UN Interviews

The arrest of one of the last remaining fugitives from the genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda has been hailed as a commitment to ensuring that justice is served, no matter how long it takes. 

Fulgence Kayeshima is alleged to have orchestrated the killing of approximately 2,000 Tutsi refugees at a Catholic Church in April 1994. 

He had been on the run for more than 20 years, hiding in East African countries, including among refugee populations.    

Mr. Kayeshima was arrested in South Africa on Wednesday by the UN tribunal for war crimes in Rwanda, known as the IRMCT, and local authorities. 

This marked the culmination of an intense year-long process, as IRMCT Chief Prosecutor Serge Brammertz tells UN News’s Anold Kayanda.  

The bamboo homes of Myanmar’s most vulnerable communities were no match for Cyclone Mocha which has left people with nothing, UN humanitarians warned on Friday.

With the latest from the country and neighbouring Bangladesh, here’s the World Food Programme’s (WFP) Anthea Webb, Deputy Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific, speaking to UN News’s Daniel Johnson.

Since the launch of Chat GPT in November 2022, artificial intelligence (AI) has been dominating headlines, sparking excitement but also concern over the pace at which the technology is developing and driving misinformation.

The UN Secretary-General’s Envoy on Technology, Amandeep Gill, is busy working on a Global Digital Compact to be adopted at the UN’s Summit of the Future in 2024 – a “once-in-a-generation” opportunity for leaders to agree on common principles for addressing tech challenges.

Ahead of Wednesday’s World Telecommunication and Information Society Day, he has been talking to UN News’s Dominika Tomaszewska-Mortimer about using AI for good, why it’s not too late to regulate, and how getting AI governance right will be important for multilateralism itself.

The UN World Food Programme (WFP) has been able to support around 50,000 Sudanese in need in three states, amid the continuing fighting and food crisis there, which temporarily halted the agency’s aid operation after three staffers were killed.

That’s according to Leni Kinzli head of communications for WFP in Sudan, who said a total of 19 million are expected to face food insecurity during the coming lean season, and called on the international community not to take their eyes off the crisis in the country, provoked by the ongoing military power struggle.

UN News Arabic’s Ezzat El-Ferri, asked her what the latest situation was on the ground.

UN Women is giving financial and technical support to young Sudanese who are leveraging the power of apps to keep women and girls safe amid the continuing military showdown that’s seen more than 100,000 already flee the country.

That’s according to the agency’s Representative in Sudan, Adjaratou Fatou Ndiaye, who told UN News that specially developed apps were also allowing women to map the availability of food and medicine, along with safe routes to escape the fighting. 

She told Abdelmonem Makki of our Arabic service that above all, they deserve peace and development. He began by asking her to describe how the fighting was impacting women in particular.

Social media has long been a boon to press freedom, allowing journalists from all over the world to make their voices heard, grow an audience, and build trust.

But rampant disinformation has increasingly eroded the space for trustworthy information online, multiplying risks for the journalists who help separate fact from fiction.

Ahead of World Press Freedom Day, on 3 May, Derek Bowler, Head of Social Newsgathering at the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), has been talking to UN News’s Dominika Tomaszewska-Mortimer about the complicated relationship between social media and free speech.

During this week’s UN ECOSOC Youth Forum, young people have been gathering at UN Headquarters in New York, to discuss the importance of energy transition for a sustainable future.

They will be the ones left to deal with the consequences, if the necessary green energy transition fails to materialize, so they’ve been arguing for the right to be fully represented during this crucial climate change debate.  

Forum delegate, Aashna Aggarwal spoke with UN News’s Shivani Kala, after taking part in a session on how to accelerate the recovery from COVID-19 and get the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) back on track.

Conditions for children caught up in Sudan’s military showdown are critical, with at least nine dead and over 50 injured, though the UN Children’s Fund fears that total is probably much higher.

Ammar Ammar, UNICEF’s Jordan-based regional chief of advocacy and communications covering Sudan, said only a lasting humanitarian truce can help restore shattered services, and for now it’s too dangerous for their lifesaving work to continue.

Ezzat El-Ferri of UN News Arabic, began by asking him to describe what UNICEF’s doing to help ease the suffering.

More resources are urgently needed for the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) to meet the needs of thousands of refugees and internally displaced, who are fleeing the bloody showdown between rival military factions in Sudan.

That’s according to Faith Kasina, Regional Spokesperson for UNHCR who is based in Nairobi. Ezzat El-Ferri of UN News’s Arabic service began by asking her for the latest on the extent of internal displacement across the country so far.

The fashion industry has always been driven by esthetics, but its environmental and social impacts are now coming to the forefront. Growing awareness of fashion’s carbon footprint and evolving consumer attitudes are prompting some of its biggest names, to question their business models and embark on a sustainable transformation.

Ahead of this Saturday’s Earth Day, Riccardo Bellini, the CEO of luxury fashion house Chloe, has been talking to Dominika Tomaszewska-Mortimer about his company’s sustainability journey and why he’s optimistic that his industry can leverage innovation and partnerships, for a greener future.