With half of Afghanistan’s children under five at risk of severe malnutrition and two-thirds of the country needing humanitarian assistance, the UN’s emergency relief coordinator is urging the international community to provide real commitments at a crucial aid conference on Monday.

In an exclusive interview for UN News in Geneva ahead of the conference, Daniel Johnson sat down with the newly-installed head of UN humanitarian affairs, (OCHA) Martin Griffiths, who recently returned from his first visit to Afghanistan, now under Taliban control.

He called on the Taliban to recognize the scale of need across the country and urged them to respect the rights of women and girls.

As head of the police component at the United Nations peacekeeping force in Cyprus (UNFICYP), Satu Koivu says “good competencies and skillset”, regardless of sex, will go far for those with ambitions to pursue police leadership. 
 
With over 30 years of experience in law enforcement and policing around the globe, the Finland native acknowledges choosing a career in the force at 18 years old, was not typical for females at the time, and is optimistic other women will continue to find their place in the field.

As preparations gear up for this November’s COP26 climate summit in Glasgow, the leading scientific body responsible for assessing the latest evidence on climate change says human activity is “indisputably” to blame.

Jonathan Lynn, Spokesperson for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) told UN News’s Daniel Johnson, that there is a chance that by limiting greenhouse gas emissions, we can slow down sea level rise and significantly slow global warming.

While the COVID-19 pandemic has exposed inequalities faced by the world’s indigenous people, such as poor access to healthcare, it has also led to greater understanding of their priorities, which include social cohesion and protecting the planet. 

That’s the opinion of Ghazali Ohorella, an international lawyer and indigenous rights advocate who is an Alifuru from Maluku, which is part of Indonesia. Dianne Penn spoke to him ahead of the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples on 9 August.