UN Interviews

Recognizing the complexity of responsible medicine use is needed to help reduce the emergence of antibiotic resistance.

That’s the cautionary advice of Dr Juan Lubroth, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization's (FAO) Chief Veterinary Officer.

Dangerously high levels of antibiotic resistance around the world has sparked concern over the ability to treat infectious diseases, and FAO and its partners are calling for responsible use of these medicines in both humans and animals.

As the exodus of Rohingya Muslims continues from Myanmar to Bangladesh, UN Children’s Fund UNICEF has highlighted the plight of some of the most vulnerable: heavily pregnant women, whose babies are born in desperate conditions.

One of them is 30-year-old Mubina Khatun.

Her daughter - who’s nine days old - was born at the border in Myanmar, while her family waited for a chance to cross the Naf River into Bangladesh, as UNICEF spokesperson Christophe Boulierac told Daniel Johnson.

Duration: 4'04"

Ensuring that the poor, excluded and marginalized are included in climate talks is one way women leaders can guarantee these discussions are inclusive.

That’s the opinion of the deputy director of UN-Habitat, the UN agency that’s leading the push for adequate housing for all.

Dr Aisa Kirabo Kacyira is in Bonn this week for the latest global conference on climate change, known as COP23.

Human rights in Belarus are not improving, but rather “going from worse to worse.”

That’s the view of Miklos Harazti, Special Rapporteur on human rights in Belarus, who has been accused by the government there of ignoring positive developments and barred from entering the country.

Belarusian officials continue to prosecute activists and critical journalists, and enact laws restricting freedom of expression.

Mr Harazti told Elena Vapnitchnaia about the repression he witnessed through his reporting on Belarus.

Duration: 4’24”

Statelessness, rising intolerance and hate-speech are some of the key challenges faced by many religious and other vulnerable minorities around the world.

That’s according to Fernand de Varennes, Special Rapporteur on Minority Issues, who underlines the importance of recognizing the human rights of communities at risk.

Most major corruption cases that occur around the world, cut across national borders.

That’s according to the Dean and Executive Secretary for the International Anti-Corruption Academy (IACA), Martin Kreutner, who addressed the issue at a conference hosted by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNDOC) in Vienna last week.

He told delegates at the world’s largest anti-corruption event, that in order to fight the scourge, there had to be a focus on prevention, education and international cooperation.

It is “extremely critical” that major “gaps” in equipment and staff needed to maintain UN peacekeeping operations are filled “in the shortest possible time”.

That’s according to Atul Khare, Under-Secretary-General for Field Support, which administers a budget of more than $7 billion to sustain 35 peacekeeping and other UN field missions around the world.

In Iraq, investigating the numerous and unique cases of sexual violence has been a “very difficult” experience.

That’s according to Rabiaa, former investigator for UN Women missions in Iraq and Syria on sexual violence in conflict-related areas.

Her hope is that the database of collected cases she helped form, will be useful for studying and preventing this “world problem,” that extends beyond conflict zones.

Rabiaa talked to Agnese Pastorino about the strategies and findings of her research.

The number of South Sudanese forced to flee their country could approach the three million mark by the end of next year, unless brutal civil conflict stops.

That’s the stark assessment of Arnauld Akodjenou, the UN Regional Refugee Coordinator for South Sudan, with Refugee Agency UNHCR.

So far, he has been to four of the six countries which are hosting South Sudanese refugees, including northern Uganda, which has taken in more than a million.

Islam’s mandatory system of charitable giving, known as Zakat, could unlock billions of dollars needed for the world to reach the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.

That’s the hope that lies at the heart of a new innovative collaboration between the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and Indonesia’s National Board of Zakat, known as Baznas.