Report

Sugar cane and soybean plantations have replaced hectare after hectare of jungle as the Amazon has been exploited in the name of agriculture, with little regard for the environmental impacts. Photo: UNEP GRID Arendal/Riccardo Pravettoni
UNEP GRID Arendal/Riccardo Pravettoni

Most agricultural funding distorts prices, harms environment: UN report 

14 September 2021
Climate and Environment

Around 87% of the $540 billion in total annual government support given worldwide to agricultural producers includes measures that are price distorting and that can be harmful to nature and health.  

Freight ship off the Democratic Republic of São Tomé and Príncipe.
UNCTAD/Jan Hoffmann

News in Brief 21 January 2019

21 January 2019
News in Brief
  • UN official says trade report shows eradication of poverty “unlikely”
  • Urgent need for disarmament in current climate
  • UN agency dispels refugees disease-spreading myth
Audio -
3'5"
A resident sits outside a community center and cafe Molti Volti, in the Ballaro district of Palermo, Sicily, Italy. 26 April 2017.
© UNICEF/Ashley Gilbertson VII Photo

Racism against people of African descent: ‘not much room for optimism', says UN expert

1 November 2018
Interviews

Some 18 years after the World Conference against Racism in Durban, South Africa, Michal Balcerzak, the head of the Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent sees little room for optimism, when it comes to ending racist incidents against people of African descent.  Professor Balcerzak spoke with UN News's Conor Lennon  on the occasion of his visit to UN Headquarters in New York – where he was reporting to the General Assembly on the Group’s latest findings.

Audio -
6'46"
James Zhan, Director, Division on Investment and Enterprise at the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).
UN Geneva/Daniel Johnson

Overseas investment down globally, warns UN trade and development agency UNCTAD

15 October 2018
Interviews

According to a new report by UNCTAD, Foreign direct investment (FDI) has fallen more than 40 per cent in the first half of 2018, compared with the same period last year, with developing economies escaping the worst of the downturn.  Overall, the global financial picture is “gloomy”, James Zhan, UNCTAD Director of Investment and Enterprise, told Daniel Johnson in Geneva.

Audio -
10'40"
Karen Koning Abuzayd (right), member of the Independent Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic, speaking to UN News's Daniel Johnson (left) on 12 September 2018, at the United Nations Office at Geneva.
UN Geneva/Michelle Kusuma

Governments must re-think their role in Syria conflict: UN rights investigator

12 September 2018
Interviews

In an interview with UN News’s Daniel Johnson, UN Commission of Inquiry investigator Karen Abuzayd  describes the main findings of the panel’s latest report, which highlights that war crimes have likely been committed by all sides, in the more than seven-year war.

Audio -
4'29"
Cindy Holleman, Senior Economist at the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
Video screen capture

Latest world hunger report an ‘alarming signal’ says senior UN economist

11 September 2018
Interviews

More people were hungry in 2017 than at any time over the previous decade, according to the latest edition of the annual flagship UN report State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World.  Cindy Holleman, a senior economist with the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and one of the lead authors of the study, spoke to UN News’ Yasmina Guerda about the key findings of the report.

Audio -
7'28"
Françoise Hampson, Member of the UN Commission of Inquiry on Burundi, briefs the press at Palais des Nations. 5 September 2018.
UN Photo/Violaine Martin

People of Burundi are living in fear, says rights investigator

7 September 2018
Interviews

One third of Burundi’s population is in need of humanitarian assistance amid ongoing and dire human rights violations there including summary executions according to Francoise Hampson, member of the UN Commission of Inquiry. Ms. Hampson spoke to UN News's Daniel Johnson after the publication of the panel’s latest report into the Great Lakes country.

Audio -
5'35"
Human Rights Committee member José Manuel Santos Pais speaking to journalists in Geneva at the end of the UN panel’s current session. 26 July 2018.
UN Geneva/Daniel Johnson

Mass deportation from Algeria of migrants highlighted by UN human rights panel

26 July 2018
Interviews

Algeria’s reluctance to address its violent past has meant that it has “stepped back” on basic human rights, the UN Human Rights Committee said on Thursday, in Geneva.   José Manuel Santos Pais, member of the Human Rights Committee, spoke to UN News on the committee's report on Algeria.

Audio -
6'13"
Left to right: Nicole Tsague, activist with AIDES; Yves Yomb, Global Alliance of Communities for Health and Rights; UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibé; Stéphanie Seydoux, French Ambassador-at-large for global health; Aurélien Beaucamp, President of AIDES and Revanta Dharmarajah, Coalition PLUS Administrator, at the launch of the 'Miles to go—closing gaps, breaking barriers, righting injustices' report in Paris, France.
UNAIDS/Laurence Geai

‘Prevention crisis’ is hampering global HIV response, warns head of UNAIDS

18 July 2018
Health

Complacency over HIV and AIDS has created a “prevention crisis” that risks destabilizing efforts to reach the key 2020 target of fewer than 500,000 new HIV infections per year, the head of the UN agency in charge of fighting the pandemic warned on Wednesday.

Eva Müller, Director of FAO’s Forestry Policy and Resources Division.
FAO/Roberto Cenciarelli

Forests: A ‘safety net’ for poor rural people, says UN agriculture official

6 July 2018
Interviews

One-in-five people around the world count on forest products for food, income and nutritional diversity – generating more than $88 billion in income, according FAO’s State of the World’s Forests 2018, launched on Friday.

Audio -
6'48"