First Person

MINUSCA

First Person: An on-air antidote to misinformation in the Central African Republic

12 June 2021
Peace and Security

The citizens of the Central African Republic (CAR) have endured decades of war and conflict. Merveille Yayoro, a young reporter at Guira-FM, the radio station run by the UN peacekeeping mission in the country (MINUSCA), says that she wants her work to provide an antidote to hate speech and misinformation, and help bring about a lasting peace.

Delight Uganda Limited

First Person: Raising a glass to ‘Mama Cheers’

5 June 2021
Economic Development

A Ugandan woman entrepreneur who was left with just a wheelbarrow and a red dress, when a business partner ran off with all her money has been recognized with an award by the UN trade agency (UNCTAD) after she grew her company into a nationwide enterprise with five million customers.

UNDP Nigeria

First Person: Learning a recipe for freedom in Nigeria

31 May 2021
Women

When Nigerian Blessing Ojukwu became pregnant after she was raped, her family disowned her. She was forced to live with her abuser, who continued to attack her. Now, a UN-backed initiative is giving her, and others in similar situations, a chance to become financially independent, and start new lives. 

Angharad Barlow

First Person: The ‘Human Swan’ inspiring climate action

30 May 2021
Climate and Environment

Australian biologist Sacha Dench has been nicknamed “the Human Swan”, in recognition of her record-breaking, 7,000 kilometre, paramotor (motorized paraglider) flight, tracking Bewick swans across 11 countries, from Arctic Russian to the UK. Ahead of International Day for Biological Diversity, Ms. Dench explains why a drastic shift is needed in the global economy, to save endangered wildlife.

Crown copyright 2021

First Person: British UN peacekeeper stays on ‘A-game’ to keep Malians safe

23 May 2021
Peace and Security

A young soldier from the United Kingdom says he must stay on his “A-game” on patrol with the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Mali, to keep himself, colleagues and Malians safe in one of the most dangerous UN postings anywhere in the world. 

Hazel Plunkett

First Person: Gardening is ‘political’ says Irish celebrity horticulturist

16 May 2021
Climate and Environment

For Diarmuid Gavin, a renowned Irish gardener and TV personality, horticulture has a role to play in all contemporary affairs, from the Black Lives Matter Movement to the ongoing pandemic, because “everything is connected, and everything is political”.

UNICEF/Ruhani Kaur

First Person: Panic as COVID-19 ‘tsunami’ hits India

29 April 2021
Health

A UN staff member in India has described the huge upsurge in COVID-19 infections in her country in recent days as a “tsunami”, and has spoken of the “panic” she felt, as her immediate family became infected with the virus.

IOM/Mashrif Abdullah Al

First Person: Rohingya refugees traumatized again, after devastating camp fire

25 April 2021
Human Rights

A Rohingya refugee and volunteer for the International Organization for Migration (IOM), has been telling UN News how his community has been “once again traumatized” as a result of a massive fire which swept through the Cox’s Bazar refugee camp in Bangladesh in March, killing at least 11 people and making more than 45,000 homeless.

© Rakotondrazafy A. M. Ny Aina

First Person: ‘Youth won’t stay silent’ says Madagascar climate activist

22 April 2021
Climate and Environment

Young people around the world “won’t stay silent” about the global climate crisis according to a youth activist from Madagascar. 

UNMAS

First Person: The Afghan woman putting her life at risk to rid her home of mines

4 April 2021
Peace and Security

Thanks to the bravery and hard work of deminers such as Fezeh Rezaye, the Afghan province of Bamyan has been declared free from mines. On International Mine Awareness Day, she shares her story.