Focus on the Future Podcast

UN News Today - 2025

UN News Interviews - 2025

CLIPS

Podcast Classics

UN leaders have been paying tribute to Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa.  The Nobel Peace Prize laureate, anti-apartheid crusader and human rights activist died on Sunday.

This audio from the UN News archives features Archbishop Tutu speaking before the Special Political Committee in October 1985, where he denounced the apartheid regime in his homeland.

Photo credit: UN Photo/Yutaka Nagata
Audio credit: UN Audiovisual Library

Podcast Classics: Desmond Tutu Addresses Special Political Committee in October 1985

In April 1994, a sinister call was broadcast over radio stations across Rwanda, triggering the start of 100 days of genocide that left more than one million people dead. Henriette Mutegwaraba heard that call over the radio.
“Every time I talk about it, I cry,” she told UN News, describing how propaganda spread messages of hate that sparked a deadly wave of unspeakable violence. She lost 60 family members and friends in the genocide.
Ahead of the UN General Assembly’s commemoration of the International Day of Reflection on the 1943 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda, Ms. Mutegwaraba spoke with UN News about hate speech in the digital age, the 6 January attack on the United States capitol, how she survived the genocide, and how she explained what happened to her daughter.

‘Every time I talk about it, I cry’: How hate speech triggered Rwandan genocide

On the first episode of “Focus on the Future”, our mini-series running throughout High-Level Week of the UN General Assembly, Conor Lennon and Shanae Harte explain what the Summit of the Future is all about, how to bring back trust between countries, and why UN HQ was full of young people all weekend!

Contact us: thelidison@un.org
Music: Ketsa
Audio: UN News/ Conor Lennon

Given Taken

Focus on the Future: Signed, Sealed, Delivered

Crippling debt burdens are holding many African countries back: some  of them are paying more on repayments than on health, education and infrastructure.

On today’s show Conor Lennon is joined by Sachin Gaur from the UN News Hindi Unit, to cover the events focused on sustainable development and rethinking the entire international financial architecture. The big question is, how we can make it fairer?

Also, star wattage has been lighting up Headquarters. Edward Norton and Meryl Streep were among the artistic talents at HQ, advocating for the environment and Afghan women.

Music by Joachim Harris, all rights reserved
Audio: Conor Lennon

Focus on the Future: Ascending the Summit

Reforming the Security Council, to make it more representative of today’s world, has been under discussion for decades. The subject made it into the Pact for the Future, adopted earlier this week. Does this mean that it is more likely to happen?

Global governance is the key theme of today’s show, which is dominated by the opening of the General Debate, when Heads of State, Prime Ministers and Presidents gather for speeches and backroom talks and deals.

Conor Lennon and Shanaé Harte from UN News break down the big issues at UN Headquarters on Wednesday’s edition of Focus on the Future.

Audio: UN News/ Conor Lennon
Music by Joachim Harris. All rights reserved

Focus on the Future: The World arrives

In the Pact for the Future UN Member States pledged to do more to fight the climate crisis, a subject that has dominated several sessions at UN Headquarters this week. 

On Thursday’s episode of Focus on the Future, Conor Lennon and Sachin Gaur discuss some of the big climate-related events, including a General Assembly meeting on sea level rise. 

The rate of sea level rise has more than doubled over the last three decades, causing havoc in low-lying and small island developing countries, driving populations away from their homes. The leaders of some of the most affected nations speak out. 

Audio: UN News/ Conor Lennon
Music: Joachim Harris (all rights reserved)

Focus on the Future: A world in dangerous waters

The risk of the world’s major powers engaging in conflict  is at its highest level since the Cold War, and the possibility of nuclear war breaking out is greater today than it has been for several decades.
On the final episode of Focus on the Future, Conor Lennon and Ben Malor from UN News concentrate on international peace and security, and how the Pact for the Future could help to reduce tensions. 
We’ll hear from the UN’s heads of Peacekeeping and Peacebuilding ( and explain the difference between the two concepts!), and the Director- General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, who warns against “normalizing” the idea of using nuclear weapons.
Audio: UN News/ Conor Lennon
Music: Joachim Harris

Focus on the Future: Peace, out

The Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, a key UN policy document adopted in 1995, has been credited for several major advances for women, from legislation outlawing domestic abuse to inspiring a new wave of young gender justice activists.

Despite undeniable progress in gender relations over the past 30 years, inequalities between men and women persist and, in recent times, there has been a notable backlash against the very concepts of feminism.

