Esta es una edición especial de Incidencia dedicada por completo a la participación de la joven Elisabet Hernández Rodríguez como  delegada y oradora de Cuba en la 18 Cumbre de Jóvenes por los Derechos Humanos Internacional celebrada en la ONU entre el 18 y el 20 de julio de 2024. Elisabet viajó desde La Habana y aprovechó muy bien la oportunidad para levantar bien alto la voz por Cuba.

INCIDENCIA - 13

Welcome to UNFICYP’s monthly podcast out loud. 

This month, we celebrate the role of Cypriot youth in pushing forward innovation and collaboration towards achieving sustainable development for all.

Tune in to this edition and listen to a conversation with two inspiring young Cypriots, Güzide Sofi and Rafail Dimitriou, talk about how they are engaging with youth through digital and traditional platforms. 

They both helped organize the third Local Conference of Youth on the island. This year, the group took a bold step, shifting their focus from policy discussions to hands-on advocacy and together, are crafting plans to drive change on a local and regional level.

Youth Day 2024

In this fifth episode of Nerd-Out Youth, Peace and Security (in French!), host Katrina Leclerc sits down with Benjamin Kuma from the DRC Coalition on Youth, Peace and Security. Together, they explore the dynamics of the YPS agenda in the Democratic Republic of Congo, discussing the Coalition’s current priorities amidst geopolitical changes, including the withdrawal of MONUSCO. Benjamin shares inspiring insights into youth-led peacebuilding efforts, national-level consultations, and innovative initiatives shaping the future of peace and security in the country. Don’t miss this engaging conversation on the critical role of Congolese youth in building a more just and peaceful future.

Épisode spéciale en français : Dans ce cinquième épisode de Nerd-Out Youth, Peace and Security, l’animatrice Katrina Leclerc reçoit Benjamin Kuma de la Coalition RDC pour la Jeunesse, la Paix et la Sécurité. Ensemble, ils explorent les dynamiques de l’agenda JPS en République démocratique du Congo, en discutant des priorités actuelles de la Coalition dans le contexte des changements géopolitiques, y compris le retrait de la MONUSCO. Benjamin partage des perspectives inspirantes sur les efforts de consolidation de la paix menés par les jeunes, les consultations nationales et les initiatives novatrices qui façonnent l’avenir de la paix et de la sécurité dans le pays. Ne manquez pas cette conversation enrichissante sur le rôle crucial des jeunes Congolais dans la construction d’un avenir plus juste et pacifique.

Episode 5: Nerd-Out Youth, Peace & Security ft. DRC Coalition (en français)

Every four/five years, each UN Member State undergoes a review of its human rights record, known as the Universal Periodic Review (UPR). In 2024, it was the turn of Aotearoa New Zealand to report on its progress and receive recommendations. On this show, recorded in collaboration with Plains FM's ACTivate, Lisa Woods (Movement Building and Advocacy Director at Amnesty International New Zealand) discusses some of the issues raised in the UPR.  

2024-11-20 New Zealand's 2024 UPR (Universal Periodic Review)

How does ecological data analysis inform financial policies that challenge the status quo to achieve United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, thereby addressing the climate crisis and saving the world as we know it? It’s a mix of positioning, ingenuity, investment, and good old-fashioned act-now-and-think-later responsiveness. Simple. For a more detailed accounting, check out the latest episode of the I Am Interchange podcast: Vibrant Data. 

In this episode, Tate Chamberlin is joined by esteemed ecologist and data analyst Eric Berlow, venture capitalist and 2050 founder Marie Ekeland, and We Are Human managing partner and Katapult Ocean partner and chair Sindre Østgård. Together, they discuss the critical role of data analysis, fiscal policy, and entrepreneurial innovation in shaping the global response to the climate crisis. As deadlines for achieving these vital goals loom large and remain largely unmet, how do we bridge the gap in both knowledge and action to save a planet on the brink?

Vibrant Data

Welcome to UNFICYP's monthly podcast Out Loud, in this edition, we interview the Mission's newly arrived Senior Police Advisor, Chief Superintendent Mingzhu Xu.

