First Person

Mike Hess, the founder of the US-based Blind Institute for Technology, is interviewed by Kevin Cassidy, the Director of the ILO Office for the United States.
ILO Photo/John Isaac

First Person: ‘people with disabilities are the greatest untapped resource on the planet’

29 November 2020
Economic Development

Worldwide, persons with disabilities experience higher levels of unemployment and economic inactivity than non-disabled persons. Ahead of International Day of Persons with Disabilities, Mike Hess, US-based entrepreneur and founder of the Blind Institute of Technology, spoke to UN News as part of the International Labour Organization (ILO) photography project "Dignity at Work: The American Experience".

Aeham Ahmed playing piano.
Aeham Ahmad

First Person: Four years on, hopes of return still distant for refugee pianist

22 November 2020
Migrants and Refugees

When UN News first interviewed award-winning Palestinian pianist Aeham Ahmad in 2016, he was a recent arrival in Germany, having fled a Palestinian refugee camp in Syria. Four years on, he wants to return home, but accepts that his chances are slim.

Refugee children show their support for a UN refugee agency anti-trafficking campaign at Wad Sharife camp in east Sudan.
© UNHCR/Osama Idriss

First Person: Fighting human trafficking in Malawi

15 November 2020
Law and Crime Prevention

Maxwell Matewere, a Malawian crime prevention expert with the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), has been active in the anti-human trafficking field for more than two decades. Today, he trains officials throughout Malawi to prevent and combat this crime: this year alone, despite COVID-19 restrictions, his work has led to the rescue of around three hundred human trafficking victims and 31 arrests.  

Volunteers at work in the quarantine facility on the Thai border with Myanmar.
Migrant Monitoring Group (MMG)

First Person: supporting migrants on the COVID-19 frontline in Myanmar

1 November 2020
Women

One of the far-reaching effects of the global lockdown brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic has been the return of migrant workers to their home countries.  The UN is assisting the authorities in Myanmar in facilitating this homeward migration, with a focus on providing for the needs of women.