UN Interviews

Artificial Intelligence may be the buzzword of the day, but before we know it, two new concepts may soon steal the limelight: Disruptive-tech and Artificial General Intelligence. 

That’s according to Janet Adams, chief operating officer of AI experts SingularityNet, who maintains that these up-and-coming technologies have massive potential to combat inequality, in line with the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Agenda. 

To find out more, UN News's Elma Okic caught up with Ms. Adams at the AI For Good Summit in Geneva earlier this month.

Nelson Mandela was a giant of the anti-apartheid struggle in South Africa and the country’s first democratically elected President, but he also had a wonderful sense of humour.

That is just one of the recollections of American politician and activist Andrew Young, a former US Ambassador to the UN and friend of the man who was affectionately known as Madiba, his Xhosa clan name.

Mr. Young was US Ambassador in the late 1970s, when Mr. Mandela was still serving out a lifetime sentence for treason before being released in 1990 after 27 years in prison.

Mr. Young, 91, was back at the UN on Thursday for the official commemoration of Nelson Mandela International Day.  He spoke to UN News’s Dianne Penn. 

The artificial sweetener aspartame that’s widely used in fizzy drinks has just been classified as “possibly” cancer-causing by UN scientists - but there’s no cause for alarm.

That’s the key message from the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), whose assessment of aspartame was carried out on behalf of the World Health Organization (WHO), by an expert panel of nutritional epidemiology and nutritional toxicology scientists.

With more details on what these findings mean for all of us, UN News’s Daniel Johnson spoke to IARC’s Mary Schubauer-Berigan, who’s head of the agency’s Monographs Programme.

As the deadline to end the AIDS epidemic by 2030 approaches, urgent action is needed to accelerate efforts.

The latest report by UNAIDS highlights the critical role of strong political leadership, and a comprehensive response, to address emerging challenges and ensure progress towards achieving this ambitious global goal.

UN News’s Anshu Sharma in India spoke to Eamonn Murphy, UNAIDS Regional Director for Asia Pacific, Eastern Europe and Central Asia.

Warning against complacency, he said countries must leverage innovative solutions that are now available, and modernize their response, to target the people most at risk today. 

• Sudan: Thousands may die due to healthcare disruptions: WHO
• Children’s deaths on central Mediterranean route have doubled this year: UNICEF
• 165 million newly impoverished in past three years: UNDP

Fresh allegations of crimes against humanity in Sudan’s Darfur are the latest indication that the world is failing to live up to the promise of “never again” forged in the ashes of the Second World War.

Special Adviser to the UN Secretary-General on the Prevention of Genocide, Alice Wairimu Nderitu, sat down with UN News’s Sandra Miller to warn against risk factors for atrocity crimes in a rising number of countries, including Sudan, as the brutal conflict between rival militaries continues there.

She also described the framework of analysis for atrocity crimes which allows the UN to assess situations and sound the alarm, with hate speech as both a key indicator and trigger of genocide.

A new publication released today by UNAIDS shows that bringing the pandemic to a close by 2030, is possible, provided governments make the right political and financial choices.

The Path that Ends AIDS, contains data and case studies which highlight the way out, and shows that countries and leaders who have committed to the fight, are achieving extraordinary results.

For more insight on the new report and how governments and communities can collaborate to end the disease once and for all, UN News’s Pauline Batista spoke to Dr. Angeli Achrekar, Deputy Executive Director for the Programme Branch at UNAIDS. 

Joan Baez needs no introduction. The legendary artist and peace icon has been inspiring generations of activists for decades to stand up against war, poverty and injustice.

While at the UN in Geneva, she sat down with UN News’s Daniel Johnson to talk about her earliest encounter with the UN and which of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) resonates the most with her. She pointed to the climate crisis as today’s most pressing struggle, warning that “if we don’t get it, it’s going to get us”.

The performer famous for her era-defining rendition of the protest song “We Shall Overcome” also spoke about why in the face of conflict and despair, she continues to choose action and “do her part”.

The cost-of-living crisis continues to affect the world’s poorest families, which is all the more reason to redouble efforts to push for grain and fertilizer to leave key Black Sea ports, top UN economist Rebeca Grynspan said on Tuesday.

Ms. Grynspan, who is Secretary-General of the UN trade and development body UNCTAD, said although “there are things that are very difficult to solve… the UN will not spare any effort in trying to make this continue working for the future”. 

Before 18 July – when a 60-day extension of the Black Sea Initiative by Russia is set to expire – Ms. Grynspan told UN News’s Daniel Johnson she’d likely head to Moscow to continue negotiations.

In 2020 alone, over 30 million people were displaced from their homes due to weather-related events, mainly devastating droughts. But those who cross national borders to flee climate change-related disasters are not recognized as refugees under international law.

The first-ever UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in the context of climate change, Ian Fry, sat down with UN News’s Dominika Tomaszewska-Mortimer as he prepared to present his report to the Human Rights Council in Geneva this week. He talked about his call for full legal protection for people displaced by the climate crisis and how the private sector could help finance a “loss and damage fund” to support countries buckling under the effects of our warming planet. 

Special Rapporteurs and other independent rights experts are appointed by the UN Human Rights Council. They are not UN staff and do not receive a salary for their work.