Tune in and listen to Mingzhu speak about her experiences in other peacekeeping operations, to discuss law and order inside the buffer zone and her vision for UNPOL’s work in 2025.

Presenter: Ersin Öztoycan

Senior Police Advisor to UNFICYP

In this month’s Climate Conversations we take a look at the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals. The 17 SDGs are an urgent call for action by all countries - developed and developing - in a global partnership. They recognize that ending poverty and other deprivations must go hand-in-hand with strategies that improve health and education, reduce inequality, and spur economic growth – all while tackling climate change and working to preserve our oceans and forests. 

Clare Nasir explains the importance of the SDGs whilst Alex Burkill delves into how the work here at the Met Office works towards them, heaving from a number of experts.

To find out more about Sustainable Development Goals visit: https://sdgs.un.org

Climate Conversations: Sustainable Development Goals

Welcome to UNFICYP's monthly podcast Out Loud, in this edition we are pleased to speak with two brilliant young Cypriots, Ilayda Taşkaya and Maria Kranou about their participation in the Youth Champion’s for Environment and Peace programme led by the Mission's Civil Affairs Section. 

Tune in to learn more about their projects and how young people in Cyprus are coming together to tackle environmental issues across the divide and their hopes for the future of the island. 

The UN Youth Champions for Environment and Peace programme is implemented in collaboration with the British Council in Cyprus. 

Presenter: Ersin Oztoycan

UN Youth Champions for Environment and Peace

Episode transcript

[Music]

This is Food Safety in a Minute from Washington State University Extension.

From television to TikTok, ultra-processed food is a hot topic. Are ultra-processed foods safe or unsafe to eat? Let’s tackle the definition first. There’s no legal definition of “ultra-processed food”. Food processors use the NOVA classification system developed by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. 

This system has four groups. Group 1 is unprocessed, minimally processed food including fresh fruits and vegetables, fresh meat, nuts, plain yogurt, and some spices. Group 4, ultra-processed food includes ice cream, sugary drinks, instant noodles, hot dogs, potato chips, energy bars, baby formula, and much more.

Public health officials and the media often equate ultra-processed food to “junk food”. That’s not always the case. Listen next week to learn more.
 
Thanks for listening, I’m Susie Craig.

[Music]

Resources:
Monteiro, Carlos Augusto. G. Cannon, M. Lawrence, C., M.L. Costa Louzada, and P. Machado.   Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Ultra-processed foods, diet quality, and health using the NOVA classification system. Rome, 2019. Accessed online 1/15/25. https://openknowledge.fao.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/5277b379-0acb-4d97-a6a3-602774104629/content.

FSM 326: Ultra-processed Foods: Friend or Foe?

The revised deal for US access to Ukraine's mineral wealth (with no security guarantees for Kyiv) collapsed in the unseemly Oval Office donnybrook, and European leaders now convene their own summit—faced with the prospect of supporting Ukraine without the US. But Hungary and Slovakia represent an authoritarian bloc that supports Ukraine's betrayal—and Romania could be next to defect to this Russia-aligned bloc. In Europe and America alike, elements of the "tankie" pseudo-left no longer even bother to hide their convergence with MAGA. In Episode 267 of the CounterVortex podcast, Bill Weinberg calls for a clean break at both the international and grassroots levels. Europe must realize that the Atlantic alliance is effectively dead, and there are no prospects of reviving it while Trump is in the White House; whether or not the rumors are true that he was recruited as a KGB agent in the '80s, he is now on Putin's side. And progressives must repudiate pseudo-left misleaders who shill for Trump and and spread lies for Putin, and seek a new leadership that mobilizes to oppose them.

Listen on SoundCloud or via Patreon.

https://www.patreon.com/countervortex

Production by Chris Rywalt

We ask listeners to donate just $1 per weekly podcast via Patreon -- or $2 for our new special offer! We now have 69 subscribers. If you appreciate our work, please become Number 70!

