Interviews

Without $1.6 billion in funding for essential services and humanitarian aid to help Palestinian refugees this year, they could hit rock bottom, the head of the UN Relief and Works Agency – or UNRWA – said on Tuesday.

In an interview with UN News’s Daniel Johnson, UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini explains where the needs are most acute, and why the agency is an “indispensable” stabilizing force in the Middle East.

Disturbing new data released on Tuesday from the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has highlighted concerns that most human trafficking victims who manage to escape, do so without the help of law enforcement. 

The worry is that the COVID pandemic has forced governments to divert resources away from law enforcement activities that include tracking smuggling rings and locating victims.  

Sexual exploitation and abuse of vulnerable communities have “absolutely no place” in the United Nations and more needs to be done to help victims raise the alarm. 

That’s the message from the top UN official tasked with eradicating sexual and gender-based violence, Christian Saunders. 

In an exclusive interview, Mr. Saunders explains how he wants all peacekeepers, humanitarian and development workers to understand, respect and implement the Organization’s zero-tolerance stance on sexual and gender-based abuse. 

The prospects of a political agreement between the Sudanese military and civilian groups, including civil society organizations, has moved a step closer, with the launch of the final phase of the Framework Agreement in Sudan, a process brokered by the UN and partners.

May Yaacoub from UN News spoke to Volker Perthes, the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General to Sudan, about the progress so far, and the efforts being made to ensure that different sectors of society, including youth and women, are represented.

The rapid 10 degree Celsius rise in temperature across large parts of Europe before Christmas was “brutal” but it could be the shape of things to come, the UN Meteorological Organization WMO, said on Friday. 

In an interview with UN News’s Daniel Johnson, Cyrille Honoré, head of the UN agency’s Disaster Risk Reduction and Public Services Branch, explains the science behind unusual weather patterns in Europe and elsewhere.