UN Interviews

There are positive signs that the Government-led effort to end the deadly Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has turned the corner, but there’s no room for complacency.

That’s according to the UN’s Emergency Ebola Response Coordinator, David Gressly, who was at UN Headquarters on Wednesday to take part in a ministerial-level meeting to assess the more than year-long effort to end the second-worst outbreak ever.

He spoke to UN News’s Matt Wells.

Young people have been leading the push for action to address climate change, the theme for this year’s celebration of the International Day of Peace, 21 September.

Among their biggest admirers is the world-renowned cellist Yo-Yo Ma, who was at UN Headquarters on Friday for the annual ceremony to commemorate the day.

As a UN Ambassador for Peace, Mr. Ma inspires young people to support the Organization’s efforts to address climate change and other pressing issues such as hunger and HIV/AIDS.

On this year’s Day of Peace, held on September 20, young people from around the world have been invited to take part in a ceremony at UN headquarters in New York, to talk about the ways that they are contributing to peacebuilding.

The events took place the day before the UN Youth Summit, where young leaders will showcase climate solutions, and engage with global leaders on the defining issues of our time.

On Friday, Conor Lennon from UN News went to meet with two of the youth delegates, who have found very different ways to raise awareness of peace and climate change.

The UN’s first Youth Climate Summit takes place in New York this Saturday where participants will include hundreds of young advocates from around the world.

One of them is 23-year-old Marie-Claire Graf from Switzerland, where  her “Sustainability Week” initiative aims to turn universities into sustainable role-models.

In an interview with UN News’s Daniel Johnson in Geneva, Ms. Graf explained how she hoped to encourage others to do the same to tackle the climate “crisis”.

Back in June, Nigeria’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Tijjani Muhammad-Bande, was elected by acclamation to preside over the 74th session of the General Assembly, which begins on Tuesday.

In his first major interview with UN News, Mr. Muhammad-Bande told Cristina Silveiro that poverty eradication, inclusion and quality education would be his top priorities in office.

Calling education “a complex matter”, he spelled out that “whoever is denied an education is denied almost everything”.

We “need more women in power positions”, the outgoing President of the 73rd General Assembly, María Fernanda Espinosa has told UN News, saying that gender parity and women's rights are not only about justice, but “about common sense”.

The President, or PGA – as insiders refer to those in the job – hands the gavel over on Tuesday, and said she wished she had longer to tackle issues that she believes need further development, including “bolder” reform on how the General Assembly operates.

Beyond nourishing us, food can serve as “a great path to follow” to understand the development changes that are needed for a sustainable future.

Global communication, understanding the value of religious freedom, and a solid framework are all key in implementing protection of religious sites.  

South-South Cooperation is “essential, and critical” in reaching the ambitious Sustainable Development Goals agenda come 2030, and the digital world will play an instrumental role.

A dusty, dry and conflict-affected area in the Far North region of Cameroon has been turned into a “land of hope” according to a mentor for people displaced by the activities of terrorists in the West African country.

The small plot of land next to Kourgui town was once a no-go area due to the presence of militia associated with the outlawed Boko Haram group. Now it has been transformed by local and internally displaced people into a productive garden providing food to the community and an income to the participants.