In this episode of The Lid Is On, Conor Lennon from UN News speaks to Laura Turquet, the deputy head of the research and data team at UN Women, and Lydia Alpizar, a Costa Rican feminist activist based in Mexico City, to find out why this renewed attack against feminism is taking place, and what it means for the decades-long fight for gender equality.

Audio Credit: UN News/Conor Lennon
Music Credit: Joachim Harris

Is feminism under attack?

Ensuring that parents have opportunities for “decent work” is essential to reducing the number of young people, currently estimated to be 138 million globally, who are engaged in child labour, according to the UN.  

The internationally-agreed goal was to end child labour by 2025 and while the number has decreased by 12 million since 2020, millions of children are still working in dangerous or unregulated work places and are being denied the right to an education and a safer, more secure future. 

The Child Labour report released by the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the International Labour Organization (ILO) highlights the trends in jobs involving young people and suggests how the practice can be brought to an end completely.  

UN News’ Naima Sawaya sat down with Benjamin Smith, an expert at the ILO and began by asking him to explain what constitutes child labour. 

Audio credit: Naima Sawaya, UN News 

‘Decent work for the parents’ is key to solving child labour

With over 5.5 billion people online - nearly all of them active on social media - digital platforms have become the main arena for public debate. 

But a steady rise in misogynistic content online is fuelling a toxic environment that not only silences women and girls but also reinforces harmful gender norms, the UN Agency for gender equality, UN Women, warns.

Experts say that addressing this trend requires more than just protecting girls. It also means building a world where boys are free from the pressures of toxic masculinity and restrictive gender expectations.

UN Women’s Kalliopi Mingeirou, who leads the effort to end violence against women and girls, outlined to UN News’s Ana Carmo the alarming spread of online misogyny – and what can be done to stop it.

Audio credit: Ana Carmo, UN News

As democratic space shrinks, misogynistic content surges on social media

As the United Nations marks its 80th anniversary, the Organization is undertaking a wide-ranging reform effort aimed at strengthening how it delivers for people around the world. 

The UN80 Initiative seeks to make the UN more nimble, efficient and responsive — at a time when global needs are rising and trust in multilateral institutions is being tested.

To better understand what’s behind the initiative and where it’s headed, UN News’ Laura Quiñones spoke with Guy Ryder, the UN’s Under-Secretary-General for Policy and Chair of the UN80 Task Force.

Audio credit: Laura Quiñones, UN News

Why the UN80 initiative matters for multilateralism: A conversation with UN Policy chief Guy Ryder

Most of Gaza is still out of reach as desperation grows, says UN aid worker 
Desperation remains widespread across Gaza because Palestinians cannot find food and are struggling to survive, a veteran UN aid worker said on Tuesday.
In an update from northern Gaza, Olga Cherevko from the UN aid coordination office, OCHA, said that hours-long delays to humanitarian missions have continued while waiting for Israeli permission to proceed. 
On Sunday, UN agencies welcomed Israel’s pledge to implement daily humanitarian pauses in its military operations in Gaza, aimed at easing the flow of desperately needed aid into and across the devastated enclave.
Today, only about 12 per cent of the occupied territory is not subject to Israeli mass displacement orders or located in militarized areas. 
Here’s Ms. Cherevko now, speaking from Gaza City. The sound in the background is low-flying surveillance drones.



20250729-Gaza-OCHA-OlgaCherevko

Before the ban on secondary education in Afghanistan, girls like Fatima Amiri were the target of violent extremists determined to drive them away from school and learning.

CLIP - Afghanistan: Ban on secondary education for girls marks four long years

A larger and more robust force in Haiti could help “turn the tide” against murderous gangs and give Haitians hope for the future, according to the UN’s designated expert on the human rights situation in the Caribbean country, William O’Neill.

Up to 90 per cent of the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince is controlled by numerous gangs who murder with impunity and take hostages for ransom.

A UN-backed Multinational Security Support Mission (MSS) has been unable to stem the violence, but it is hoped the transition to a new, larger and better equipped Gang Suppression Force could prove decisive. 

UN News’s Daniel Dickinson asked Mr. O’Neill how important it is to establish the new force.  

Audio credit: Daniel Dickinson, UN News

‘More robust force needed to turn the tide’ in Haiti

Terrified children and quadcopter wounds: 30 minutes in Gaza hospitals
Nowhere is safe in Gaza as the Israeli military push continues for full control of Gaza City, UN and partner aid agencies said on Friday.

