Interviews

In today's rapidly evolving world, characterized by conflicts, climate change, and the advent of new technologies like AI, navigating that can be daunting for anyone. However, for individuals with disabilities, even minor shifts can significantly impact their lives.

Egyptian sociologist Heba Hagrass is the Special Rapporteur – or Human Rights Council-appointed independent human rights expert - on the rights of persons with disabilities.

The war between rival militaries in Sudan doesn’t get the international attention it deserves, UN humanitarians said on Thursday, as they described the terrible human cost of nearly 12 months of conflict across the country.

According to the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) 24 million children in Sudan have been exposed to the conflict which shows no sign of letting up - and a staggering 730,000 are severely acutely malnourished. 

Israel’s planned invasion of Rafah would “break the back of our response” when it comes to preventing the aid crisis in Gaza from getting even worse, said the UN Deputy Special Coordinator in the region on Monday.

The north of Gaza is utterly devastated while “paper-thin” children cling on to life, even when they are in hospital, said the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Spokesperson James Elder, in an interview with UN News on Friday.

He’s been seeing the reality of malnutrition and dehydration up close on a recent mission to Gaza and told Daniel Johnson that the only way to end the desperation is to ensure a regular supply of aid.

Weather and climate indicators were “off the chart” last year according to the latest report by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) but it’s not too late for humankind to live in balance with nature.

That’s according to the Secretary-General of WMO, Celeste Saulo, speaking to UN News ahead of World Meteorological Day on 23 March. 

The entire Gaza Strip now has just 12 partially functioning hospitals where cases of severe acute malnutrition among newborns in northern governorates are likely already “overwhelming” medical teams, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday.

Backing repeated international calls for a ceasefire to allow more desperately needed aid into the enclave, WHO spokesperson Dr Margaret Harris warned that many “horrifically” underweight infants “are now dying”, after nearly six months of conflict. 

The residents of Gaza have faced unimaginable horrors since October. The massive bombardments that pummelled the territory over the last five months have flattened entire neighbourhoods, and when reconstruction eventually begins, the costs are likely to be in the tens of billions.

That reconstruction will be hampered by an unwelcome, deadly, hangover from the conflict: unexploded bombs, missiles, and other types of munitions.

It’s been a full two years since the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine which gave rise to “horrific” abuses and likely war crimes, including systematic torture and rape.

These grave violations are detailed in a new report to the UN Human Rights Council by the Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine which was published on Friday.

Leading the inquiry is independent rights expert and Commission Chair Erik Møse.

The entire agriculture sector of Gaza which was already under strain before the Israeli offensive “collapsed many weeks ago”, especially in the most damaged northern areas of the enclave.

That’s according to AbdelHakim ElWaer, Assistant Director of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) speaking exclusively to UN News, who called for immediate international action to prevent starvation and malnutrition from spreading.

Dr. Rola ElFarra, a physician from Houston, Texas, has family in the Gaza Strip. Some 150 of her relatives have been killed during the Israeli incursion and bombardment of the besieged enclave.

Among a group of Palestinian women who met with the UN Secretary-General last week, Dr. Elfarra shared stories and family photos of some of those killed, over 90 of whom were women and children, at a virtual event, War on #Gaza: Impact on Palestinian Women and Children, held on Wednesday on the margins of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW68).