Ceasefire urgently needed in South Sudan, says UN special envoy

Ending the hostilities in South Sudan should be the global community’s “number one priority”, David Shearer, the UN Special Envoy to the country said, just ahead of briefing the Security Council. South Sudan’s neighbours should also be “in lockstep” when it comes to pressuring the various parties to the conflict to resume negotiations, he added. Africa’s newest nation has been in the grip of a three-year brutal civil war, while also grappling with a man-made famine; the result of years of ongoing conflict and economic collapse. Mr Shearer sat down with Jocelyne Sambira.

Malaria jab "could save tens of thousands of lives"

Children in Ghana, Kenya and Malawi are set to receive the world's first malaria vaccine, UN health experts have announced. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) around 430,000 people died of the illness in 2015, the majority of them African youngsters. The new jab will be given to children from mid-2018, as WHO Senior Technical Officer Mary Hamel explains to Daniel Johnson, ahead of World Malaria Day.

Putting a smile on the face of war-torn Sudan

South Sudan has not had much to laugh about over the last three and a half years of brutal conflict, but the UN mission, UNMISS, has been making an effort to put some smiles back onto the faces of people in the war-torn country. The Comedy for Peace event in the capital Juba, brought together hundreds of people to be entertained by the young nation's best comedians. As Daniel Dickinson found out, the laughter also came with a very serious message.

Presenter: Matthew Wells

Production Assistant: Sandra Guy

Duration: 10’00″