Episodes
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From Afghanistan to Ukraine, the survivors of some of the world’s worst conflicts live in fear of landmines killing them or their children.
The UN Mine Action Service (UNMAS) coordinates the Organization’s work to rid the world of mines, explosive remnants of war and improvised explosive devices.
Ahead of Mine Action Week beginning 19 June, which brings major demining stakeholders to Geneva, UNMAS Director of Policy Abigail Hartley sat down with UN News’s Dominika Tomaszewska-Mortimer to express sadness at the deaths last week of 27 civilians – most of them minors – killed by unexploded ordnance in the Lower Shabelle region of Somalia.
The UN mine action service veteran also shared her optimism that Ukraine will one day be mine-free, too.
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Sudan’s Darfur spiralling into ‘humanitarian calamity’: UN aid chief Ukraine: hundreds of thousands affected by water shortages from Kakhovka Dam disaster Mediterranean migrant shipwreck: swift action needed to prevent further loss of life
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Episodes manquant?
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On today’s episode of The Lid Is On, Conor Lennon speaks to three exceptional young changemakers who have been recognized by the UN for the contributions they are making to a more sustainable world.
Vee Kativhu is an award-winning education activist from Zimbabwe, American Paralympian Jamal Hill launched a foundation to cut the number of people who drown each year, and Karen Wang, from China, is the founder of a startup which provides carbon accounting software to help institutions meet their net zero goals.
This episode was recorded as an SDG Media Zone session, during the ECOSOC Youth Forum, which took place in April at UN Headquarters.
Music: Within the Earth, Ketsa
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Nobody yet knows what the full long-term effects of taking cannabis are and legalizing it for recreational use runs the risk of trivializing the dangers for teen consumers, the President of the UN-administered international narcotics watchdog has warned.
In an interview with UN News, Professor Jallal Toufiq also raised the alarm over the continuing proliferation of synthetic opioids on the black market, describing it as the International Narcotics Board’s number one issue - stating the INCB was doing all it can to tackle the scourge.
Khaled Mohamed of our Arabic news service, began by asking him to sum up the impact of cannabis on public health, and the push to legalize it recreationally.
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People living with Down syndrome and other disabilities need a place at the table, according to a Canadian activist participating at a key UN event focused on their rights.
Inclusion is one of the key issues at the Conference of States Parties to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which is taking place at UN Headquarters in New York.
Eileen Travers sat down with Nicholas Herd and his colleague Warren Pot, from L’Arche Canada, part of an international non-profit organization striving towards the inclusion of people with intellectual disabilities.
She began by asking Mr. Herd why he came to the United Nations.
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UN chief calls for solidarity with people of Syria, with no time to spare
Sudan: Displaced people victims of Darfur violence
UN rights chief hails European AI regulation push
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Mine Action Week takes place from 19 to 23 June in Geneva; it’s an opportunity to highlight how the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) works with partners to eliminate the menace posed by these explosive devices in more than 30 countries – including Ukraine.
To find out more about the challenge of clearing mines, explosive remnants of war and improvised explosive devices, UN News’s Nathalie Minard sat down with Hansjörg Eberle, head of the Swiss demining NGO, FSD.
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Number of people forced to flee their homes at a record high: UNHCR
DRC: Security Council, UN officials condemn ‘horrific’ attack on displaced people’s camp
Cyclone Biparjoy approaches India and Pakistan coast: WMO
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In its new flagship report published on Wednesday the UN refugee agency UNHCR reveals that the 46 least developed countries are hosting more than 20 per cent of the refugee population – even though they account for only 1.3 per cent of GDP.
That’s one of the important data points contained in Global Trends in Forced Displacement 2022, which shows a record level of displacement, for the second year running, now standing at 108.4 million, UNHCR Director in New York, Ruven Menikdiwela told us.
UN News’s Pauline Batista began by asking her to outline the key findings.
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Kakhovka dam disaster a health crisis in the making: WHOMyanmar must re-instate aid access to communities hit by Cyclone Mocha, UN saysSenegal: stop crackdown on protests and freedom of expression: OHCHR
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The environmental and economic consequences of the dam disaster that’s inundated parts of southern Ukraine, flooding what is one of the world’s breadbaskets, is going to an awful shock to the people of the country and the entire ‘Global South’, the UN relief chief has told UN News.