In this update, UNICEF, WHO and the ICRC describe harrowing conditions in the wartorn enclave’s remaining hospitals which are overcapacity and lacking the lifesaving equipment they need to save lives.  

“I saw children who've been paralyzed, who've been burnt and who've had amputations, all following direct hits on their tents or tents in the surrounding area, all at around two o’clock in the morning,” says UNICEF’s James Elder, who speaks first in this clip, followed by WHO’s Dr Rik Peeperkorn and then ICRC’s Christian Cardon.

Pictured: Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, which has been hit several times by Israeli airstrikes since October 2023. Credit: UNDP

Gaza Update: UNICEF, WHO, ICRC

Olukemi Ibikunle, a corrections officer from Nigeria serving with the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) is the winner of the third United Nations Trailblazer Award for Women Justice and Corrections Officers. She spoke to UN News's Fabrice Robinet, who started by asking her about her role in Peacekeeping. 

Photo: Deputy Secretary-General Amina J. Mohammed (right) presents the Trailblazer Award to the 2025 winner Olukemi Ibikunle, a correctional officer from Nigeria deployed to MONUSCO.

CLIP - Nigerian Peacekeeper Wins 2025 UN Trailblazer Award

Gazans returning northwards shared their joy and relief on Monday at the ceasefire agreement between Hamas and Israel that entered into force last Friday. Life remains extremely challenging for most, including one family living in a worn-out tent in Gaza City who spoke to UN aid worker Olga Cherevko, from the aid coordination office, OCHA.
"They invited me for a lunch with them of some stewed tomatoes; they said that this is the first time that they have been one able to find something fresh to eat and to cook it themselves," explained Ms. Cherevko, speaking to UN News. 
"These are very difficult steps that people will have to go through to obviously grieve, to start their lives again and to build the future," the veteran aid worker continued. "But this is finally something that they can look forward to and the future of their families is being discussed for the first time in months."

Gaza City update from UN's Olga Cherevko

Women and girls in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) are trapped in one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises and face rampant insecurity. Speaking to journalists at the UN Office at Geneva, Shoko Arakaki, director of humanitarian affairs at the UN reproductive health agency (UNFPA), said that essential services have been severely disrupted, while incidents of rape and conflict-related sexual violence have surged by a third compared to last year. 


CLIP - Rape and conflict-related sexual violence surged in DR Congo, UNFPA warns

Speaking at an open debate marking the Security Council’s 80th Anniversary, Secretary-General António Guterres called for an urgent reform of the UN body. 

Full remarks available here: https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/sg/statements/2025-10-24/un-secretary-generals-remarks-the-security-council-the-uns-80th-anniversary-delivered

CLIP: Secretary-General remarks to the Security Council on its 80th anniversary - 24 October 2025

The Jamaican Government has taken extraordinary measures to help the country weather Hurricane Melissa, the UN culture and education agency’s director there has told UN News. Eric Falt of UNESCO also praised the overall solidarity he’s witnessed throughout the Caribbean as the monster storm makes landfall.

Audio credit: Charlotte Franz, UN News

CLIP – ‘Extraordinary’ level of preparation by Jamaica ahead of Hurricane Melissa

While the International Court of Justice (ICJ) is not “blind” to political context or the human suffering behind many cases, its main job is to be the interpreter of international law in disputes between States, said the newly appointed President of the UN World Court, Yuji Iwasawa.

This year, ICJ issued two advisory opinions that made headlines: one that decided Israel must allow aid to flow freely into Palestine and another ruling that countries have a responsibility to protect the environment.

Mr. Iwasawa spoke to UN News’s Ileana Exaras about the functions and responsibilities of the court, the significance of advisory opinions and what he’d like to accomplish throughout his tenure. 

Audio Credit: Ileana Exaras, UN News

ICJ president: The Court is not blind to politics, but bound by law


Horrifying videos and reported atrocities allegedly carried out by RSF militia in and around the Sudanese city of El Fasher demonstrate a “total disregard” for both protection of civilians and the Security Council’s resolution demanding an end to the civil war.

That’s according to the UN’s head of humanitarian operations in the country, Denise Brown, who told UN News after recently visiting the Darfur region before the fall of the city this week, that it’s proving hard to verify information from the stricken city due to a communications blackout.

She told Ezzat El-Ferri she feels a “huge sense” of tragedy and responsibility to continue providing UN relief services, adding that the atrocities must be documented so that “justice can be served.”

Audio credit: Ezzat El-Ferri, UN News


Reported atrocities in Sudan’s El Fasher show ‘total disregard’ for civilian life

Space exploration and the use of space technology is becoming an increasingly critical part of the global economy, but how can the world ensure its benefits are felt, not just in the developed world but also in poorer and less technologically advanced developing countries?

The UN Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) was established for that exact reason and more particularly to accelerate sustainable development globally.

It has just announced its UN Champion for Space, the internationally acclaimed broadcaster and physicist Professor Brian Cox who’s been speaking to UN News’ Lid is On podcast.

Audio Credit: Daniel Dickinson, UN News

Lid is On podcast: Space exploration is ‘not a luxury’ but essential for life on Earth


Bringing aid to remote communities affected by a category 5 hurricane which swept across Jamaica last week remains the priority according to the World Food Programme (WFP).

Hurricane Melissa made landfall in the west of the Caribbean island nation, bringing rain, storm surges and catastrophic flooding which has caused widespread devastation. 

UN News’s Charlotte Frantz, spoke to WFP’s Alexis Masciarelli who is currently in the Jamaican capital, Kingston, and began by asking him about the immediate needs of people in the hurricane’s path.

Audio credit: Charlotte Frantz, UN News

Bringing aid to remote communities in hurricane-affected Jamaica remains the priority

People being held in prisons in Haiti are dying of starvation in subhuman conditions according to the UN’s Designated Expert on the human rights situation in the Caribbean island nation, William O'Neill.

Haiti is facing an increasingly perilous security crisis as gangs compete to control the capital, Port-au-Prince, and surrounding areas, impacting an already dysfunctional justice system.

Prisons are severely overcrowded, and some detainees can wait for years to be tried for minor offences, including the theft of chickens or shoes.

Daniel Dickinson began by asking Mr. O’Neill to describe the conditions he has witnessed in Haitian prisons.

Audio credit: Daniel Dickinson
Photo credit: UN News


Detainees ‘dying of starvation’ in ‘subhuman conditions’ in Haitian prisons

Filipinos are picking up the pieces after super typhoon Fung-Wong ripped through the country. 
Eight people including three children are reported to have died because of the typhoon, but it could have been much worse: over a million people were evacuated from homes in 13 of the country’s 18 regions, in one of the Philippines’ largest ever pre-emptive operations.
Arnaud Peral, the UN Resident Coordinator in The Philippines, told UN News’s Conor Lennon the way authorities prepared for the impact is testament to the coordination between the government, the United Nations and the international NGOs on the ground.
Audio: UN News/ Conor Lennon
Photo: UN Philippines

Preparedness and coordination key to preventing Philippines super typhoon deaths

At a time when false narratives about climate change are spreading faster than ever online, the UN education and culture agency, UNESCO, is calling for stronger global cooperation to safeguard information integrity.

Speaking to UN News’s Felipe de Carvalho in Brazil’s coastal city of Belém which is hosting COP30, Guilherme Canela, UNESCO’s Head of Digital Policies who takes a lead on promoting accurate information regarding climate change, says misinformation has become one of the most significant global risks – alongside climate change itself. 

He stressed that protecting reliable, science-based information is essential for effective climate action.

Audio credit: Felipe de Carvalho, UN News

At COP30, UNESCO calls for urgent action against climate misinformation


At COP30, UN News spoke with digital influencer Maria Clara Moraes, who is part of the UN’s ‘Verified’ initiative, and the co-founder of the platform Marias Verdes, which has over half a million followers on TikTok. 

She says that the fight against climate disinformation is ‘completely possible, but also very challenging.’

Audio credit: Felipe de Carvalho, UN News 

CLIP: Digital influencer Maria Clara Moraes at COP30

UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador Alfonso Herrera is at COP30 in Belém, Brazil, engaging in critical conversations on climate and displacement.

Mr. Herrera underscored the importance of amplifying the voices of those most affected by climate change. 

Audio credit: Felipe de Carvalho, UN News 

CLIP - UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador Alfonso Herrera at COP30

As COP30 brings leaders and negotiators together from around the world, the spotlight is not only on policy but also on the real-life experiences of those most affected by climate change. 

From Ethiopia, Mekebib Tadesse, representing the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) delegation, brings a firsthand perspective on the human and humanitarian dimensions of the crisis.

In an interview with Felipe Carvalho – who's in Belem for UN News – Mekebib shared insights on how climate change is upending his home country.

