UN Interviews

As repatriation efforts for Burundian refugees from Tanzania accelerate, concerns are growing over reports of coercive measures, shelter demolitions and mistreatment during the return process, amid warnings that some refugees may still need international protection. Bahia Egeh, External Relations Officer with the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, stressed that returns under the tripartite agreement with B...

As artificial intelligence reshapes global agriculture, questions remain about who truly benefits from this technological shift. In this interview with Anshu Sharma from UN News, Brenda Gunde, Global Lead for ICT4D (Information Communication Technology for Development) at the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), explains how emerging digital tools can support smallholder farmers...

According to the World Bank, the real AI revolution in developing countries isn’t coming from flashy mega‑models, but from small, low‑cost tools that solve local problems. Mahesh Uttamchandani, the organisation’s Regional Practice Director for Digital and AI inEast Asia and Pacific and South Asia, sat down with Anshu Sharma from UN News during the India AI Impact Summit, and explained that these s...

As the India AI Impact Summit, the first of its kind in the Global South, enters its final days, UN News has been talking to some of the senior UN officials who have made the trip to New Delhi. One of them is Volker Türk, the High Commissioner for Human Rights, who has been meeting with world leaders and the heads of technology companies. When he sat down with our colleague Anshu Sharma, Mr....

In Sudan, the conflict between the national army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has plunged the country into widespread bloodshed and humanitarian catastrophe.  The devastating civil war began in April 2023 and is expanding beyond the western Darfur region into central Kordofan, taking its toll on civilians and particularly the most vulnerable, including children. Eva Hinds,...

India’s AI Impact Summit – the first of its kind in the Global South – is underway in New Delhi, and the United Nations has a significant presence at the event, with over 30 side events planned over the week. The main message from the UN is that access to, and development of, AI tools ne eds to be democratised beyond the handful of major economies that are currently driving the technology. Amandee...

Since the declaration of a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip on 10 October 2025, the United Nations’ main concern has been — and remains — the urgent scaling up of humanitarian aid. And while the long-awaited reopening of the Rafah crossing at the start of this month raised hopes, it has also been marked by delays and reports of mistreatment of Palestinians, according to aid organizations, with no...

Politics used to be a battle over competing ideas, but now it’s become a very real fight “between identities”: that’s according to Valentina Grippo, an Italian Member of Parliament and delegate to the UN-affiliated Inter-Parliamentary Union, or IPU, which met at UN Headquarters this week in New York.   A majority of MPs worldwide are facing threats and abuse from voters, according to a n...

As wars drag on across continents and conflicts grow more complex, children continue to bear the heaviest and most heartbreaking cost. Marking 30 years since the United Nations first established its mandate to protect children caught in war, Vanessa Frazier, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, is sounding the alarm, and calling for renewed global co...

As Holocaust remembrance increasingly moves into digital spaces shaped by artificial intelligence, virtual worlds and interactive media, experts are calling for stronger global coordination to ensure ethical, sustainable and responsible memory work. Speaking at UN Headquarters around International Holocaust Remembrance Day, Professor Victoria Grace Richardson-Walden stressed that no single institu...

The head of the police component of the UN peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO), Mamouma Ouédraogo – appointed late last year – was at UN Headquarters in the past few days, taking part in the Police Week. The gathering reunites senior police officers from peacekeeping operations and staffers from the UN’s special political missions.  In an interview with UN N...

Ukraine is facing one of its most severe winters since the war began, with attacks on critical infrastructure leaving hundreds of thousands of families without heating or electricity as temperatures fall below minus 20 degrees Celsius. Speaking to UN News, UNICEF’s Chief of Field Operations in Ukraine, Kenan Madi, warned that children continue to bear the brunt of the crisis, particularly in major...

Catherine Mootian was just twelve years old when she underwent female genital mutilation (FGM), a moment that changed her life forever. Growing up in Kenya’s Maasai community, she was told the cut marked her transition into womanhood. But years later, that painful experience became the driving force behind her mission to protect other girls from the same fate. Today, Ms. Mootian is the founder and...

