Nelson Mandela, the first president of South Africa after apartheid, has a claim to being the most highly respected African leader in modern history. As well as celebrating Mandela’s legacy as a fighter for human rights, equality and social justice, the Day also promotes the fight against poverty. In this special (brief!) episode, Conor speaks to Richard Stengel, a former managing director of Time magazine, who served in the Obama White House as Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs, and a close collaborator with Mandela on the latter’s acclaimed autobiography, Long Walk to Freedom. They talk about the extent to which ending poverty played an important role in Mandela’s activism and political career. The UN remembers Nelson Mandela’s commitment to fight poverty and inequity: https://news.un.org/en/story/2024/07/1152116
The UN Charter says that Member States must guarantee the rights of all people, regardless of history, culture or social norms. However, around the world, people continue to face discrimination, criminalization and violence purely because of their sexual orientation and identity. Earlier this year, Secretary-General António Guterres promised that the UN “firmly stands with the LGBTIQ+ community and will continue working until human rights and dignity are a reality for all people”. But what does that mean in practical terms, and how is the UN helping this community? With Beatriz Barral from UN News, Michael Van Gelderen from the UN High Commission for Human Rights and Chris Mallouris from UNAIDS. Editor: Yanran Bao, Executive Producer - Mita Hosali The UN and LGBTIQ+ people: https://www.un.org/en/lgbtiq-people UNAIDS response to the Namibia High Court Decision: https://www.unaids.org/en/resources/presscentre/pressreleaseandstatementarchive/2024/june/20240621_namibia UNAIDS response to the end of conversion therapy in Mexico: https://www.unaids.org/en/resources/presscentre/pressreleaseandstatementarchive/2024/june/240612_mexico_conversion_therapy_ban The World Population Prospects Report: https://news.un.org/en/story/2024/07/1151971 The High-Level Political Forum programme: https://hlpf.un.org/2024/programme
What kind of future do we all want? And how will we get it? It’s a big question, and the UN is convening a major event this year to try to find some answers. On today’s show, Conor Lennon is joined by Mayra Lopes from the UN News Portuguese Unit, and Benno Schwinghammer, UN Correspondent for Deutsche Presse-Agentur, to discuss the UN’s role in building a fairer future for people and the planet, and the progress that is being made towards achieving the Global Goals for sustainable development, as we near the 2030 deadline. With special guest Michele Griffin, Policy Director, Summit of The Future. Summit of the Future: Summit of the Future website - EN | United Nations 2024 SDG report: The-Sustainable-Development-Goals-Report-2024.pdf (un.org) HLPF news article: Time running short as 2030 deadline looms for UN blueprint for a fairer future | UN News
Cannabis legalization has led to increased use and a drop in drug-related convictions, but there have been negative health consequences. On this week’s show, we dig into some of the findings in the UN World Drug Report, and also discuss the release of the UN’s recommendations on tackling fake news. With Benno Schwinghammer from Deutsche Presse-Agentur, and Angela Me from the UN Office on Drugs and Crime. UN Global Principles for Information Integrity: https://www.un.org/sites/un2.un.org/files/un-global-principles-for-information-integrity-en.pdf UNODC World Drug Report: https://www.unodc.org/unodc/data-and-analysis/world-drug-report-2024.html Interview with World Drug Report author Angela Me: https://news.un.org/en/interview/2024/06/1151426 International Day of the Seafarer: https://www.imo.org/en/About/Events/Pages/Day-of-the-Seafarer-2024.aspx
2024 is a bumper year for elections, affecting around two billion voters. However, elections don’t necessarily equate to democracy, and the extent to which they actually affect the way a country is run, and by whom, can vary dramatically, depending on where they’re held. On this week’s show, Conor Lennon and Sachin Gaur from UN News are joined by Yoshita Singh from Press Trust of India, to talk about democracy, misinformation, and yoga (the International Day of Yoga is on June 26)! Guests this week are Iain Walker from newDemocracy and Sarah Lister, Head of Governance at UNDP. Full interview with Sarah Lister and Iain Walker: https://news.un.org/en/audio/2024/06/1151291 UN principles on information integrity: https://www.un.org/en/information-integrity/code-of-conduct Pause campaign: https://shareverified.com/pledge-to-pause/ UNDP and democratic governance: https://www.undp.org/governance Citizen’s Assemblies: https://news.un.org/en/story/2023/07/1138292