UN Interviews
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UN News interviews a wide range of people from senior news-making officials at Headquarters in New York, to advocates and beneficiaries from across the world who have a stake in helping the UN go about its often life-saving work in the field.
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The International Criminal Court (ICC) recently issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defence minister Yoav Gallant, together with a former Hamas commander, citing allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity.These warrants, according to ICC spokesperson Fadi El Abdallah, signify that the judges have found sufficient evidence establishing reasonable grounds to believe the suspects are responsible for crimes within the Court’s jurisdiction.Mr. El Abdallah spoke with UN News’s Reem Abaza on what comes next, including cooperation with and responsibilities of States Parties to the Rome Statute, the 1998 treaty that established the Court.
The President of the UN Human Rights Council has a critical mission: fostering consensus among Member States on pivotal human rights issues while navigating geopolitical tensions that often threaten the Council’s work.Independent and impartial, the President also helps bridge divides, promote cooperation, streamline priorities, and above all, guide Council meetings efficiently and in line with its rules and procedures.Against this background, UN News’ Vibhu Mishra spoke with Omar Zniber, the current Council President, about what his work entails and how he is keeping vital human rights issues in the spotlight.The veteran diplomat from Morocco started off by explaining his role and that of his Office.
War in Sudan between rival militaries has been raging for 19 months, uprooting well over 11 million people both inside Sudan and beyond and leaving a staggering 24.8 million people in need of assistance.In addition to the struggle for survival, investigators appointed by the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva have warned that women and girls have been subjected to large-scale sexual violence, gang-rape, abduction and detention akin to sexual slavery.To find out more about this disturbing development, UN News’s Nancy Sarkis sat down with Mona Rishmawi, member of the Fact-Finding Mission on Sudan, who told her a battle is “being fought on the bodies of women.”
The start of the war in Gaza following the Hamas-led attacks of 7 October was “like an avalanche” that caught the international community by surprise, including the UN, the senior official leading peace efforts between Israelis and Palestinians recalled this week.Tor Wennesland, Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, sat down for an exclusive interview with UN News’s Reem Abaza as he prepares to leave the post after four years and following decades of service with Norway’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Mr. Wennesland discusses the aftermath of the escalation in Gaza, prospects for a two-State solution despite attempts at undermining it, and why the international community must take the lead in helping the sides to reach a resolution.
Members of the international community must unite and take stronger, coordinated action against the military junta in Myanmar, which overthrew the elected government in February 2021.This is the view of the Tom Andrews, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, who was appointed by the Geneva-based Human Rights Council to monitor and report on the situation in the country.While individual countries such as the United Kingdom, Canada, and the European Union (EU) bloc have imposed sanctions which have had some impact, Mr. Andrews told UN News’ Vibhu Mishra that these actions remain insufficient and disjointed.Mr. Andrews began by reflecting on how the situation has changed compared with the last time he spoke to UN News, a year ago.
Antimicrobial resistance, or AMR, is centre stage in the Saudi Arabian city of Jeddah this week, where top health officials have been attending the Fourth Global High-Level Ministerial Meeting on these so-called superbugs which have become increasingly resistant to existing strains of antibiotics.Threatening to make the medicines on which we depend less effective, AMR is already responsible for killing 1.3 million people every year.Attending the conference, Hanan Balkhy – a physician who is one of the World Health Organization’s senior officials leading the charge against AMR – told UN News’s Ezzat El-Ferri that “awareness is one of the global action plan pillars” which need to be strengthened.
Explosive remnants of war, including artillery shells, rockets, and improvised explosive devices (IEDs), pose a grave threat to civilians everywhere – but especially children in Gaza, now and in the years ahead, according to the Chief of Programme Management with the UN Mine Action Service (UNMAS).Taku Kubo spoke with UN News about the challenges these hazards present for long-term recovery and reconstruction in the region.Despite ongoing conflict and resource constraints, UNMAS has conducted close to 400 explosive hazard assessments and accompanied more than 270 humanitarian convoys as part of the aid effort.Mr. Kubo spoke to UN News’s Abdelmonem Makki.
As the war in Lebanon grinds on, some 1.3 million people have now fled intense Israeli bombardment up and down the country, according to the authorities.This includes a significant number of Syrian refugees, who’ve already had to flee over a decade of civil war in their own country.Reaching Syria is by no means easy, because of the very real risk of bombing at border crossing points; and then there’s the question of how safe it is to return to Syria’s towns and cities.With more on this – and how the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, is helping returnees at Lebanon’s borders in cooperation with the Syrian Government – here’s Rula Amin, Senior Communications Advisor for UNHCR, speaking to UN News’s Nancy Sarkis.
The number of prisoners in Iran being executed is rising while civic space shrinks, according to the independent human rights expert who monitors the country.Special Rapporteur Mai Sato was at UN Headquarters last week briefing the General Assembly, where she highlighted lack of transparency by authorities in Tehran and the failure to uphold the right to life, while also raising the alarm over the worsening situation facing women in the country.In an interview with UN News’s Julia Foxen, the UN Human Rights Council-appointed expert who only took up her role in August this year, explained how she hopes to fulfill her mandate and hold authorities to account.
As the Democratic Republic of the Congo enters its third decade of armed conflict, a huge number of unexploded land mines and other ordinance remain, constituting a deadly threat to civilians.That’s according to Jean-Denis Larsen, the chief of the UN Mine Action Service (UNMAS) in the central African nation, who told UN News’s Julia Foxen in an interview at UN Headquarters in New York, that the danger leaves less land available for housing and crucial civilian infrastructure.The key measure of success, he says, is the agency’s ability to hand back safe environments to communities.
