Interviews

The worldwide success of the Black Panther movie has highlighted the reality of “the black experience” and spawned a positive conversation about African identity.

That’s according to Diarah N’Daw-Spech, the New York-based co-founder of the African Diaspora International Film Festival, who has also been involved with the UN’s International Decade for People of African Descent initiative.

She’s been talking to Fatima Mendez.

A UN-backed narcotics control body is urging governments to invest more in drug treatment and rehabilitation services rather than focusing only on prevention measures.

David Johnson of the International Narcotics Control Board tells Dianne Penn why emphasis needs to be placed on these programmes.

Despite the challenge of trying to decriminalize centuries-old smuggling routes and cross-border terrorism, the countries of the Sahel are showing progress in building “credible, functioning justice systems.”

That’s according to Pierre Lapaque, who represents the vast African region for the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), who told Matt Wells the deaths of four peacekeepers in Mali on Wednesday, highlighted the on-going dangers.

Ismaïl Ould Cheikh Ahmed, UN Special Envoy for Yemen, was in New York this week to deliver his final briefing to the Security Council after three years spearheading negotiation efforts.

Since 2011, Yemen has been engulfed in what the UN has described as “a tragic and complex political military crisis,” stemming from a failed leadership transition in the wake of the Arab Spring.

Reem Abaza asked Mr Ould Cheikh Ahmed what has been the biggest obstacle to peace.

UN Agencies and their partners are appealing for $263 million to provide humanitarian assistance to vulnerable people in Mali.

Mbaranga Gasarabwe, the Resident Coordinator at UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA), spoke with Fatima Mendez about the 2018 Humanitarian Response Plan.

The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) is warning of two looming threats facing scores of Rohingya children in Myanmar and Bangladesh.

The agency is concerned that the approaching cyclone season and continued violence could affect some 720,000 youngsters.

Bronwen Cowley has been speaking to UNICEF’s Representative in Bangladesh, Edouard Beigbeder.

One million newborns die the day they are born and a staggering 2.6 million do not survive their first month of life.

That’s according to the latest global report by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) launched on Tuesday.

The UN Migration Agency (IOM) which has joined with partners to call for better data to help protect children on the move, more than 1,200 of whom have died since 2014.

Bronwen Cowley in Geneva has been speaking to IOM spokesperson, Joel Milllman.

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has published a comprehensive guide on managing the Fall Armyworm (FAW), a crop-eating pest which originated in Central and South America.

Murielle Sarr asked Allan Hruska, Principal Technical Coordinator of FAO’s Plant Protection Division, what the new guide will achieve.

The Head of the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) says there’s reason to be optimistic that a lasting peace deal can be struck this year.

David Shearer told Matt Wells why local developments were important to securing a lasting peace across the world’s youngest country.