Interviews

Confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Syria are in the low hundreds, but it is only a matter of time before the disease reaches those sheltering in camps in the war-torn country.

That’s according to the World Health Organization’s Dr Akjemal Magtymova, who’s the UN health agency’s representative in Syria.

She’s been speaking to UN News’s Daniel Johnson from Qamishli in the northeast of the country, where she’s just visited Al Hol camp, that’s home to tens of thousands of youngsters caught up in the more than nine-year conflict.

The importance of being informed about the coronavirus – from how to recognize the symptoms, to what to do to manage day-to-day life – is essential for all, and not to include people with disabilities is to leave them “without information that could save their lives”.

That’s according to Rosemary Kayess, vice-chair of the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, who has spoken candidly to UN News from home in Australia, about her own fears and the intense challenges that people with disabilities are living with, during the pandemic.

An asteroid tracking programme in Hawaii has been dubbed the “Earth’s Last Defence” against potentially catastrophic impacts, the UN has heard ahead of International Asteroid Day marked annually on 30 June.  

Ari Heinz is an astronomer at the University of Hawaii’s Institute for Astronomy working on the NASA-supported ATLAS (Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System) project which tracks small but dangerous asteroids which may strike Earth.

The sustainable production of coffee, and indeed other crops, is more of a cultural rather than environmental commitment according to the manager of the largest coffee farm in the United States.

Fred Cowell, the General Manager of Kauai Coffee Company on the Pacific Ocean island, Hawaii, says the way a company treats its workers, land and local community is as important as the steps it takes to ensure the health of the environment.

Whilst COVID-19 has posed a serious threat to food security overall, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) believes agricultural commodity markets are proving to be more resilient to the pandemic, than many other sectors.

But the real test in terms of food security will come now, “with lockdowns ending, and people having to go back to their jobs to support themselves”.

That’s according to Sridhar Dharmapuri, a Senior FAO Food Safety and Nutrition Officer from the Asia Pacific region.

If you had to guess at how many children are involved in forced labour round the world, does 152 million sound about right? And what if we told you that this is actually an improvement on the number of youngsters working illegally 20 years ago?

Today, these gains are at risk, as the devastating economic impact of the COVID-19 crisis affects millions of families already on the poverty line, the International Labour Organization (ILO) has warned.

The Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development, continues through to 2030, providing an opportunity for nations to work together to generate the scientific expertise needed to keep ocean life safe, and the seas sustainable.

Reminding us that currently the ocean is ailing, and needs better science and data to be successfully managed, the Executive Secretary of UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission, Vladimir Ryabinin, spoke to UN News about the scientists’ dream of managing the ocean in a way that will help us all live longer and healthier lives.

Our oceans are unexplored, misunderstood and under threat; that’s the message for World Oceans Day – on Monday 8 June – from the world’s fastest yachtswoman, Dona Bertarelli.

In an interview with UN News’s Daniel Johnson, Ms. Bertarelli explains how she hopes to draw on her close bond with the high seas – and her new appointment as Special Adviser for the Blue Economy for the United Nations trade and development body, UNCTAD – to help protect marine life for the good of everyone on this planet.