An actor by trade but an activist by nature. That’s how veteran American film star Robert Redford describes himself.
Mr Redford was at the UN this week where he urged heads of state meeting in the UN General Assembly to take action on addressing climate change.
Ari Gaitanis sat down with Mr Redford to learn how his childhood in post-war Los Angeles inspired a lifelong love of nature.
Human rights are for everyone to enjoy, a former anti-Apartheid activist has concluded after 36 years of service at the United Nations.
The UN led a campaign from 1950 onwards to eliminate South Africa’s system of legalized racial discrimination known as Apartheid.
Derrick Mbatha, a former producer at the underground Radio Freedom, the broadcast arm of the now ruling African National Congress (ANC), moved to New York in 1979 at age twenty-four to work for the UN’s Anti-Apartheid Radio Unit.
Conflict in Yemen is having a devastating impact on the health of children, the UN children’s agency, UNICEF, has warned.
UNICEF says more than a half a million youngsters under five are at risk of developing malnutrition, while nearly three million could contract measles, which is potentially fatal.
And with hospitals and health centres not functioning properly, more than a million children are likely to be exposed to respiratory infections such as pneumonia.
Serious human rights abuses, including abductions and gang rape of women and girls have been committed by government forces and their allied militia in South Sudan’s Unity State.
That’s according to a report released by the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) on Tuesday.
The Mission says its staff interviewed 115 victims and eyewitnesses from five counties in Unity State where the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) launched a major offensive against armed opposition forces in late April.
Despite the progress that has been made in reducing the number of reported cholera cases in Haiti, more investment in water and sanitation is still needed to eliminate the disease.
That’s according to Pedro Medrano Rojas, the outgoing UN Senior Coordinator for the Cholera Response in Haiti.
He told Jorge Miyares that there has been a 90 per cent reduction in the cases of the disease from the peak of 350,000 in 2010 to about 15,000 reported new cases as of May this year.
What’s the relationship between a type of bacteria found in the human stomach and nutritional status?
That’s what the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency and scientists are trying to establish.
Previous studies have indicated that the helicobacter pylori bacterium might influence the absorption of some essential micronutrients.
If the scientists are able to find the mechanisms to connect the two together it would help policy makers to better improve people’s nutritional status.
Steve Thachet reports.
Education programmes for 500,000 Palestinian refugee children may be jeopardized as a result of cuts at the UN in the occupied Palestinian territory.
A US$101 million deficit is forcing the UN agency that works with Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) to reduce its international staff by 80 per cent.
Reem Abaza spoke to UNRWA spokesperson Chris Gunness.
He said despite taking “austerity measures,” the agency risks abandoning projects such as an education programme for nearly half a million children.
Israel has criticised the findings of a high-level UN report into its conduct during the fighting in Gaza in 2014, saying it failed to take account of the complexities of modern warfare.
Eviator Manor, Israel’s ambassador at the UN in Geneva, made his comments on Monday after the report’s authors highlighted potential war crimes committed by both Israeli and Palestinian forces.
A “fundamental shift” in the way business is conducted around the world is leading to improved corporate responsibility, according to the Executive Director of the UN Global Compact Office.
The Global Compact encourages companies to incorporate, environmental, social and governance issues into their business operations in order to benefit people while keeping those companies profitable.
The dreams and aspirations of the people of the world and the role of diplomacy are being celebrated in a drawing that is being exhibited at the UN in New York; that’s according to the Deputy Secretary-General of the organization.
Jan Eliasson was speaking ahead of the opening of an exhibition of paintings and drawings by the American artist, Norman Rockwell.
One of his most famous sketches is called the United Nations, which he based on the work of the Security Council.
Daniel Dickinson has been speaking to Mr Eliasson at the exhibition.
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