Interviews

Two teenagers from opposite sides of the world made a special trip to the UN in Geneva recently to help mark 30 years of the Convention of the Rights of the Child – an international treaty that protects children from discrimination, violence and neglect.

More important, perhaps, Maria, from Mexico, and Zycrel, from the Philippines, have also been advising UN rights experts on a “child-friendly” version of the Convention, too.

They’ve been telling UN News’s Daniel Johnson why it’s important that young activists from all over the world, make sure their voices are heard.

The UN Industrial Development Organization, UNIDO, works towards poverty reduction, inclusive globalization and environmental sustainability, and that mandate is crucial to the battle against global warming.

That’s the view of Director General Li Yong, who spoke to UN News’s Maoqi Li, to discuss a range of issues from tackling climate change, managing the private sector’s contribution to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and UNIDO’s efforts to foster “digital infrastructure” across Africa.

As estimated 260 million children are not receiving an education, and the crisis is hampering their access to vital life skills and the jobs market. Leaders at the non-profit, TheirWorld, have committed to closing the education gap.  

The organization is bringing visibility to the scale of the global education crisis through an immersive installation, the Infinity Classroom – a mirrored room which highlights the huge number of unfilled seats in schools across the world. 

When it comes to finding out about the latest science on global warming, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change – with its 195 Members – is a leading international authority.

According to the IPCC’s latest report, sea levels are rising faster than expected, while many of the world’s smaller glaciers could largely disappear by the end of this century.

There are positive signs that the Government-led effort to end the deadly Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has turned the corner, but there’s no room for complacency.

That’s according to the UN’s Emergency Ebola Response Coordinator, David Gressly, who was at UN Headquarters on Wednesday to take part in a ministerial-level meeting to assess the more than year-long effort to end the second-worst outbreak ever.

He spoke to UN News’s Matt Wells.

Young people have been leading the push for action to address climate change, the theme for this year’s celebration of the International Day of Peace, 21 September.

Among their biggest admirers is the world-renowned cellist Yo-Yo Ma, who was at UN Headquarters on Friday for the annual ceremony to commemorate the day.

As a UN Ambassador for Peace, Mr. Ma inspires young people to support the Organization’s efforts to address climate change and other pressing issues such as hunger and HIV/AIDS.

On this year’s Day of Peace, held on September 20, young people from around the world have been invited to take part in a ceremony at UN headquarters in New York, to talk about the ways that they are contributing to peacebuilding.

The events took place the day before the UN Youth Summit, where young leaders will showcase climate solutions, and engage with global leaders on the defining issues of our time.

On Friday, Conor Lennon from UN News went to meet with two of the youth delegates, who have found very different ways to raise awareness of peace and climate change.

The UN’s first Youth Climate Summit takes place in New York this Saturday where participants will include hundreds of young advocates from around the world.

One of them is 23-year-old Marie-Claire Graf from Switzerland, where  her “Sustainability Week” initiative aims to turn universities into sustainable role-models.

In an interview with UN News’s Daniel Johnson in Geneva, Ms. Graf explained how she hoped to encourage others to do the same to tackle the climate “crisis”.

Back in June, Nigeria’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Tijjani Muhammad-Bande, was elected by acclamation to preside over the 74th session of the General Assembly, which begins on Tuesday.

In his first major interview with UN News, Mr. Muhammad-Bande told Cristina Silveiro that poverty eradication, inclusion and quality education would be his top priorities in office.

Calling education “a complex matter”, he spelled out that “whoever is denied an education is denied almost everything”.

We “need more women in power positions”, the outgoing President of the 73rd General Assembly, María Fernanda Espinosa has told UN News, saying that gender parity and women's rights are not only about justice, but “about common sense”.

The President, or PGA – as insiders refer to those in the job – hands the gavel over on Tuesday, and said she wished she had longer to tackle issues that she believes need further development, including “bolder” reform on how the General Assembly operates.