Interviews

UN human rights expert Agnès Callamard has been involved in some of the most talked-about stories of the past year, from investigating the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, to condemning the arrest of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange.

Ms. Callamard has also been highly critical of Malta’s response to the killing of investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, and in October, alongside fellow Special Rapporteur David Kaye, she called on the Maltese authorities to do more to find those responsible for her death.

Although it is situated far from the UN’s HQ in New York, the International Court of Justice – based in The Hague, in  the Netherlands – is as integral a part of the United Nations as the Security Council or General Assembly.

Conor Lennon from UN News caught up with Philippe Gautier, the newly appointed Registrar of the ICJ, and former Registrar of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, during a visit to headquarters in October.

He started by asking Mr. Gautier to explain the crucial role the ICJ plays on the world stage.

As the first human rights issue to provoke wide international, slavery is perpetuated by traditional practices such as child and forced marriage, and by the fact that almost half the countries in the world have yet to criminalize it.

According to the latest UN figures, 40 million people were living in a state of modern slavery in 2016. One in four children are in forced labour, and about 98 per cent of women who are in forced labour have also been subjected to sexual exploitation.

There are clear benefits to keeping the earth’s temperature below two degrees; and the “choices we make now will be critical for the future of our oceans and cryosphere”.

London’s Crystal Palace provided the venue for the first ever World Expo back in 1851, and next year, the Arab region hosts the iconic global event for the first time, which will include a United Nations pavilion, the Organization announced on Thursday.

Under the theme “We the peoples shaping our future together”, the space will focus on “the people the United Nations serve, rather than the institution”.

Because impairment is widely seen as a natural part of the ageing process, many older people with disabilities are shut out from receiving the support they need, according to a UN human rights expert.

Catalina Devandas Aguilar is encouraging governments to ensure older persons with disabilities have a voice in any policies to make cities more inclusive, particularly as the global population ages.

As the first  woman to command a UN peacekeeping operation, and until very recently the Organization’s highest-ranking female commander, Major General Kristin Lund knows better than most, the importance of engaging women in the field.

Some countries are defining “whomever they like” as terrorists and exhibiting “deep and problematic” inconsistencies over how they treat family members of suspected extremists in places like northeast Syria and Iraq.

That’s according to Fionnuala Ní Aoláin, the UN independent human rights expert dealing with counter-terrorism.

She says that many of the women and children associated with former ISIL terrorist fighters are themselves victims, and it’s a big mistake to curb their rights or define them simply by association.

The growth of antisemitism worldwide is a sign that other forms of hatred and xenophobia are becoming more destructive and widespread, the UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, Ahmed Shaheed, warned on Friday.

Speaking to Conor Lennon from UN News, Mr. Shaheed, a former foreign minister for the Maldives, also explained what his role as a Special Rapporteur entails, what drives him to speak out about human rights abuses, and the recent elections to the Human Rights Council.

Providing academic enrichment programmes, as well as health and wellness services which empower students and address community needs, is the goal of a New York City school that is working to break the cycle of poverty.

Fifth-grade students from the Gregory “Jocko” Jackson School of Sports, Arts and Technology in Brownsville, Brooklyn, were at the UN on Thursday to take part in a ceremony commemorating the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty.