Interviews

Reform of UN peacekeeping should include more emphasis on non-military “smart pledges” which make missions around the world stronger and more effective.

That’s according to Canada’s Minister of National Defence, Harjit Singh Sajjan, who was at UN Headquarters this week to support the Secretary-General’s call for a more “realistic” approach to peacekeeping.

Cristina Silveiro asked Mr Sajjan to outline Canada’s strategy.

The world needs to focus on the “capabilities and abilities” of people with disabilities and “not just the disability.”

That is the clear message coming from Mawunyo Yakor-Dagbah, Vice-President of the Ghana Federation of Disability Organisations.  She and two siblings were born with albinism.

Ms Yakor-Dagbah was recently at United Nations Headquarters participating in the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW62).  

She spoke with Assumpta Massoi.

Getting a good education and building self-esteem are vital to help people of African descent overcome the legacy of Transatlantic slavery.

That’s the view of the first woman of African descent to become Chief Justice of Panama, Graciela Dixon, who gave the keynote address at UN Headquarters in New York this week, to mark the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade.

Countries need to be better prepared for a more mixed and multicultural world, said the chief of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), William Lacey Swing, on Monday, speaking at the International Dialogue on Migration.

“If we say that migration is a problem to be solved, we start from a negative” he explained to Liz Scaffidi, pointing out that migration was “as old as humankind” and a “human reality that needs to be managed.”

Racial freedom has been established across the United States but the “next phase” of the struggle involves full and equal access to education, healthcare and development.

That’s according to the Rev. Jesse Jackson, the veteran US civil rights leader, who was at UN Headquarters last week to speak at an event marking the Decade of Recognition for the Contributions, Achievements and Challenges of People of African Descent Worldwide.

He spoke to Matt Wells.

Population growth around the major cities in Darfur is having an impact on access to safe drinking water.

Olatunji Ayeni of UNAMID, the UN-African Union mission in the Sudanese province, discusses how it is helping local authorities and communities to address the issue.

UN agencies are assisting the Sahel as it faces multiple challenges in security, governance, development and humanitarian needs.

That is the view of Ruby Sandhu-Rojon, the Deputy Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General for West Africa and the Sahel (UNOWAS). 

Ms Sandhu-Rojon spoke to Fatima/Erika Mendez when she was at UN Headquarters earlier this month.  She started by discussing the biggest priorities in the Sahel region right now

Around 124 million people in 51 countries were affected by acute food insecurity during the course of last year, according to the latest edition of the Global Report on Food Crises. 

Dominique Burgeon, Director of the Emergency and Rehabilitation Division at the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) says that 74 million people are living in countries where conflict is having a “devastating impact” on them, as he told Murielle Saar.

Rescued from Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) by her mother just hours before the ceremony, Purity Oyie was forced to flee and become a pariah.

But after enduring years of separation from her family, the young Kenyan activist and role-model, is now her father’s “pride and joy,” having become the first woman in her village to graduate from college – as she told Liz Scaffidi.

Pakistani troops, police and other peacekeeping personnel have made a “major contribution” to the success of the UN’s long-running Mission in Liberia (UNMIL), which will close at the end of March after successfully completing its mandate.

That’s according to Waldemar Vrey, a South African national who serves as deputy head of UNMIL, with responsibility for handling political and rule-of-law issues. He told Doug Coffman that Pakistanis had played a “significant role” throughout.