MAGA-fascism and the future of Europe

About the Lecture
This lecture is part of the Student Speaker Series

The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), also known as North Korea, has one of the worst human rights records in the world, leading many of its citizens to escape through nearby Southeast Asian countries to seek asylum in South Korea or other willing nations. A significant issue these escapees face is having an ambiguous United Nations (UN) refugee status and the fear of forced repatriation, also known as refoulement. The countries of China, Laos, Vietnam, and Thailand are the most used Southeast Asian escape routes for North Korean refugees. This lecture seeks to solidify North Korean escapee’s status as refugees, explain the status of Southeast Asian countries’ relationship with North Korea and their history of forced repatriation, and proposes a UN General Assembly Human Rights Council Resolution that creates an international body called “The Committee on the Resettlement of North Korean Refugees,” which shall encourage Southeast Asian countries not to repatriate them and coordinate the removal of these refugees from Southeast Asia to be resettled in South Korea or other willing nations.

About the Speaker
Peace Ajirotutu is a Master of Arts candidate at the Institute of World Politics, pursuing a Masters in Statecraft and International Affairs with a concentration in Asian regional area studies. Before attending IWP, she graduated from the University of North Carolina at Pembroke, Summa Cum Laude, with a major in Political Science and a double minor in History and Asian Studies. Peace is currently an editorial intern at the Jamestown Foundations China Brief publication. She has previously presented research on North Korea at the 2024 Intelligence Studies Consortium’s Symposium. Peace specializes in the regions of China, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan.

Repatriation of North Korean Refugees Escaping Through Southeast Asia

An increasing number of children, particularly girls, are being trafficked worldwide, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence against Children told the Human Rights Council on Wednesday. 

"Children's vulnerability to trafficking is worsening worldwide," Najat Maalla M'jid said. 

Poverty, food insecurity, humanitarian crises, conflict, forced displacement, as well as social and gender inequality are some of the factors driving the rise in child trafficking.

Children and especially girls are increasingly being trafficked, says Special Representative

The UN refugee agency, UNHCR is the latest aid body to face painful cutbacks in the field and at headquarters after the announcement of a drastic drawdown in US funding.

Several programmes will shut down, and operations will significantly downsize, the organization said on Friday.

"The biggest concern that we have is, of course, in all of this for refugees, for the displaced, they will be feeling the brunt of these cuts," said Matthew Saltmarsh, a spokesperson for UNHCR.

"In South Sudan, only 25 per cent of the dedicated spaces supported by UNHCR for women and girls at risk of violence are currently operational. That has left some 80,000 people without access to access to services like emergency psychosocial support and legal and medical assistance."

UN refugee agency on cutbacks

Children, refugees and displaced people are bearing the brunt of the funding crisis that have engulfed the international development sector, exacerbated by slashed U.S. support, UNICEF said on Friday.

In the region of Afar in northeastern Ethiopia, UNICEF supports 30 rudimentary mobile clinics.

The facilities, aimed at supporting poor pastoralist communities, provide pregnant and lactating mothers as well as children with “bare minimum” treatment and nutritional support, said Kitty van der Heijden, UNICEF’s Deputy Executive Director.

Only seven out of these 30 clinics are now standing; the others have been shut by the wave of financial cutbacks.

“Without new funding, we will run out of our supply chain by May,” she said. “And that means that 70,000 children in Ethiopia who depend on this type of treatment cannot be served.”

UNICEF shuts clinics in Ethiopia over funding cuts

What is cultural genocide? Why are acts of cultural genocide excluded from the legal definition of genocide? In this episode, Professor Jeff Bachman joins Elia to discuss his research into the history of cultural genocide and some of its present day manifestations.

Episode #20: What Is Cultural Genocide? with Jeff Bachman

In today’s episode we talk with Susanne Brander, an Ecotoxicologist who is 1 of 12 core steering committee members overseeing 300 international scientific experts within the International Scientists Coalition for an Effective Plastics Treaty who are assisting with Navigating the Complexities of Plastics. 

