UN Catch-Up Dateline Geneva

In this week’s show, two in three children in Ukraine have now had to flee the war since the Russian invasion, UNICEF takes no pleasure in telling us, while UN humanitarians have confirmed they’re now helping some 300 evacuees who’ve been bussed out of the devastated Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol. And as refugee numbers rise globally, we’ll be finding out what soul legend Dionne Warwick thinks about this growing global emergency.

In a week that’s seen the UN chief push for peace and justice in Ukraine with visits to Moscow and Kyiv, the Security Council has also been hearing that fighting in Syria is still raging – and that we mustn’t forget it. We’ll also highlight the UN’s work to help stop a new Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, while in Afghanistan, it’s never been more urgent to unblock billions of dollars of assets, top rights experts say.

Hello, as reports emerge that four busloads of civilians managed to leave Mariupol on Wednesday, we hear from UN humanitarians who continue to plead for safe and sustained access to the besieged city.

Also in this week’s show, we visit the UN Satellite Centre UNOSAT, which is tracking the devastation caused by shelling across Ukraine – how does it fit into the international calls for accountability, following Russia’s invasion on 24 February?

Seven weeks since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the global food and energy crisis that’s followed, the UN Secretary-General has explained what needs to happen to get help to the most vulnerable. Climate shocks and chronic violence have also created famine-like conditions and desperate scenes in Somalia and South Sudan, humanitarians tell us, while in Brazil, activists, women journalists and others, face appalling violence, a top rights expert has said.

Hello, first we heard that cluster bombs had been used in residential areas of Ukraine, now there are reports that civilians have been run over by tanks while trying to flee Russian troops in Bucha. We’ll hear more from the UN rights office on what steps it’s taking to verify those claims, on a day when the General Assembly decided to suspend Russia from the Human Rights Council.

The UN’s rights chief tells us Russian forces have used cluster bombs in built-up areas in Ukraine – and that Ukrainian forces, may have used them too. Meanwhile in Afghanistan, Martin Griffiths tells us millions of ordinary people’s lives are hanging by a thread. In South Sudan, the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, has put the spotlight on the communities who’re using mud and anything else they can find, to keep floodwaters at bay. We’ll hear the latest research on migrant journeys, plus a more positive initiative from the WHO, to beat mosquito-borne sickness.

It’s a month since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, we’ll hear what impact it’s had on the country’s children – more than half of them are now on the move - and the global economy. We’ve also got news of a lean, green and wonderfully healthy farming initiative in Kenya, that’s offering former tobacco growers a much brighter and more prosperous future. And, we find out about a super sustainable development goals book club for young readers – we’ll be talking to 6-year-old Leo Rolf, from Amsterdam, he’s got lots of interesting things to say…

Did you know that food grown in Ukraine feeds 400 million people around the world?

Since Russia invaded its neighbour three weeks ago, Ukrainians need outside help to keep from going hungry, and that’s where the UN World Food Programme comes in, as we’ll hear.

Away from Europe, earlier this week, we heard UN Secretary-General António Guterres implore donors for funds to help Yemen, where two in three people need aid just to survive.

Hello, two weeks since Russia attacked Ukraine, more than 2.3 million people have fled the country - no easy journey of course, but for the trans community whose passports don’t match their identities, escaping the war is proving even harder. Find out why, in this week’s interview with NGO Transgender Europe (TGEU).

We’ll also hear the latest from a refugee shelter in Berlin that’s now helping those fleeing the Ukraine crisis. Stay with us too, to hear about how Shakespeare’s Rosalind fits into the mix, with the show’s co-host, Solange Behoteguy-Cortes.

In this week’s show, as people in Ukraine face a second week of Russian hostilities, we hear how UN humanitarians and rights bodies are doing as much as they can to help, from those aid workers on the ground in Lviv, near the Ukraine- Poland border, to the Human Rights Council, which has been holding an urgent debate on the crisis.

Stay with us for some tough testimony on the impact that the crisis is having on health workers, and also for always-relevant commentary - and a nod to Bertolt Brecht’s “Refugee Conversations” - from Solange Behoteguy-Cortes.