UN Interviews

The first trucks carrying medical supplies provided by the World Health Organization (WHO) arrived in Gaza this weekend, but more aid is still desperately needed, Spokesperson Tarik Jasarevic said on Wednesday.

Speaking from Cairo, he said the UN agency continues to call for safe humanitarian access – both for aid deliveries and for the workers distributing these supplies.

He also highlighted the critical need for fuel, which is running out, putting healthcare at risk because without it, hospitals will not have any electricity or clean water.

UN News’s Abdelmonem Makki asked Mr. Jasarevic about WHO’s operations in Gaza, and its response to criticism that aid is not reaching the north of the enclave. 

The fact women and children accounted for almost 90 per cent of those killed was reflective of the social norms and cultural restrictions in remote villages where men impose restrictions on women.

That’s according to senior UN Development Programme (UNDP) official in the country, Stephen Rodriques, who said many men were outside farming or working across the border while women and children stayed at home.

From Kabul, he told UN News’s Vibhu Mishra what he had seen for himself when he visited the deadly quake zone.

The World Food Programme (WFP) says the situation in Gaza is “catastrophic,” with virtually no access to essential supplies for over two weeks as the Israeli bombardment continues.

Water and food remain in very short supply and unless more fuel is allowed in, the remaining hospitals will be forced to shut down in just a few days. 

WFP Palestine Head of Communications, Alia Zaki, spoke with UN News’s Khaled Mohamed about the agency’s priorities and the need for a continuous supply of aid across the Rafah frontier with Egypt.

The 40,000 litres of drinking water trucked into Gaza on Saturday represent ‘a drop in the ocean’, considering the immense needs following two weeks of conflict.

That’s the assessment of Jeremy Hopkins, Representative of the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in Egypt, speaking hours after a humanitarian convoy crossed the border with lifesaving supplies – the first since the crisis erupted on 7 October.

UN News’s Khaled Mohamed asked him about the agency's support to Gaza, the prospect for more convoys, and the arrangements for delivering aid inside the enclave.

The external affairs director for the UN’s Palestine refugee agency (UNRWA) Tamara Alrifai said conditions remain ‘very dire’ across the Gaza Strip and only a continuous flow of aid across the border will be enough to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe.

Most UNRWA staff themselves have been displaced to shelters following the evacuation order, and 16 of them have now been killed as Israeli airstrikes and shelling continue.

She told UN News’ Ezzat El-Ferri that safe humanitarian access to the large aid convoy massed at the Rafah crossing must be granted immediately along with a ceasefire.

Recent strikes by US writers and actors voicing concerns about transparency, intellectual property rights and fair compensation following the rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools, speak to the tangible effects being felt across the film and other creative industries.

In Paris, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) hosted an event on Friday called Film Sector on the Frontlines, inviting global experts to discuss the powerful impact of AI. 

UN News’s Thelma Mwadzaya spoke with award-winning visual effects artist Yvonne Muinde, who was one of speakers taking part.

Western Afghanistan has been hit by a series of “devastating” earthquakes in the last 10 days that have displaced thousands and created a humanitarian crisis in the already-vulnerable region.

That’s according to Philip Kropf, Head of Communications for the World Food Programme (WFP) in Afghanistan.

“Dozens of villages have been damaged, some of them completely flattened,” said Mr. Kropf. 

In an interview with UN News’ Cristina Silveiro, he discussed what he’d seen on the ground and outlined the UN’s urgent interagency response.

In all regions across the world, women, girls, and gender non-conforming persons are a major target of disinformation and restrictions on expression, UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression, Irene Khan has warned. 

“We want to live in a world where there is gender equality today. There have been great strides made in bringing forward women, and now is the time to deal with these issues” said the Human Rights Council-appointed independent expert, in an interview with UN News’s Mehboob Khan. 

She explains why social media should be available to all, “gendered disinformation,” and the harmful impact on women and girls arising from restrictions on expression. 

In the wake of the deadly Gaza hospital blast on Tuesday, the World Health Organization (WHO) is calling on all warring parties to comply with international humanitarian law by making the protection of civilians a priority. 

WHO Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean, Dr. Ahmed Al Mandhari, spoke with UN News’s Khaled Mohamed about the urgent need to protect all aspects of healthcare, warning that unless fuel supplies are replenished in Gaza, there will soon be no electricity to treat desperate patients.

He said teams were standing by at the Egypt-Gaza frontier, waiting to bring lifesaving aid into the besieged enclave. 

Nearly 1,500 people have been killed and another 66,000 have had their lives upended by a series of powerful earthquakes that have rocked Afghanistan’s Herat Province since 7 October, UN aid coordination office OCHA reported on Tuesday.

To help, $93 million needed urgently to assist 114,000 people ahead of the coming winter. 

With more on the UN’s response and the development challenges that lie  ahead, here’s OCHA’s deputy head in Kabul, Katherine Carey, who’s been speaking to UN News’s Katy Dartford.