Interviews

As war rages in Gaza, another simmering conflict risks escalating on Israel’s northern border with Lebanon – which is why the UN peacekeeping mission there is so important.

UNIFIL – the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon – has three important responsibilities: helping civilians affected by the war, protecting the so-called “Blue Line” that separates both countries and maintaining a channel of communication between them.

The UN agency for Palestine refugees (UNWRA) serves almost six million Palestinians in Gaza, the West Bank, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon. 

UN News’s Khaled Mohamed spoke with Dorothee Klaus, who’s the top official for the agency in Lebanon, which is home to around 250,000 Palestinians.

Explaining the dire, immediate impact of funding cuts and the current suspension of aid by many key donors, she said UNRWA operations could ‘come to a halt’ in March.

February 6 marks the International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation, or FGM. In 2024, some 4.4 million girls are still considered at risk from this horrific act of gender-based violence.

“Even one mutilation is one too many” said UN chief António Guterres in his message marking the day. 

According to Dr. Wisal Ahmed, the UN reproductive health agency’s (UNFPA) Global Coordinator for the FGM Trust Fund, health complications due to the practice add up to around $1.4 billion each year. 

Criminal networks in Southeast Asia are growing their illegal operations in through the innovative use of technology, according to the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

The trafficking of people and drugs as well as money laundering and fraudulent scam activities are being boosted by the use of cryptocurrencies, the dark web, artificial intelligence and social media platforms, as criminals continue to base their operations in parts of the region where the rule of law is weak or non-existent. 

According to energy industry experts, we’re in the middle of a massive expansion of renewable energy sources, and it’s likely to continue. At the UN climate conference in Dubai at the end of last year, governments committed to tripling global capacity by 2030, and the International Energy Agency, for one, is bullish about that goal being achieved.

But will developing countries benefit? 

No food, water, or health care facilities, no communication with the outside world, and the constant threat of bombardments.

These are the desperate conditions under which Gazans are living, says Juliette Touma, the spokesperson for UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestine refugees, who visited Gaza in mid-January.

On her return, she spoke to Conor Lennon from UN News, and described what she saw in the congested refugee camps of the occupied Palestinian territory.