Interviews

The Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda is leading the charge for more climate action paving the way for “resilient prosperity” as host of this month’s upcoming International Conference on Small Island Developing States, SIDS4.

In an exclusive interview with UN News’s Shanaé Harte, Gaston Browne said the very survival of small island nations is increasingly at stake due to rising waters, extreme weather, crushing debt and lack of basic resources.

People living in countries rich in the minerals needed for the transition to a net-zero carbon global economy could find themselves victims of a new “resource curse”, remaining in poverty despite the new-found wealth of their leaders. 

Daily attacks by the Russian military in Ukraine have damaged dozens of towns and villages in the south and east of the country but also in central areas - including the city of Dnipro, which was shelled again early this Friday, UN humanitarians said.

An array of military hardware has been deployed against heavily populated areas, such as drones and a new, frightening threat: relatively inexpensive glide bombs that can fly up to 80 kilometres and cause heavy damage.

Amidst ongoing armed conflict in Sudan, where millions of civilians are left displaced and food insecure, Deputy Executive Director for the World Food Programme (WFP), Carl Skau, visited the nation where he said a window of opportunity to reach civilians is rapidly closing as the rainy season approaches. 

Mr. Skau noted that the Sudanese want to see an end to the conflict. He further warned that famine may be approaching and WFP is currently only able to reach about 30 per cent of about 18 million acutely food-insecure people.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is rapidly developing and raising concerns on the battlefield, particularly lethal autonomous weapons systems, commonly known as “killer robots”.

The United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR) works to increase understanding of the risks and implications of AI for international peace and security. 

UN News’s Sachin Gaur spoke to Shimona Mohan, UNIDIR Associate Researcher, who focuses on the intersection of gender, disarmament and emerging technologies such as AI.

A breakthrough in Libya cannot be achieved if leaders continue to monopolise the political process, the outgoing head of the UN mission in the country, UNSMIL, has said.

Libya has remained mired in deep crisis since the postponement of national elections, originally planned for December 2021.

UN Special Representative Abdoulaye Bathily called on leaders to “have a sense of history” and “think about the future of their country”, pointing to their long-standing impasse.

Two arson attacks which followed weeks of protests forced UN Palestine refugee agency UNRWA to temporarily close its compound in East Jerusalem on Thursday.

The developments are part of a wider campaign to undermine the agency, said Senior Communications Manager Jonathan Fowler.

UN News’s Ezzat El-Ferri asked him about these incidents, intimidation of UNRWA staff, and their commitment to stay and deliver amid the war in Gaza and rising violence in the West Bank.

Amid intensified settlement building and the increased use of war tactics by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), the number of casualties and injuries in the West Bank are now the highest on record, said the head of the UN human rights office in the Occupied Palestinian Territory on Wednesday.

Ajith Sunghay, told Anton Uspensky of UN News that “whatever happens in Gaza has a massive impact on the West Bank” while violations of Palestinians’ rights have intensified at the hands of “emboldened” settlers.