Audio credit: Felipe de Carvalho, UN News

‘I’m one of the lucky ones,’ says Ethiopian climate refugee in Brazil

The rapid rise of AI in health care has plenty of upsides including faster diagnosis but there are also potentially serious downsides too, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) said on Wednesday. 
The agency noted that millions of health workers and patients already benefit from the self-learning technology. But across Europe, only four countries have a national strategy on AI use in medical settings, with guidelines on data privacy, legal guardrails and measures to boost AI accessibility for all.
Here's WHO's Bhanu Bhatnagar to tell us more about the key issues.


AI in health care-upsides and downsides-WHO-BhanuBhatnagar

The situation for people displaced multiple times across Gaza is still desperate despite the fragile ceasefire, which came into effect more than one month ago, the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) said on Wednesday.
Heavy rains at the weekend flooded thousands of tents and led one mother to say that she would rather have been bombed in her home with her children than endure the "death of dignity" that they have experienced in recent days.
From Gaza, here's an audio update from UNICEF's Tess Ingram:
"Even though it hasn't rained for a few days here in the Gaza Strip, families are continuing to struggle from the impact of the rains that occurred over the weekend, which were very sudden and heavy rains, and of course the ongoing drop in temperatures here as winter sets in. 
There's an interagency assessment that about 18,000 households were affected across more than 100 sites by those rains, but this is likely an underestimate as many more families will have been affected in areas that we haven't been able to assess or to lesser degrees. 
We know that people in low-lying areas and obviously in the displacement camps, in makeshift shelters and in tents, the most vulnerable to the flooding. This is particularly acute because if you think about the current division of the Gaza Strip with the Israeli forces occupying more than half of the territory, the area that people are allowed to remain in, that isn't occupied, runs along the coast. And so it is the most flood prone and it's also very crowded. What this does is present serious risks in terms of lack of drainage, of sewerage flowing from improvised latrines into communities. 
I met with a mother today, Wafa, who has a mother of five. And she was in tears as she described the weekend to me as among the worst days of her experience of the past two years of this conflict. She said there were times that she wished that she was in the house in her family home with the children when it was bombed so that she didn't have to endure the, she said, death of dignity that they have experienced in recent days. 
Wafa described the family having lunch in their makeshift shelter, which is made of improvised pieces of blankets that have been strung up over poles in a sandy displacement site in Deir arbala. They were eating lunch when the rains came and it started slowly. They moved away from the hole in the roof of their shelter But then it became heavier and began to soak all of their belongings and flood the site. She said that she took her youngest child away to somewhere where they would be safe and cared for by other family members. 
And then she, her husband and her other children got to work trying to save their belongings and push the floodwaters away from their site. Ultimately, though, she said they weren't able to. And so they left the site, took refuge with other family members for three days and came back to find their possessions really badly damaged. Today, a lot of what they had was still waterlogged and stained with dirt and watermarks from the flood water. She said that she's concerned about diseases. Her children are constantly sick with chest infections, colds and coughs. Even, she said, during the summer they didn't go away because there just isn't the adequate medicine to treat them or nutrients to help her children fight the illnesses through their own immunity." 


'Death of dignity' in Gaza: UNICEF's Tess Ingram

Humanitarian conditions in Gaza are worsening as storms, cold temperatures, and overcrowded makeshift shelters leave displaced families — especially children — without adequate warmth, sanitation, or protection, while aid remains far below what’s needed. 

Speaking from the Strip's coastal area of Al Mawasi, UNICEF's Jonathan Cricx warns of rising waterborne diseases amid severe shortages.

Audio credit: UN News

CLIP - Storms and cold deepen Gaza’s humanitarian crisis - UNICEF's Jonathan Cricx

Israeli construction of a new so-called "Settler Road" and barrier in the Jordan Valley is displacing Palestinians, fragmenting the occupied West Bank, and threatening livelihoods, while UN officials warn that attempts to undermine Palestinian refugee status violate international law. Here's Ajith Sunghay, head of OHCHR in the Occupied Palestinian Territory speaking to UN News on Thursday, 

Audio credit: UN News

CLIP - Ajith Sunghay, head of OHCHR in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, on Jordan Valley barrier

"No one should be forced to endure a storm in a tent": that's the message from the UN agency for Palestinians, UNRWA, amid torrential rain and cold that has swept across Gaza in recent days.

Speaking to UN News, UNRWA's Milina Shahin said that families living in "plastic sheet tents stood no chance against the flooding and freezing temperatures" as their makeshift shelters collapsed. "Exhausted parents could not prepare, children had no protection from the cold, and the most vulnerable are now at even greater risk," she said.

