Interviews

When Lieutenant Commander Marcia Andrade Braga arrived in Bangui, the capital of the Central African Republic, to take up her post as Military Gender Advisor with the UN peacekeeping mission there, MINUSCA, no one else in the mission was tasked with protecting the needs of conflict-affected women.

But just one year on, she has managed to build a network of gender focal points across the country.

Suggestions that the UN human rights chief Michelle Bachelet distanced herself from a report by her office on Sri Lanka are unfounded and should not get in the way of reform in the country, a senior UN human rights official said on Wednesday. 

Reports of sexual violence against refugee and migrant women and girls are sadly nothing new, but what about horrific attacks on men and boys who are on the move?

According to a new study by the Women’s Refugee Commission into people attempting to reach Italy from North Africa, the abuse is widespread, particularly in Libya’s detention centres.

People affected by Tropical Cyclone Idai in southern Africa, urgently need clean water, safe sanitation facilities and shelter, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) said on Monday, warning that some areas of Mozambique still remain inaccessible because of the unprecedented flooding.

In an interview with Daniel Johnson from UN News, IFRC Secretary General Elhadj As Sy, described the huge scale of need he witnessed on a visit to the country last Friday. 

Half of all those affected by Tropical Cyclone Idai in southern Africa are extremely vulnerable children, UNICEF said on Friday, as its Executive Director Henrietta Fore visited the region.

Describing the scene from Mozambique, the country worst-hit by the flooding and devastation caused by the cyclone, Ms’ Fore said that the situation for children who survived Idai is “desperate.”

Speaking to Daniel Johnson from UN News in Geneva, UNICEF spokesperson Christophe Boulierac gave an update on the latest situation on the ground in Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe.

When it comes to beating back climate change and reaching the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030, countries of the Global South will make major strides “by learning from each other, as they share similar problems”.

That’s according to Cornelia Richter, International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)’s vice-president, the UN agency that helps transform the lives of impoverished rural people all over the world.

Journalists can help advance women’s rights by moving from a “protectionist approach to a more human rights approach” in their reporting, according to gender equality advocate Geetanjali Misra.

 “Protection of women just means keeping them indoors” she said, attending the annual Conference on the Status of Women (CSW) at UN Headquarters, but consistent reporting can help to shape public opinion over women’s equality issues.

Syrian civilians still have a strong need for support from the international community, including protection from gender-based violence and other safety challenges, Panos Moumtzis, UN Regional Humanitarian Coordinator for the Syria Crisis, said on Wednesday.

He was speaking on the eve of a UN-backed conference on supporting the future of Syria and the region, at which existing and potential donors will be asked to fund an $8.8 billion plan to cover the needs of Syrians affected by the conflict, as well as communities hosting them.

Joyce Msuya, acting Executive Director of UN Environment (UNEP), has expressed her sorrow at the death of UN staff travelling to the UN Environment Assembly on Ethiopian Airlines flight ET 302, which crashed on Sunday, killing everyone on board.

International Women’s Day is an opportunity to celebrate the achievements of women worldwide and to shine a light on persistent gender inequality.

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), women represent 45 per cent of the total agricultural labor force, but they are denied equal access to economic and social opportunities.