UN Catch-Up Dateline Geneva

The UN’s rights chief tells us Russian forces have used cluster bombs in built-up areas in Ukraine – and that Ukrainian forces, may have used them too. Meanwhile in Afghanistan, Martin Griffiths tells us millions of ordinary people’s lives are hanging by a thread. In South Sudan, the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, has put the spotlight on the communities who’re using mud and anything else they can find, to keep floodwaters at bay. We’ll hear the latest research on migrant journeys, plus a more positive initiative from the WHO, to beat mosquito-borne sickness.

It’s a month since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, we’ll hear what impact it’s had on the country’s children – more than half of them are now on the move - and the global economy. We’ve also got news of a lean, green and wonderfully healthy farming initiative in Kenya, that’s offering former tobacco growers a much brighter and more prosperous future. And, we find out about a super sustainable development goals book club for young readers – we’ll be talking to 6-year-old Leo Rolf, from Amsterdam, he’s got lots of interesting things to say…

Did you know that food grown in Ukraine feeds 400 million people around the world?

Since Russia invaded its neighbour three weeks ago, Ukrainians need outside help to keep from going hungry, and that’s where the UN World Food Programme comes in, as we’ll hear.

Away from Europe, earlier this week, we heard UN Secretary-General António Guterres implore donors for funds to help Yemen, where two in three people need aid just to survive.

Hello, two weeks since Russia attacked Ukraine, more than 2.3 million people have fled the country - no easy journey of course, but for the trans community whose passports don’t match their identities, escaping the war is proving even harder. Find out why, in this week’s interview with NGO Transgender Europe (TGEU).

We’ll also hear the latest from a refugee shelter in Berlin that’s now helping those fleeing the Ukraine crisis. Stay with us too, to hear about how Shakespeare’s Rosalind fits into the mix, with the show’s co-host, Solange Behoteguy-Cortes.

In this week’s show, as people in Ukraine face a second week of Russian hostilities, we hear how UN humanitarians and rights bodies are doing as much as they can to help, from those aid workers on the ground in Lviv, near the Ukraine- Poland border, to the Human Rights Council, which has been holding an urgent debate on the crisis.

Stay with us for some tough testimony on the impact that the crisis is having on health workers, and also for always-relevant commentary - and a nod to Bertolt Brecht’s “Refugee Conversations” - from Solange Behoteguy-Cortes.