Gaza rain storm collapses makeshift tents - UNRWA

After more than 22 years at the heart of Iraq’s political transition and post-war recovery, the UN will close its political mission in the country at the end of 2025. 

Established in 2003, the mission (UNAMI) has played a central role in supporting inclusive political dialogue, national reconciliation, credible elections and the protection of human rights. 

UN News’s Reem Abaza spoke to the mission chief and Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Iraq, Mohamed Al Hassan, about what’s been achieved – and the challenges ahead.

Audio credit: Reem Abaza, UN News

UN mission ends mandate as Iraq ‘flips the page to a new chapter’

Three young women peacebuilders from Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan - Ana Kuprava, Maria Yesayan, and Shahim Afandiyeva – participated at a Youth Forum in Riyadh, and shared how their joint initiative From Borders to Bridges brought together youth from divided communities across the South Caucasus. 

Supported by the UN Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC)’s Young Peacebuilders programme, the project connected participants from different backgrounds, many of whom had never interacted before.

The impact continues beyond the project, with lasting connections and new initiatives emerging across borders.
 
Audio credit: Reem Abaza, UN News 

Three young women reimagine peace across borders

As the world debates how technology is shaping societies, actor and filmmaker Joseph Gordon-Levitt has been sharing why people and purpose must remain at the heart of the digital future.

UN News’ Vibhu Mishra spoke with him on the sidelines of a high-level UN meeting marking 20 years of global cooperation on the internet and digital technologies.

Mr. Gordon-Levitt reflected on creativity, inclusion and the responsibility that comes with powerful digital tools, especially as technology becomes more embedded in everyday life.

He said he was inspired by people working not just for profit, but to make the world better – even when the challenge feels like a “David and Goliath” battle.

Audio credit: Vibhu Mishra, UN News 

A human digital future: Joseph Gordon-Levitt at the UN

Created in 1966 to boost development within newly independent countries from the Global South, the UN Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) has stayed true to its founding mission, in a world that has been transformed over the past six decades.
At UNIDO’s Global Industry Summit, held in Riyadh this November, the agency’s Member States reaffirmed their commitment to help developing countries grow their economies sustainably, minimising harm to the environment and improving the lives of their citizens.
Conor Lennon was in Riyadh for UN News and spoke to Fatou Haidara, UNIDO’s ? Managing Director of Global Partnerships and External Relations, about the ways that the agency has adapted to the changing priorities of its Member States, and why it continues to be a central pillar of sustainable industrialisation.
Audio: Conor Lennon
Photo: UNIDO

UNIDO’s mission: Protecting the planet, lifting the world out of poverty

•  Sudan war: Kordofan’s El-Obeid ‘one or two steps’ away from being attacked - IOM 
•  Gaza: Famine is averted but a third child dies of hypothermia - UNICEF 
•  DR Congo crisis: Victims of flare-up in eastern regions risk lives to reach safety, says UNHCR 

Audio credit: Daniel Johnson, UN News

#unitednations

UN News Today 19 December 2025 - Gaza hunger update, Sudan war, DR Congo crisis

The UN World Food Programme (WFP) has resumed emergency food assistance in Uvira's South Kivu in Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, it said on Friday. 
Nearly 28,000 people are now receiving high energy biscuits that are ready to eat and vital for families fleeing violance and who are unable to cook. 
"We have now more than 500,000 people that have been displaced by the recent conflict in the South Kivu," said the agency's Myrline Sanogo Mathieu. "WFP is on the ground providing the most needed emergency food assistance to those people that have been displaced. However, thousands more need this assistance."
To help support this effort, WFP urgently needs $250 million for the next six months, Ms. Sanogo Mathieu told UN News.

WFP DRCongo MyrlineSanogoMathieu

For the second time since its launch in 2023, the World Health Organization (WHO) Global Summit on Traditional Medicine took place in India, bringing attention to the role of natural and cultural remedies around the world, as well as the science behind them. 

On the sidelines of the summit in New Delhi, UN News’s Anshu Sharma spoke with Sung Chol Kim of WHO’s Traditional, Complementary and Integrative Medicine unit, about advances in the field.

Mr. Kim outlined what traditional medicine is, the WHO’s role in advancing evidence-based traditional medicine, and the progress made so far.

He also explained how traditional medicine differs from biomedicine. Its focus on prevention is just one of those ways.  