The UN peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, MONUSCO, says it is ready to support a ceasefire between the Congolese authorities and the M23 armed group, following an announcement by Qatar that it will deploy a first monitoring team under the Doha peace initiative. M23, also known as the March 23 Movement, is an armed group operating in eastern DRC that has seized key towns,...

As the UN system continues to grapple with financial constraints, international police officers serving at peacekeeping missions are responding to the challenge. The UN Police Division is making plans to deploy smaller specialised teams in some field settings, where necessary, who will still “achieve more” despite their reduced numbers.  That’s according to UN Police Adviser Faisal Shahkar, w...

Kenya’s national action plan to eliminate cervical cancer by 2030 offers renewed hope for girls and women in rural communities, where access to prevention and care has often been limited.  Aligned with World Health Organization (WHO)’s targets, the plan focuses on free vaccines to prevent human papillomavirus (HPV) infection – which can lead to various cancers including cervical cancer –...

The World Health Organization (WHO) says that improving the nutritional quality of food served in schools can help children develop healthier eating habits for life. Last week, the UN health agency released its first-ever global, evidence-based guidelines outlining policies and practical interventions to help schools provide healthier food and drink options. Katrin Engelhardt, a scientist at WHO w...

With young people under 30 making up more than half the global population - and over 272 million children and youth still out of school – their participation in education reform is becoming increasingly vital.  Yet stark inequalities remain – in the poorest countries, 36 per cent of children and youth are out of school compared to just 3 per cent in the richest. Ahead of the UN International...

The Acting Head of the UN peacekeeping force in the disputed territory of Abyei ( UNISFA ), Major General Robert Yaw Affram, has underscored the fragile security situation in the disputed Abyei region bordering Sudan and South Sudan, describing it as “volatile” and lacking State institutions, while stressing the stabilising role played by UN peacekeepers. Speaking to UN News’s Khaled Mohamed,...

A new UN report on global climate finance highlights a stark mismatch: trillions of dollars support activities that harm nature, while only a small share goes to initiatives that protect and restore it.  The study argues that investing in nature makes strong economic sense, given the mounting risks of a rapidly warming planet. In Brazil, one promising example is the rise of UN Environment Pro...

During his three-and-a-half-year tenure leading the UN peacekeeping mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), Force Commander Lieutenant General Mohan Subramanian has overseen efforts that have helped save an estimated 162,000 lives. The mission tackles a wide range of issues – from armed insurgency and the impacts of climate change, to economic insecurity and other pressing humanitarian concerns. While ch...

On Holocaust Remembrance Day , the UN in New York marked a historic first, with the presentation of testimony from a Ukrainian Roma researcher and advocate during the annual commemoration. Nataliia Tomenko is a youth advocate and expert on Romani history, and Deputy Director of Ukraine’s Youth Agency for the Advocacy of Roma Culture. She presented a video account by her grandmother, Halyna Tomenko...

Predictions that artificial intelligence will largely replace teachers in classrooms are proving to be overstated, according to the UN education agency, UNESCO. In fact, UNESCO estimates that an additional 44 million teachers will be needed worldwide by 2030. That does not mean the agency dismisses the potential of AI. On the contrary, it says the advanced technology could help transform education...

After more than a decade of war, Syria is witnessing significant refugee and internal displacement returns – even as renewed hostilities in parts of the country force others to flee once again. Nearly 1.4 million refugees have returned from neighbouring countries since the fall of the Assad regime in December 2024. Almost two million internally displaced Syrians have also headed home to their plac...

The severity of online child abuse has prompted the UN and partners from the private sector, civil society and government, to commit to working together to ensure AI-tools benefit children, rather than endangering them. A joint statement was released earlier this week by the UN’s International Telecommunications Union (ITU), children’s agency, UNICEF, and offices across the UN system involved in s...