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Interviews

© UNHCR/Roger Arnold

Millions of people in stateless ‘limbo’, warns UNCHR

People in every region of the world who do not have a nationality face a “day-to-day struggle” in accessing basic human rights such as education, healthcare and work, the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, said on Tuesday.

It’s thought that there are an estimated 12 million stateless people globally, and the UN agency is calling for countries to speed up their efforts to eradicate the problem by 2024, as spokesperson Andrej Mahecic tells UN News’s Daniel Johnson.

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© World Bank/Arne Hoel

Everyone has a role to play in global superbugs crisis

The overuse of antibiotics not just for human and animal health but also in food production is leading to an increased resistance of bacteria, fungi, viruses and parasites to antimicrobial treatments, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

The UN agency says that one person dies every minute from an infection which antibiotics have failed to treat.

Low and middle-income countries have been affected most by what experts have called “superbugs.”

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UN News and Media/Nathan Beriro

UN provides a 'glimmer of hope' for Israel Palestine conflict: Daniel Barenboim

For 19 years, the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra has brought together young musicians from Israel and the Arab world, with the aim of promoting peace through dialogue and mutual understanding.

The Orchestra was founded in 1999 by renowned conductor and pianist Daniel Barenboim, whose work is recognised by the UN, through his role as a Messenger of Peace.

Following a concert at New York’s Carnegie Hall, Maestro Barenboim visited Secretary-General António Guterres at UN HQ on Friday.

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UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe

Conflict zones provide organized crime gangs with billions of illicit profit every year: crime expert

Transnational crime is a growing risk that is posing a major challenge to police forces, including UN Police, and conflict zones provide the opportunity for organized crime to make profits estimated at over $30 billion every year.

During UN Police Week, Conor Lennon from UN News met with Tuesday Reitano, Deputy Director of the Global Initiative Against Transnational Crime, which was set up in 2013 to help the UN, and other multilateral organizations, to improve their strategies for combatting this emerging and dangerous phenomenon.

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UN News/Elizabeth Scaffidi

‘International tensions’ between US-Russia, remain central to UN disarmament efforts

Disarmament affairs are more of a marathon than a sprint, and each year towards the end of October, the UN General Assembly’s First Committee meets to discuss the issue of ridding the world of weapons. 

This year, in an interview with UN News, in-house disarmament guru Michael Spies (UNODA) spelled out the dangerous effect in play of rising “international tensions between the United States and Russia”. 

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© UNICEF/Ashley Gilbertson VII Photo

Racism against people of African descent: ‘not much room for optimism', says UN expert

Some 18 years after the World Conference against Racism in Durban, South Africa, the head of a team of UN-appointed experts sees little room for optimism, when it comes to ending racist incidents against people of African descent.

The team is called the Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent, and its current Chair is professor Michal Balcerzak.

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