Audio Credit: Anshu Sharma, UN News
Audio Duration: 10'29"
Photo Credit: © UN News/Gurpreet Kaur

#unitednations

‘Traditional medicine is the cultural heritage of every nation,’ WHO official says at global summit

• Syria: Illicit “captagon” manufacturing disrupted following regime change 
• UN mission supports landmark elections in the Central African Republic
• $880 million humanitarian appeal for Haiti

Audio credit: Dianne Penn, UN News

UN News Today 22 December 2025 - Syria, elections in CAR, humanitarian appeal for Haiti

• Myanmar: UN rights chief warns of pre-election violence and repression 
• DR Congo: WFP aims to reach thousands displaced by South Kivu violence 
• Humanitarian funding cuts impact drought response in Somalia 

Audio credit: Dianne Penn, UN News

UN News Today 23 December 2025 - Myanmar, DR Congo, humanitarian funding cuts in Somalia

Europe’s influenza season has arrived earlier than expected this year, raising concerns about pressure on health systems as respiratory illnesses circulate during the winter months.  

While the surge has prompted questions about vaccine effectiveness and vulnerable groups, health experts say the situation remains manageable – if people take the right precautions.  

Speaking with UN News’s Vibhu Mishra, Marc-Alain Widdowson, who leads pandemic threat and communicable disease work at the World Health Organization’s European Regional Office, explains what’s driving this year’s flu season, who is most at risk, and why it’s still not too late to get vaccinated. 

Audio credit: Vibhu Mishra, UN News

Why Europe’s flu season started early – and why vaccination still matters

More than two years into the conflict, Sudan is facing one of the world’s most serious and complex health emergencies, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). 

The fighting, which began in April 2023, has forced millions of people from their homes, deepened hunger and left much of the country’s health system barely functioning, said Dr Shible Sahbani, WHO Representative in Sudan, in an interview with UN News.  

Disease outbreaks are spreading as access to health care continues to shrink. Cholera, dengue and malaria are widespread, while measles and polio are re-emerging as routine immunisation coverage falls to record lows. 

Speaking to UN News’s Abdelmonem Makki, Dr Sahbani stressed the urgent need for sustained funding, safe humanitarian access and protection for health workers and facilities, as attacks on health care continue. Above all, he appealed to the international community not to forget Sudan. 

Audio credit: Abdelmonem Makki, UN News

Sudan’s war drives worsening health emergency, WHO warns

Guterres calls for peaceful elections in the Central African Republic 
Yemen: UN Envoy welcomes accord on new phase of conflict-related detainee release 
Forest products show signs of recovery after 2023 decline, FAO reports 

Audio credit: Dianne Penn, UN News

#unitednations

UN News Today 24 December 2025 - Central African Republic, Yemen war detainees, forest products

- UN deplores ‘heinous’ attack on mosque in Nigeria 
- Guinea: UN rights chief calls for end to pre-election intimidation  
- New UN-Iraq deal on sustainable development cooperation 

Audio credit: Dianne Penn, UN News

#unitednations

UN News Today 26 December 2025 - Nigeria mosque attack, Iraq development, Guinea elections,

Kazem Abu-Khalaf from UNICEF Regional Office for Middle East and North Africa , gives an update on the situation in Gaza. 

A sixth child has died in Gaza this month as the enclave’s people continue to endure dire living conditions linked to freezing rains and the Israel-Hamas war. The development comes as aid agencies urged Israeli authorities to reconsider revoking the licences of dozens of humanitarian partners that provide assistance across the devastated enclave from 1 January.

Audio credit: UN News

CLIP: UNICEF calls for access, as sixth child dies in Gaza this month, amid freezing rains

It’s World Water Day, and we’re bringing you a double-bill for this edition of our UN Podcast Classics series, kicking off with the legendary actor, Marlon Brando.

In 1956, the Oscar-winning star of On the Waterfront, became UN Radio’s front man on water; narrating the story of how the UN Technical Assistance Administration brought a “pure, sweet, flowing” supply to one Bolivian village.

As the International Decade for Action on water for sustainable development gets under way here at the UN, we also look back at the 1950s struggle to provide access to clean running water in El Salvador.

You’ll find these stories, along with dozens of other unique and unusual radio stories, in our Audiovisual Library archive, at unmultimedia.org/avlibrary.

Photo: Marlon Brando speaks at UNICEF's New York Headquarters about the desperate needs of many of the world's children. (file) Credit: UNICEF/UN0157660/Speiser

For the UN, Marlon Brando highlights “life and death” value of fresh water

As the World Health Organization (WHO) turns 70 this weekend (7 April), this edition of our Podcast Classics series from UN News turns back the clock 60 years to bring you “Ten Steps Forward”, a UN Radio programme looking at WHO’s first decade, narrated by British stage and screen actor Michael Redgrave.