An Ecotoxicologist as Susanne mentions is a toxicologist who focuses on fish and wildlife and makes links between what's happening in the environment with what might affect human health.

Brander is also an Associate Professor at OSU (Oregon State University) in the Department of Fisheries, Wildlife and Conservation Sciences, and part of the Coastal Oregon Marine Experiment Station and is based at the The Hatfield Marine Science Center in Newport Oregon.

The Scientists Coalition delivers science based information to the delegates within the United Nations who aren't scientists, but need to understand the science. These scientists distill what is in numerous peer reviewed papers some of which might need investigation for accuracy. 

The coalition is comprised of ecotoxicologists like Brander, along with Chemists, social scientists, experts in environmental law among other scientific backgrounds who working together to give their an informed opinion on what the best outcome for the treaty would be, and what science data should inform those decisions made during negotiating meetings.

175 nations are currently represented in this Global Treaty on Plastics, but they won't all necessarily be part of the the treaty, as they won't all sign (for example, she says, "the US is notorious for participating but not actually signing anything." 

Brander said that it's the people on the policy and environmental law side of things who feel that a minimum of 50 countries signing could hopefully move it forward to the next stages, to implementation.

When she talks about HIGHER AMBITION COUNTRIES - she is talking about those countries interested in things like chemical regulation, regulation of microplastics shedding from products, and safer and sustainable products.

Those that aren't among the Higher Ambition Countries are those countries (mostly petroleum-producing countries like Saudi Arabia, Russia, China, and the US) which are more focused on waste management and recycling. But after decades of seeing this not work, there has to be a better way. 

Transparency and tracing are key: what chemicals are used, and what's the source.

Thank you for listening, subscribing, & supporting Resilient Earth Radio!

Leigh Anne Lindsey, Producer Sea Storm Studios, The Sea Ranch, North Sonoma Coast

Scott & Tree Mercer, Co-hosts/Producers, Mendonoma Whale & Seal Study, Mendocino and Sonoma Coasts.

Planet Centric Media is Media for a Healthier Planet. Resilient Earth is a project of this 501 (c) (3) non-profit that is developing & producing media to elevate awareness of the interconnectedness of all living things.


Ecotoxicologist Susanne Brander Core Steering Committee/Scientists Coalition Gives Update United Nations Global Treaty on Plastics (Assoc. Prof. Oregon State University)

In Episode 3 titled Observing Human Rights Day in South Africa, Host Mpho Nyamathe continues the podcast's mission of examining how South African lives are actively shaped and moulded by Politics. This episode commemorates Human Rights Day by reflecting on the 1960 Sharpeville Massacre, where 69 peaceful protesters were killed for mobilising against apartheid pass laws. 

Building on previous discussions about environmental injustice in South African mines, the episode highlights the contradiction between Sharpeville's iconic status as the Constitution signing location and residents' ongoing fight for their constitutional rights.

Key points include the impact of coal in mining-affected communities (such as the Highveld region) and the potential job loss for miners in the face of privatised renewable energies. Throughout, the episode emphasizes how Section 24 constitutional environmental rights remain unfulfilled in many communities. This demonstrates a need to adopt sustainability in the process of addressing intersecting social, economic, and environmental challenges. By integrating such an inclusive approach, no one is left behind.

EP 3 The Politics of You and Me: Observing Human Rights Day in South Africa

Engaging in Youth, Peace and Security at home and abroad.

Mario Félix Lleonart Barroso
nació el 17 de junio de 1975. Pastor
bautista, es fundador y coordinador
general en Cuba del Instituto
Patmos. Es cubano pero vive
como refugiado en Maryland, USA,
donde pastorea la Iglesia Bautista de
Waldorf. Fundador en Cuba de las revistas independientes ‘Cuadernos
de Pensamiento Plural’ y ‘Nota del Cielo’. Artículos suyos pueden
encontrarse además en las revistas ‘Signos’, ‘Voces’ y ‘Convivencia’, y
en el diario digital 14ymedio. Desde octubre de 2010 postea en su
blog Cubano Confesante y se expresa desde su cuenta de Twitter @
maritovoz.

