UN chief: Saudi Arabian women’s right to drive “an important first step”

UN officials have welcomed Saudi Arabia’s decision to lift a ban prohibiting women from driving. The announcement was made on Tuesday and will come into effect in July 2018. In New York, Saudi Arabia’s UN ambassador broke the news to the General Assembly during a ceremony marking the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons, observed annually on 26 September.

Make human trafficking “a real priority” urges UN chief

The scourge of human trafficking needs to become “a real priority for international cooperation,” the UN Secretary-General urged on Wednesday. The plea from António Guterres came as the General Assembly adopted a new Political Declaration to fight trafficking in persons, during a high-level meeting in New York. The two-day meeting to appraise the UN Global Plan of Action over the issue, heard moving testimony during the opening session, from a victim of human trafficking who said survivors needed to hear the UN was on their side. Matt Wells has the story.

UAE focusing on making young people “positive agents” for development

Young people could be the “disruptive solution” needed to tackle the global challenge of violent extremism. That’s the view of the Youth Minister in the United Arab Emirates, Shamma Suhail Faris Al Mazrui. Appointed last year when she was just 22, she’s believed to be the youngest government minister in the world. Ms Mazrui was in New York this month for the start of the latest session of the UN General Assembly. She spoke to Basma Baghal about UAE initiatives geared towards youth, who now top more than one billion globally.

Presenter: Dianne Penn

Duration: 10'00″