It has now been over 1,000 days since the Taliban, the de facto authorities in Afghanistan, banned education for girls beyond sixth grade, a figure described by the Executive Director of the UN children’s agency, UNICEF, as “a blatant violation of their right to education” resulting in “dwindling opportunities and deteriorating mental health”.
To raise awareness and support Afghan Girls, Education Cannot Wait, the global fund for education in emergencies and crises, has launched a new phase of its Afghan Girls Voices campaign, featuring inspiring works from some of the world’s leading artists.
Many prominent voices are supporting the campaign, including the UN Special Envoy for Global Education, and former UK Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, who told Conor Lennon from UN News that the thousand day milestone was a “day of shame”.
Audio: UN News/ Conor Lennon
Photo: © IOM/Mohammad Osman Azizi

‘The Taliban have stripped girls of the rights they once had’: Gordon Brown

•	Gaza: UN rights chief’s ire amid fresh strikes on refugee camp
•	Myanmar in Human Rights Council spotlight
•	Stark variations in attitudes to migrants, asylum seekers: UNHCR  

Audio Credit: Daniel Johnson, UN News.
Audio Duration: 4'36"
Photo Credit: UN Geneva

News in Brief - 18 June 2024 - Gaza, Myanmar and migrants and refugees

• The laws of war are being ‘consistently violated' by Israel during its Gaza bombing campaign, says the UN human rights office
• Gazans are barely surviving amid the massive destruction
• China is being urged to provide information on an imprisoned Uyghur doctor

News in Brief - 19 June 2024 - Gaza, Occupied Palestinian territory and imprisoned Uyghur doctor

The resilience of women-led organizations to continue working across Gaza to benefit their communities is “an inspiration”, the Special Representative for UN Women in the region said on Wednesday in an interview with UN News.
Maryse Guimond from the Palestine Office of the UN agency advocating for gender equality described her first mission to the war-stricken enclave since before hostilities began and outlined how they are collaborating with other agencies, providing resources suck as food, dignity kits and psychosocial support.
She told Abdelmonem Makki the women-led organizations UN Women has been supporting are “key responders”, many of whom have been displaced multiple times themselves during the ongoing conflict. He first asked her to describe what she’d seen on the ground.

Audio credit: Abdelmonem Makki, UN News
Photo credit: UNFPA

Women-led organizations in Gaza ‘an inspiration’: UN Women official

Each year on 20 June, the world celebrates World Refugee Day with forced displacement surging to historic new levels across the globe, according to the 2024 flagship Global Trends Report from refugee agency UNHCR.

UN News’s Pauline Batista sat down with UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador Mary Maker from South Sudan, at UN Headquarters in New York, who discussed the importance of education and inclusion for refugees to ensure the mantra “leave no one behind” becomes a reality – especially in refugee camps around the world.

Audio and photo credit: Pauline Batista, UN News
Audio: 14'32"

UNHCR ambassador calls for greater access and educational opportunities for young refugees

•	Don’t forget Sudan crisis on World Refugee Day says aid agency chief Grandi
•	Gaza today: Scorching heat, dire aid shortages and heavy fighting, warns OCHA
•	Foreign direct investment declines for second year, UNCTAD report shows

Audio Credit: Daniel Johnson, UN News.
Audio: 5'6"
Photo Credit: © UNICEF/Mohamed Zakaria

News in Brief - 20 June 2024 - Sudan, Gaza and UNCTAD

War-torn Sudan is facing a looming famine and the world’s largest displacement crisis as the conflict between rival militaries that started last April grinds on and the situation deteriorates on the ground.

UN News’s Khaled Mohamed spoke with Justin Brady, who leads the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in the country.

Speaking from Port Sudan, where most aid agencies are now based, Mr. Brady warned that “the images starting to come out from some areas are reminiscent of the worst of any famine we have seen elsewhere”.

He also outlined the tense situation in El Fasher and other hotspots around the country, stressing that “we’re in a race against time, but the time is running out.”

Audio and photo credit: Khaled Mohamed, UN News
Audio: 14'32"

‘Time is running out’ in Sudan

More than 60 elections are taking place in 2024 and, whilst 90 per cent of people say they want to live in a democracy, many are voting for people and systems that are restricting their rights.
The UN has expressed concern about this “democracy paradox”, and that fact that some governments and governance systems are becoming increasingly repressive. 
Conor Lennon from UN News discusses the issue with Sarah Lister, the Head of Governance at the UN Development Programme, and Iain Walker, the CEO of newDemocracy.
Audio: UN News/ Conor Lennon
Photo: Fardin Waezi/UNAMA

In a year of elections, why is there a ‘Democracy Paradox’?

