UN Interviews

Every culture has its own textile, from hand-knitted sweaters to ceremonial weaving. A new initiative called Fashion Diplomacy wants to use that heritage to bring countries closer together, and to help make traditional craft pay for the people who keep it alive. It was launched during the 81st UN General Assembly in New York in September at the SDG Media Zone, a venue for the discussion of sustainable development. Fashion Diplomacy’s founder, Marilin Tammsaar was joined by Jasmine Aarons, founder of the fashion brand VOZ. Vogue Business Sustainability Editor Bella Webb moderated. Watch the full SDG Media Zone session here. Music credit: Ketsa – Soul Science

Current AI models are exposing women and girls to new forms of abuse and reinforcing their marginalisation: 98 per cent of deepfakes are sexualised images, 99 per cent of which target women. Meanwhile, 70 per cent of women in public life experience online violence, driving nearly half to self-censor. Despite AI increasingly dominating headlines, its development is seldom analysed through a gender lens: who builds AI models, what biases do they carry, and how do they affect women and girls? At the UN General Assembly’s SDG Media Zone, Kalliopi Mingeirou, the Chief of the Ending Violence against Women Section at UN Women, discussed these questions with Jayathma Wickramanayake, a Digital Transformation Lead at UN Women. They were moderated by Aisha Becker-Burrowes, Co-Founder and Executive Director at the FEMINIST Collective, a digital platform dedicated to amplifying feminist voices. Watch the full SDG Media Zone session here. Music credit: Ketsa – Soul Science

Nearly six months after it was declared, the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has spread to eight provinces in the east and northeast, infecting more than 10,500 people and killing about half of them. The World Health Organization (WHO) is working with DRC authorities and other UN agencies on prevention, diagnosis, treatment and community awareness. This week, two new vaccine candidates were approved for a clinical trial among contacts of patients with Ebola caused by the Bundibugyo species. Dr. Meg Doherty, who heads WHO’s Science for Health Department, told UN News’s Daniel Johnson what the trial could mean for bringing the outbreak under control.

Football is the world's most popular sport, and its reach is not in doubt. The question is what the game does with it. At the SDG Media Zone during the 81st session of the UN General Assembly, three voices from football took on that question. Former England international Eni Aluko is a Champion of Football for the Goals, a UN initiative that unites around 480 football organizations in support of the Sustainable Development Goals. She was joined by former Brazil international and Liverpool FC legend Lucas Leiva, and by Rishi Jain, Impact Director at Liverpool Football Club. Moderator Shaka Hislop, Senior Soccer Analyst at ESPN, began by asking Ms. Aluko what it looks like for women to have not just a place in football, but a seat at the decision-making table. Watch the full SDG Media Zone session here. Music credit: Ketsa – Soul Science

Six million refugee children are unable to go to school around the world, with serious repercussions for themselves, their families and their communities. At the UN General Assembly’s SDG Media Zone, UN Goodwill Ambassador Mary Maker and UN refugee agency (UNHCR) chief Barham Salih – both of whom grew up in refugee camps – discussed the barriers refugee children face in accessing education and what organisations like the UN can do to help remove them. Drawing on personal experience and professional insights, they spoke with Arab News UN correspondent Ephrem Kossaify. Watch the full SDG Media Zone session here. Music credit: Ketsa – Soul Science