Interviews

Resilience among ordinary Ukrainians is remarkable but if the war goes on much longer, it threatens 20 years of development gains, the UN Development Programme (or UNDP), has warned.

From Lviv in western Ukraine, here’s Manal Fouani, UNDP lead in the country, describing to UN News’s Daniel Johnson the many and varied challenges that the country faces, seven weeks since the Russian invasion began.

As UN agencies warn of an impending famine situation in Somalia, a prolonged drought crisis in the entire Horn of Africa region is threatening to turn into a catastrophe.

A combination of the impacts of climate change, conflict and COVID-19 has created ‘the perfect storm of horror’, with the war in Ukraine pushing food and fuel prices up, according to UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Regional Director for Eastern and Southern Africa, Mohamed M. Fall.

A new low in the war in Ukraine has made headlines around the world this week, with the discovery that hundreds of civilians have been killed in the city of Bucha, in areas previously controlled by Russian troops.

Early testimonies from survivors indicate that the victims were “directly targeted” and killed, according to the UN rights office, OHCHR. Responding to claims from Russia that the incident is nothing more than fake news, here’s spokesperson Liz Throssell, talking to UN News’s Daniel Johnson.

Although Africa “pollutes less” as a continent than others such as Europe or the Americas, it’s suffering disproportionately from the impact of climate change, with drought and flooding having a profound impact on food security and agriculture.

The six-month long 2020 Dubai Expo came to an end this week, marking the end also of the United Nations Hub there, which aimed to explain to attendees, the central and diverse role the Organization plays at the heart of world events.

As the first Expo to be held in the Middle East, the mega-event was forced to delay its opening, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but ultimately, it attracted 23 million visits.

This week saw the UN launch an ambitious bid to stop the spread of common, mosquito-borne diseases – known as “arboviruses” - which threaten more than half the world’s population.

The main target of the initiative is four of the most common arboviruses: Dengue, Yellow fever, chikungunya, and Zika.

Here’s the World Health Organization’s Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove now, telling UN News’s Daniel Johnson all about how the Global Arbovirus Initiative plans to share expertise on bug-busting across continents.

“Go vote” is the resounding message that 20-year-old climate activist Sophia Kianni wants everyone to hear, because the only way to effect real change to slow global warming, is through better public policy, she says. 

One of seven activists who make up the Secretary-General’s Youth Advisory Group on Climate Change, the young American bemoaned the failure of the US Congress to pass ‘Build Back Better’ legislation, to tackle the climate emergency. 

With thousands of business leaders, government officials, academics and entrepreneurs gathering in Dubai this week for the World Entrepreneurs Investment Forum (WEIF 2022), discussions on Tuesday turned to boosting support for women entrepreneurs and women-led businesses.

The Forum held a panel on ‘Uplifting Women Entrepreneurship’ where participants discussed the range of challenges and solutions for businesswomen in the Arab region, and beyond.

This week, more than 1,000 business leaders, government officials, academics and entrepreneurs, are gathering at the World Entrepreneurs Investment Forum (WEIF 2022) in Dubai.

Under the theme of “connecting minds” towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, or SDGs, they will be brainstorming ways to strengthen global partnerships, and finding new investment opportunities to make the 2030 SDGs a reality.

UN News’s Anshu Sharma is in Dubai, and talked to WEIF’s Executive Director Dr. Hashim Hussein.

Medical needs in Ukraine “are just cascading” – that’s the message from the UN World Health Organization (WHO), which is pushing hard to access people with chronic and emergency needs, in large areas of the war-torn country.

On the line from the eastern Ukrainian city of Dnipro, here’s the agency’s Tarik Jasarevic, speaking to UN News’s Daniel Johnson.