Interviews

Reported rights violations committed by government forces in Myanmar against Rohingyas will likely constitute “crimes under international law”, according to the Chairperson of the UN Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar, Marzuki Darusman.

Speaking to Bronwen Cowley in Geneva, following the release of the Mission’s report, Mr. Darusman called on authorities to stop dismissing the seriousness of rights abuse allegations.

Born and raised in the forests of Suriname on South America’s northern coast, Fidelia Graand-Galon is a unique voice among rural indigenous women.

President of the Maroon Women’s Network - founded to promote the development of women descended from escaped African slaves - she was at the UN in Geneva on Thursday to speak as part of a International Women’s Day panel, and spoke to Bronwen Cowley.

Thousands of residents in the West Darfur town of Kereinek are celebrating their area being declared free of unexploded ordnance and explosive remnants of war.

Louis Visagie, ordnance disposal officer at the joint AU-UN operation in Darfur, UNAMID, told Matilda Moyo how this was accomplished.

Pakistani filmmaker Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, a two time Academy award winner and women’s rights activist says that she is on a mission to force “difficult conversations” that her own society needs to have.

Ms. Obaid-Chinoy is due to take part in the International Film Festival and Forum on Human Rights (FIFDH), in Geneva, which starts on Friday.  She spoke to Michele Zaccheo, before celebrations for International Women’s Day got underway.

Rural women in Afghanistan are feeling increasingly isolated and deprived of their rights compared with women living in towns and cities.

That’s one of the conclusions to emerge from a nationwide outreach programme led by the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), aimed at highlighting local issues, as Fraidoon Poya reports from Herat province in western Afghanistan.

The global spotlight needs to remain on Somalia as it recovers from protracted drought followed by successive failed rains, according to the UN Humanitarian Coordinator in the country, Peter de Clercq.

Dianne Penn spoke to the senior UN official who was in London this Tuesday for an international conference aimed at supporting Somalia.

Helping communities to improve resilience is critical in Somalia, which suffered a drought in 2015 that has displaced some two million people.

Justin Brady of the UN humanitarian affairs office, OCHA, talks to Dianne Penn about an international conference taking place in London to support the country.

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.