described the atrocities the military are committing on civilians, stressing that no one is safe in Myanmar today. 

With more than 80 countries set to hold elections next year, the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) is urging governments to ensure that journalists are protected throughout the entire period leading up to the vote.

UNESCO data reveals that journalists have been attacked, and some even killed, while providing coverage throughout the electoral cycle. Recent years have seen some 759 attacks, and five deaths.

To find out more, UN News’s Felipe de Carvalho spoke to Guilherme Canela, Chief of the agency’s Section on Freedom of Expression and Safety of Journalists. 

He asked Mr. Canela how shutting down the internet – as reporters experienced in embattled Gaza last Friday – can impact journalists. 

More than 3,500 children have been killed and over 6,800 injured in Gaza during the current Israel-Palestine crisis according to the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF). 

UNICEF official Salim Oweis emphasized in an interview with UN News that beyond the numbers, those are lives, dreams and futures lost because of the ongoing crisis in the Gaza Strip.

He told UN News’s Abdelmonem Makki that it was the children who are “facing the worst of times” in the enclave and called again for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire.

The Spokesperson for the UN Palestine refugee agency (UNRWA) in Gaza has seen his own home partially destroyed and family members injured as Israel continues its assault and bombardment. 

Adnan Abu Hasna, told UN News on Tuesday that his son, brother and many other family members have been injured following displacement from the north, driving home the reality that nowhere is safe inside the enclave. The death toll for UNRWA workers since 7 October so far stands at 67.

He told UN News’s Ezzat El-Ferri that unless more fuel can be allowed into Gaza to keep hospitals and bakeries running, the agency may be forced to suspend or reduce operations within days.

“Genocidal calls’ in Israel have become dominant as Israel’s assault on Gaza continues, the UN independent human rights expert for the Occupied Palestinian Territory warned in an interview earlier this week.

Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese also had a message for the Arab world in the face of the Hamas terror attacks of 7 October, saying it was “necessary and imperative” to condemn the atrocities.

In an in-depth interview, Ms. Albanese told UN News’s Ezzat El-Ferri that after decades of illegal occupation and international inaction, the current catastrophe leaves her fearful for the future of both Israel and Palestine.

The recent conflict in Ethiopia can often make people forget about the country’s vibrancy, robust economic growth and burgeoning young population, according to the top UN official there.

UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator Ramiz Alakbarov said citizens across Ethiopia have voiced support for the 2022 peace agreement that ended two years of fighting between Government troops and forces in Tigray.

UN News’s Nargiz Shekinskaya asked Mr. Alakbarov about the reaction to a recent report by a UN human rights commission which found that a “staggering” level of atrocities was committed in the conflict.

He also addressed the humanitarian response to assist more than 17 million people, including refugees, and the need for cutting-edge policies to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). 

Artificial Inteligence (AI) has become increasingly present in our daily lives, and as a result, a potential threat to the “human touch” that is so essential to the visual arts.

That’s according to award-winning director and producer Joseph McGinty Nichols (McG), who’s been talking to UN News’s Pauline Batista about the evolution of AI in film.

He says from Scorsese to Taylor Swift, AI will usher in a new era of “hyper personalized entertainment” – for better or worse.

A draft treaty on the right to development should give extra momentum to global efforts to achieve a more just and equitable and future for all people and the planet.

That’s the opinion of Zamir Akram, a former Ambassador of Pakistan and chair-rapporteur of the Working Group that developed the text.  It upholds everyone’s right to decent work, education, healthcare and housing, for example, which are all crucial for peace and progress.

UN News’s Nadeem Saaed asked Mr. Akram about the background of the proposed treaty, where it currently stands, and how it will support achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).