You can find a wealth of other audio, film and video by going to www.unmultimedia.org/avlibrary/.

MUSIC CREDITS:
“Gravity” by Borrtex.
“Naive” by Sergey Cheremisinov.

Photo: Michael Redgrave, the celebrated British actor, at UN Radio studios, United Nations Headquarters in New York. (October 1956) Credit: UN Photo/Albert Fox

Podcast Classics: The ‘fight against time’ towards healthier living for all

They were two of the 20th Century’s biggest stars of stage and screen, and when it came to the World Health Organization’s campaign to tackle two of the biggest killers of the post-war era, they answered the call.

Singing legend, Frank Sinatra, lent his golden voice to WHO for a UN Radio story in 1959, about upgrading medical care in Indonesia, while Hollywood great, Edward G. Robinson, went in search of the “murderess” malaria, in northern Lebanon, and beyond.

As we mark World Immunization Week, and World Malaria Day, for this latest Podcast Classic from UN News, we also catch up on where the world stands now in the fight against diseases like malaria and polio, with a senior WHO official.

Music Credits: ‘Stardust’, by U.S. Army Blues

Audio Credit:  Matt Wells and Omar Musni

Photo: Pictured here is Dr. Luigi Mara (Italy) of the World Health Organization’s anti-malaria project in Iraq, part of the WHO world-wide campaign to eradicate malaria everywhere. Dr. Mara is examining stagnant water to find out the types of mosquito larvae harboured there. May 1958, Kurdistan, Iraq.

Podcast Classics: Frank Sinatra and Edward G. Robinson join the UN fight against polio and malaria

Russian-born actor, filmmaker and photographer Yul Brynner was appointed a special consultant to the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, in 1959. As we mark World Refugee Day, this edition of Podcast Classics features UN Radio's "Pattern of Our Lives”, for which he called on fellow Hollywood stars to recount the true-life experiences of refugees.

Music credits: “Our Names Engraved” and “The Zeppelin” by Blue Dot Sessions.

Photo: Actor Yul Brynner in the UN Radio studio at United Nations Headquarters in New York, 20 May 1960. Credit: UN Photo/ MB.

Podcast Classics: World famous voices weave the ‘pattern’ of refugee lives for UNHCR

Bees, soil, trees – even tiny organisms we can’t even see – all play a vital role in producing the world’s food. Yet, this biodiversity, which supports our food and agriculture systems, is under stress. 
That’s according to a new report by the United Nations Food Organization (FAO), which finds that 33 per cent of fish stocks are estimated to be overfished and bee colony losses are on the rise – all factors that endanger the world’s future security. 
Speaking to Charlotta Lomas, Dan Leskien, from the Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, explained why biodiversity is essential to food production.
 
Audio Credit: Charlotta Lomas, FAO
Photo: Much of the countryside around San Antonio Tecómitl, Mexico, is being urbanized, meaning that bees are increasingly losing their habitats. ©FAO/Fernando Reyes Pantoja

The world is losing the biodiversity that secures food production, UN expert says

- UN Mission in Afghanistan supports child sex abuse allegations
- Thousands of children killed by measles in DR Congo
- Eat the Mediterranean way: UN food agency
Audio credit: Conor Lennon/ UN News
Photo: UNAMA / Ebrahim Papal

News in Brief - 27 November 2019 - Afghan paedophiles, DRC Measles, FAO healthy diet

The Security Council on Tuesday voted to end the hybrid UN-African Union civilian support operation for Darfur, UNAMID, beginning the drawdown on 1 January.
It marks the end of a force that can withdraw, knowing that government is now “in the right hands”, according to the UN Joint Special Representative, Jeremiah Mamabolo, although as he tells UN News in this exclusive interview it does not mean the UN is leaving.
A new assistance mission UNITAMS, will continue to support peacebuilding efforts, with most of the violence that killed some 300,000 in Darfur, and displaced millions now apparently over.
Mr. Mamabolo begin by telling Abdelmonem Makki of our UN News Arabic team what UNAMID had achieved since 2007, beyond fulfilling its core mandate of keeping civilians safe.
Audio credit: Abdelmonem Makki, UN News Arabic
Photo credit: Jeremiah Mamabolo pictured - UNAMID

New Sudan government ‘acceptable to the people’ paves way for UNAMID drawdown

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. 

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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.

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