The Lid is On

The UN has played a major role in many lives around the world, from helping elections pass of peacefully to averting famine and deadly conflict, often working behind the scenes.

Award-winning producer James Manos, Jr. was so taken by the sacrifices some staff make in service to the UN and the greater-good, he’s written a pilot for a new television series focused on women staffers and the sacrifices they make to ensure the Organization’s goals are met.

In this special edition of our Lid Is On podcast series, we’re bringing you a roundup of the most listened-to audio of 2018 here at UN News.

Join Natalie Hutchison to find out what resonated the most with our audio partners and listeners around the English-speaking world during another eventful year.

Music credit: Rise and Shine, by Audiobinger.

The livestock industry is responsible for a staggering amount of greenhouse gas emissions, with a single beef burger taking up to 450 gallons of water to produce.

It’s easy to get lost in the argument over who needs to do the most to stop global warming, but the fact is, everyone needs to do their bit and “we’re all responsible.”

That’s one of the guiding principles for Satya Tripathi of India, who in this latest Lid Is On podcast from UN News, from the crucial COP24 climate change conference in Poland, says we need to focus on bettering our immediate environment and taking collective responsibility for the planet.

What’s it really like to be a victim of child trafficking?  The founders of non-profit, Street Art for Mankind, that fights child trafficking using art from around the globe, are trying to provide the answer.

The exhibit, called “UN-ji,” made its way to UN headquarters in New York last month, bringing art, sounds, and smells, to help visitors gain insight into the issue and contribute to ending trafficking for some 150 million victims worldwide.

For this latest edition of our UN News Lid is On podcast, Natalie Hutchison went along to find out more.

Not many school commutes involve having to go through checkpoints and body searches, but that’s the daily reality for some 163 Palestinian youngsters in Hebron, a bustling city in the southern part of the West Bank. 

During a recent visit to the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Reem Abaza, of UN News, went inside the closed zone for this edition of our Lid Is On podcast, to speak with students and teachers from Qurtuba School.

In this week’s episode of our flagship podcast, The Lid Is On, Conor Lennon from UN News looks at the United Nations' efforts to make big business part of the solution for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030 - not much more than 11 years away.

His guest is Dan Thomas, Head of Communications from UN Global Compact, the world’s biggest corporate sustainability initiative, with a mission to bring companies in line with universal principles on human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption.

Disarmament is too important to be left to the experts.

That’s the view of Renata Dwan, Director of the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR), who says young people and civil society have a vital role to play in arms control, at this turbulent time in world history.

For our latest Lid Is On podcast, from UN News, Paulina Greer talks to her about ridding the world of nuclear and other weapons, and she explains why that’s not just some utopian dream these days – it’s a practical necessity.