UN Interviews

It has been five years since the bloody crackdown in Myanmar that forced nearly one million members of the minority Rohingya community to seek shelter in neighbouring Bangladesh, joining scores of others who had fled previous waves of violence.

Nicholas Koumjian heads the International Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar (IIMM), established by the UN Human Rights Council to document crimes committed in the country, including in the wake of the February 2021 military coup.

During a recent visit to UN Headquarters, Mr. Koumjian spoke to Dianne Penn about the Mechanism’s work, its outreach to Burmese citizens, and the challenges facing its staff.

As a veteran prosecutor of international crimes – from Cambodia to Sierra Leone, to the former Yugoslavia and Timor-Leste – Mr. Koumjian is adamant that one day, justice will prevail in Myanmar.

When a massive earthquake hit remote communities in Afghanistan’s Khost and Paktika provinces on 21 June, UN Children’s Fund staffer Veronica Houser knew it was going to be a tough assignment. So many families had been buried in rubble and mud while they slept. To highlight the work of aid workers for this year’s World Humanitarian Day, here’s her first-hand account of the relief effort. 

While the economic crisis has impacted numerous sectors across Sri Lanka, nutrition security has been particularly affected.

According to recent UN data, 6.3 million people have been rendered food insecure, meaning that they cannot access a nutritious diet on a daily basis.

The World Food Programme (WFP) in the country is working towards solutions to the current food crisis.

UN News’s Anshu Sharma spoke to WFP’s Country Director, Abdur Rahim Siddiqui, and started by asking him about the economic impacts on people’s lives.

Years of violent insecurity in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo have left at least 5.6 million people there displaced. 

There’s not enough funding to help all those in need, the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, has warned, adding that some have been forced to sleep out in the open, leaving them vulnerable to sexual abuse, which is widespread throughout the area. 

In an interview with UN News’ Daniel Johnson, the agency’s Head of External Relations, Dominique Hyde, described the desperate scenes she saw for herself in Ituri province last week. 

This past week in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, violent protesters have targeted the UN peacekeeping Mission there, MONUSCO.

Three UN ‘blue helmets’ have been killed, along with demonstrators, who have called on the force to do more to protect communities from the many armed groups that roam the mineral-rich east of the vast country.

It’s a deeply worrying situation, but as MONUSCO number two, Khassim Diagne explains to UN News’s Daniel Johnson, every effort is being made to restore calm and investigate the killings.

The UN response to HIV/AIDS is under threat from a host of international crises, from COVID to the war in Ukraine, and the ensuing financial challenges faced by  countries across the world.

Mandeep Dhaliwal is the director of HIV and health at the UN Development Programme (UNDP). She spoke to Conor Lennon from UN News ahead of the 2022 International AIDS Conference.

She warned that the UN, and other organizations, are losing ground in the fight against the disease.

A Gambian woman who was tricked into being trafficked to Kuwait in 2015 has shared her story of abuse and subsequent activism, in the hope others will be spared the “hell” she went through.  

Fatou Jagne studied pharmacy at university and was working at the biggest hospital in The Gambia. However, the salary was low, so a friend’s cousin offered to help her find a job in Kuwait. 

When Fatou arrived at the airport, her documents were seized and she was immediately sold into domestic slavery. 

She ended up working for more than 15 different families, toiling for long hours with little rest. She said life was “hell” because she was beaten, mistreated, and never paid. 

Bessie Du spoke to the young activist ahead of Saturday’s World Day Against Trafficking in Persons to learn more about her traumatic experience, and how it spurred her advocacy. 

The UN General Assembly is due to vote in a few days’ time on a resolution that recognises a universal Human Right to a Healthy Environment.

The draft text is based on the landmark resolution adopted last year by the Human Rights Council and calls upon States and international organizations to adopt policies that scale up efforts to ensure a clean, healthy and sustainable environment for all.

Laura Quinones spoke to UN Special Rapporteur, David Boyd, about why it’s important for nations to recognise this right and what is at stake for humanity.

She began by asking what impact last year’s Human Rights Council adoption has had so far.

In this latest episode of The Weekly Tradecast from UN trade and development body UNCTAD, Jan Hoffman, head of trade logistics, explains how the Ukraine war has compounded severe strains on global supply chains, from the COVID-19 pandemic.

More than 80% of goods move by sea. Space on ships is tight and the cost to transport a container has soared. Now, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, prices are rising for almost everything we consume.