UN News

The challenges of day-to-day life in a refugee camp have inspired two young singers in South Sudan to write a song about their experiences.

The songsmiths, who go by the names of “Tony Gway 4” and “Ugly Facil,” are now in their early 20s, but they grew up as teenagers in the Kakuma refugee camp, in Kenya.

With no end in sight to the civil war that’s forced around two million to leave the country since 2013, the young men want to draw attention to the plight of those living in camps today.

South Sudanese citizens who have been displaced to UN protection camps as a result of conflict say they feel safer when those camps are searched for weapons and other prohibited items.

When the search is conducted by women, there’s a higher sense of trust, confidence and security.

That’s according to Cynthia Anderson, an officer from Ghana who is serving in the UN Police force, UNPOL, in South Sudan.

The UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR) released a report on Friday of “absolutely horrific” accounts of killings and human rights violations against villagers in the Kasai region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The report was based on interviews with nearly 100 refugees from the volatile region who have fled to neighbouring Angola.

Better understanding is needed of the UN’s role championing children caught up in armed conflict, and the work that the world body does to stop armed groups recruiting child soldiers.

That’s according to Virginia Gamba, who took up her post as Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict just a few weeks ago.

Engagement of regional countries “good thing” for South Sudan peace process

This week we're bringing you a special programme to celebrate World Breastfeeding Week, which runs until 7 August.

Breastfeeding protects both babies and their mothers from an array of diseases and helps boost their health long-term.

But despite the benefits of breastfeeding for babies and mothers, no country in the world fully meets recommended standards for the practice.

Denying terrorists access to weapons “goes to the heart” of the UN chief’s efforts “to make prevention the core mission” of the world body.

That’s according to the officer in charge of the new UN Office of Counter-Terrorism, briefing the Security Council on Wednesday.

Matt Wells reports.

Duration: 3'06"

The engagement of countries in eastern Africa in a process aimed at revitalizing the peace process and bringing an end to conflict in South Sudan is a “good thing” the head of global UN peacekeeping operations has said.

Jean-Pierre Lacroix, who is the UN Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, was speaking on Wednesday in the South Sudanese capital, Juba, following a meeting with the country’s President Salva Kiir.

Daniel Dickinson reports from Juba.

Duration: 2'47"

Many Somalis commonly called “crazy” are actually suffering from mental illness, often brought on by years of conflict and loss.

That’s one of the lessons learned at a recent UN workshop for mental health professionals in Baidoa, the capital of Somalia’s South West state, organized by the UN Assistance Mission in the country, UNSOM.

The government of the Philippines needs to take “urgent action” to address a “spiralling” series of human rights violations, including the summary execution of children.

That’s the conclusion of a group of independent UN rights experts, who have issued a joint call to action, in order to protect “many groups” in society threatened by the hard-line government of President Rodrigo Duterte.