Welcome to RESILIENT EARTH RADIO where we host speakers from the United States and around the world to talk about critical issues facing our planet and the positive actions people are taking. We also let our listeners learn how they can get involved and make a difference. Hosts are Leigh Anne Lindsey, Producer @ Sea Storm Studios and Founder of Planet Centric Media, along with Scott & Tree Mercer, Founders of Mendonoma Whale & Seal Study which gathers scientific data that is distributed to other organizations like NOAA (National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration). A focus of this podcast series are Nature-Based Economies that help rebalance the Earth and raise awareness about the value of whales, elephants, mangroves, seagrass, the deep seas, waterways and forests - our natural world - towards that rebalancing. This addresses the effects of our own human-caused climate change, and what we can do about it - from simple steps to grand gestures! Global experts, citizen scientists, activists, fisher folk, and educators examine and explain ciritical issues facing our planet and actions people are taking to mitigate and rebalance climate. We discuss the critical role of carbon storage, and how it is essential for all life forms on earth.  This awareness could lead to new laws, policies and procedures to help protect these valuable resources, and encourage economies around them to replace the existing exploitation of oceans, forests, and animals.

Taking positive action, and getting people involved, that's our goal.

Production companies / Planet Centric Media Inc., a 501 (c) (3) non-profit, and Sea Storm Studios, Inc. (a media production company). Planet Centric Media is Media for a Healthier Planet. Resilient Earth is a project of this 501 (c) (3) non-profit that is developing & producing media to elevate awareness of the interconnectedness of all living things. Co-produced with Mendonoma Whale & Seal Study.

UN News audio products range from daily interviews to our flagship podcast series, ‘The Lid Is On’.  On our Sound Cloud account we  provide also audio clips of statements. 

For other audio products such as our Monday-Friday 'News in Brief', please visit our UN News website - Audio Hub where you can download the full range of bulletins, packages, podcasts and interviews, in easy-to-use mp3 format. 

All our products can be downloaded and used free of charge and without attribution by broadcasters in their programmes or as a source of information and materials for individual reporters.

https://news.un.org/en/audio-hub

Weather and science podcasts from Met Office in the UK.

Human rights radio show, covering issues in Aotearoa New Zealand and further afield. Airs first on Cantebrury's Plains FM 96.9.
Transcripts available - click the links below.
Follow us on Facebook and Twitter to join the conversation about and between shows.

I Am Interchange is fostering curiosity, education, and empathy by exploring the controversial and the provocative.

THIS SEASON:  It seems, now more than ever, that we have found ourselves on the cusp of monumental worldwide change. Whether we consider the environment, politics, infrastructure, health, economics, or equities across a broad swath of social constructs, the consensus is clear and urgent: all is not as it should be. The United Nations (UN), a consortium of 193 Member States from around the globe, agrees. In 2015, the UN unanimously adopted 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) calling for urgent action in global partnership to secure “peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future.” In alignment with the goals, HATCH — a curated network of innovators, artists, activists, and entrepreneurs working together to accelerate positive global change — focused its fall summit impact labs on topics related to their four impact pillars: EQUITY, EDUCATION, ENVIRONMENT, and EMPOWERMENT This series will explore those on the frontlines of transformational systems change, accelerating solutions for these human challenges.

The Institute of World Politics is a graduate school of national security and international affairs, dedicated to developing leaders with a sound understanding of international realities and the ethical conduct of statecraft, based on knowledge and appreciation of the principles of the American political economy and the Western moral tradition.

**Please note that the views expressed by our guest lecturers do not necessarily reflect the views of The Institute of World Politics.**

Support my work on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/countervortex

Need answers to your food safety questions? Food Safety in a Minute from Washington State University answers the most commonly asked questions from consumers. Listening is a quick and easy way to learn more about food safety. Subscribe to our weekly podcast and explore online episodes.

New tracks tagged #UnitedNations