Countries around the world are being encouraged to develop more ambitious plans to fight climate change as they meet at the global COP29 climate conference; That’s according to the Secretary-General of the UN World Meteorological Organization (WMO)Celeste Saulo spoke with UN News as the conference got underway in Baku, Azerbaijan, on Monday.Some 198 States are coming together to assess global efforts in advancing the nearly ten-year-old Paris Agreement and limit global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. The country-specific plans are called Nationally Determined Contributions.Nazrin Babayeva asked Ms. Saulo about the WMO’s role today in adapting and mitigating climate change on a global scale.
The armed conflict in Myanmar is escalating. Ethnic armed groups have captured key towns and regions, and the country’s military – known as the Tatmadaw – are employing increasingly brutal tactics, including heavy weapons and airstrikes.Caught in the middle, civilians are bearing the brunt.Against this background, UN News’ Vibhu Mishra spoke with Nicholas Koumjian, head of the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar (IIMM), which monitors and collects evidence of crimes in the country.He said as violence intensifies, new actors and alliances are emerging – and it’s incumbent on the international community to act.Established by the UN Human Rights Council in 2018, the IIMM is mandated to collect and preserve evidence of the most serious international crimes and violations of international law and prepare files for criminal prosecution.Previous interviews with IIMM:Myanmar: Technology key to aid war crimes investigationsMyanmar citizens show ‘great desire’ for justice: Investigative Mechanism chiefFor head of Myanmar Mechanism, time is of the essence for accountability
Despite the setback of a further two-year delay in holding elections that were promised for next month, the “silver lining” is that the UN can help South Sudan build capacity and become the “democratic, stable society” that its people deserve.That’s the view of UN Special Representative and Head of the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), Nicholas Haysom, who told UN News on Thursday that he is “confident” the country can progress in spite of a slew of major challenges including climate shocks and war over the border in Sudan – as long as the political will is there on the part of the country’s leaders.The veteran Special Representative from South Africa – who served as chief legal adviser to Nelson Mandela – sat down with Ben Malor shortly after briefing the Security Council.
Although the use of mercenaries in conflict has increased in recent years, little is known about how they are funded and paid.The issue is the focus of the latest report by the Working Group on the use of mercenaries, which was presented to the UN General Assembly this week.Jovana Jezdimirovic Ranito is the Chair-Rapporteur of the Working Group, which receives its mandate from the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.She spoke to UN News’s Dianne Penn about the difficulties in tracking financing for foreign fighters and how bankrolling them negatively impacts human rights, sustainable development and the environment.
In Afghanistan under Taliban rule, it is now even more important to ensure that women have access to public spaces and adequate housing, creating places that are “accepted culturally in the current environment, but also provide a space where women can meet”.That’s the view of Stephanie Loose, Program Manager at the UN-Habitat Afghanistan Country Office, who is in Cairo to discuss the opportunities and challenges women are facing in urban areas.She spoke to UN News’s Khaled Mohammed who’s at the UN World Urban Forum in Cairo.
On August 1, the United States and Russia conducted a landmark prisoner exchange involving 16 people – the first of its kind since 1986 – which resulted in the release of several leading Russian dissidents. Among those freed was opposition politician Vladimir Kara-Murza, who recently visited UN Headquarters in New York with Mariana Katzarova, the UN Human Rights Council-appointed independent expert – or Special Rapporteur – who monitors the Russian Federation, to introduce her new report to the General Assembly.In an interview with UN News’s Nargiz Shekinskaya, Mr. Kara-Murza reflected on his recent release, Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and the ongoing human rights crisis in his homeland.He underscored the "horrendous" scale of political imprisonment in Russia, where over 1,300 political prisoners are currently held, and countless others remain invisible.
Stressing that housing is a human right which gives meaning and dignity to people’s lives, the independent UN rights expert – or Special Rapporteur – who monitors the issue has issued an alert over the impact of war, with many civilians simply “losing their houses” as battlefields shift and expand.Balakrishnan Rajagopal is at the World Urban Forum (WUF12) in Cairo, where he spoke to UN News’s Khaled Mohamed on the challenges of ensuring affordable and safe housing for all.
Close to 70 per cent of the world population lives in cities, which brings opportunities but also major challenges, many of which have featured high on the agenda at this week’s World Urban Forum (WUF12) in Cairo.Successful urban development must include the perspectives of women and young people, according to the World Bank’s Global Director for urban resilience, who said it was vital to include their voice in decision making and how public space is used.Ming Zhang spoke to Khaled Mohamed, who’s in Cairo covering the forum for UN News.
Youth-led initiatives have the potential to significantly impact local urban development, according to the deputy chief of the UN Development Programme (UNDP).Haoliang Xu spoke to UN News ahead of the World Urban Forum which begins in Cairo, Egypt, on 4 November and which brings together people from across the world to discuss the challenges faced by cities.It’s estimated that by 2050, some 70 percent of the world’s population will be living in urban areas, which will put pressure on health services, housing, as well as education, transport infrastructure and the police.Pia Blondel asked Mr. Xu how cities will cope with the increase in people.
The resumption of the mass polio campaign in northern Gaza this weekend is crucially important to protect children from disease, but they are “absolutely not safe” from daily bombardment.That’s the message from UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestine refugees; along with the UN health agency (WHO) and the UN Children’s Fund. Humanitarians must now reach 119,000 children under 10 in northern communities in the coming days to keep them safe from polio, which is highly infectious.With more, here’s UNRWA Senior Emergency Officer Louise Wateridge who’s been speaking to UN News’s Daniel Johnson from central Gaza.
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