In an interview on Friday night, Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths, said the world stands by Ukraine in the wake of this latest disaster stemming from the Russian invasion, but with agricultural land swamped, food security is bound to be hit.
Nargiz Shekinskaya began by asking him in the wake of initial criticism from President Volodomyr Zelenskyy, if the UN could have acted sooner with aid, once disaster struck.
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One in every 10 children worldwide works instead of going to school: ILOUkraine Kakhovka dam humanitarian effort reaches 180,000 people despite inclement weatherUnited States decides to rejoin UN cultural agency
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Young people must have a voice in global efforts to combat climate change – not because of their youth, but because they are important stakeholders who offer solutions to the crisis.
That’s the opinion of Ayisha Siddiqa, a Pakistani-American environmental and human rights defender, who is a member of the UN Secretary-General’s Youth Advisory Group on Climate Change.
Ms. Siddiqa spoke to Nadeem Saeed of UN News’s Urdu Unit, about how her background informs her work to accelerate the “SG’s” climate agenda.
She also shared her honest take on UN climate conferences, known as COPs, and explains why poetry “can be a mechanism of quiet protest” in the face of the climate emergency.
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Ukraine flooding devastation: huge immediate needs; long-term impacts loomSudan: UN rights office deplores killing of civilians, sexual violenceArrests and hate speech target Baha’i minority in Yemen
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The UN Young Leaders for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are an inspiring group of young people from across the world, achieving great things in areas as diverse as gender equality, climate action, and health equity.
The current cohort were all in New York in April for the 2023 UN Youth Forum, an annual gathering where youthful changemakers can voice their opinions, contribute to policy discussions at the UN, and put forward innovative solutions to the challenges the world faces.
Conor Lennon caught up with three of the Leaders during the event: Sudanese women’s rights advocate Mayada Adil, Paul Ndhlovu, a voice for young people living with HIV/AIDS in Zimbabwe, and Gibson Kawago, a social entrepreneur bringing clean energy to rural communities in Tanzania.
Music: Within the Earth, Ketsa
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The flooding stemming from the Ukraine dam disaster near Kherson poses a grave risk to families, and threatens safe water and power supplies, said the UN Children’s Fund’s (UNICEF) communications chief in the country.
Damian Rance said around 1,700 people have had to evacuate from flooded homes in the major southern city, and one of most direct threats is a doubling or even tripling of the threat posed by landmines, being swept away to new locations.
Oleksandra Burynska began by asking him what the latest was on the ground in the disaster area:
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With new and emerging technologies, we hear a lot about killer drones, driverless tanks and autonomous airplanes on the modern battlefield.
One issue of particular concern is the use of what are officially known as lethal autonomous weapons systems (LAWS), which can select and engage targets with force, without human involvement - raising a raft of security, ethical and legal concerns.
What are countries doing to regulate LAWS? And how can international law and the UN respond to this challenge?
To explore these and other questions, the Group of Governmental Experts on LAWS began meeting at the UN in 2017, as Mélanie Régimbal, Chief of the UN Office for Disarmament Affairs in Geneva, explains to UN News’s Nancy Sarkis.
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The ocean is key to food security as the main source of protein for more than a billion people. Some 600 million worldwide depend on fisheries and aquaculture for their livelihoods.
As hunger continues to spread around the world, urgent efforts are needed to safeguard the ocean and ensure that it continues to provide food for a growing global population, in a sustainable way.
Ahead of Thursday’s World Oceans Day, Manuel Barange, Director of the Food and Aquaculture Division of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), has been talking to FAO’s Michele Zaccheo about the promise of aquaculture, or farming in water, and how the ocean is an essential part of the solution to the interlinked issues of poverty, malnutrition, food security and climate change.
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Ukraine: increasing food security threats from Kakhovka dam disasterBangladesh must suspend plans to return Rohingya refugees to Myanmar: top rights expertHaiti: Gang violence displaced 165,000 people: IOM
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Ukraine: Lack of clean water, spread of disease major risks in Kakhovka dam disaster: IOMSudan: Close to two million displaced peopleOcean crucial to food security: FAO
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