Around four in 10 countries where conflicts have ended return to a state of war within a decade, which is why investing in disarmament, demobilization and reintegration is crucial to sustaining peace.

That was one of the key messages from the UN Department of Peace Operations (DPO) and UN Development Programme (UNDP) at this year’s Symposium on Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration which was held in Geneva.

To find out more, UN News’ Nathalie Minard spoke to Thomas Kontogeorgos, an expert on the issue based at DPO. 

She asked him about the situation in Haiti, DRC, Mali and Sudan – and what support the UN still provides to countries once peacekeeping missions come to an end.

Audio credit: Nathalie Minard, UN News
Audio: 11'49"
Photo credit: MONUSCO

Keeping the peace isn’t just about laying down weapons, says top analyst

•	Gaza is more than two million stories of loss: UN agencies
•	Internal displacement set to surge as paths of climate change and conflict meet #HRC56
•	UNHCR rushes support to Rohingya refugees hit by deadly landslides in Bangladesh 

Audio Credit: Daniel Johnson, UN News
Audio Duration: 4'58"
Photo Credit: © UNRWA

News in Brief - 21 June 2024 - Gaza, Climate Change and Bangladesh

UNESCO spoke to Ms. Michelle Betz, who has over 25 years of experience as a senior media development and press freedom expert, journalist and journalism educator. Her areas of expertise include media in conflict and post-conflict, military-media relations, safety issues and rapid response interventions and she has a particular interest in the use of media in conflict prevention and resolution. Michelle has worked with journalists and radio stations around the world including in Rwanda, Ghana, Burundi, Mali and Burkina Faso.

Disclaimer:
UNESCO is pleased to make the audio and text of this interview available copyright-free for the celebration of World Radio Day 2019. Radio stations are especially encouraged to broadcast the interview, either in its totality or by extracting the answers and announcing the questions themselves.

Interview with media and press freedom expert Michelle Betz

L'UNESCO a le plaisir d'offrir, ces spots radios libres de droit, à partager ou diffuser. 
UNESCO offers these interesting radio spots available rights-free for broadcast. Feel free to share!
Pour plus d'informations, visitez www.journeemondialeradio.org 
You can find out more by visiting www.worldradioday.org

Disclaimer: 

UNESCO is pleased to make the audio and text of this interview available copyright-free for the celebration of World Radio Day 2018. Radio stations are especially encouraged to broadcast the interview, either in its totality or by extracting the answers and announcing the questions themselves.

The designations employed in these audios and the presentation of material therein do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. 
The views and opinions expressed in these audio files are those of the authors and/or speakers, do not necessarily reflect the views of UNESCO and do not in any way commit the Organization. 

The six languages present on this channel represent the six official languages of the United Nations.

====

Disclaimer
UNESCO makes every effort to ensure that the information in its SoundCloud page is always accurate, but can not guarantee it. The presence of hyperlinks to other websites does not imply the UNESCO responsibility for the information contained in these sites, nor approval of this information.
The content of this site in the public domain unless otherwise indicated. It may be used for non-commercial reproduction, subject to mentioning the source.
The views and opinions expressed in these audio, text and video files are those of the authors and/or speakers, do not necessarily reflect the views of UNESCO and do not in any way commit the Organization.
 
Responsabilité
L'UNESCO fait tout son possible pour que l'information donnée dans son page du SoundCloud soit toujours exacte, mais elle ne peut pas le garantir. La présence de liens hypertexte avec d'autres sites Web n'implique ni la responsabilité de l'UNESCO pour l'information contenue dans ces sites, ni son approbation de cette information.
Le contenu de ce site appartient au domaine public, sauf indication contraire. Il peut faire l'objet de reproduction à but non commercial avec mention de sa source.
Les idées et opinions exprimées dans le contenu écrit, audio, photo et video présent sur ce site engagent leurs auteure et ne sauraient refléter l'opinion de l'UNESCO ni engager de quelque manière la responsabilité de l'Organisation.

Interview with media and press freedom expert Michelle Betz

World Radio Day

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