UN Interviews

Tens of thousands of people went missing under the Assad dictatorship in Syria during more than five decades of systematic repression and forced disappearances.In response, the UN General Assembly established the Independent Institution on Missing Persons in the Syrian Arab Republic (IIMP) in 2023 to help account for them all.The investigative body aims to provide long-awaited truth and closure for Syrian families.Speaking to UN News’s Abdelmonem Makki following their recent assessment mission to Syria, IIMP head Karla Quintana said that “everyone knows someone who is missing”.

Following the COVID-19 pandemic – which disrupted immunisation efforts around the world – data from the World Health Organization (WHO) shows Ukraine made remarkable progress restoring its inoculation programmes. However, the full-scale Russian invasion of February 2022 has wreaked havoc with the country’s health infrastructure, displaced millions, and led to outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases like measles and pertussis.In an interview with UN News’s Evgeniya Kleshcheva, the national official who oversees immunisation at the WHO Country Office in Ukraine, Yevgenii Grechukha, outlines the severe impact of the war, highlights the fight against vaccine misinformation, and how the UN agency’s been working to improve access for those displaced.

UN Humanitarian Affairs chief Tom Fletcher has been forced to make “brutal cuts” to his organization, as major donors in the rich world slash their aid and international development spending.UN News’s Conor Lennon spoke to him on Thursday via video-link from the UN offices in the Afghan capital Kabul, at the end of a three week visit to some of the most vulnerable communities in the country, where he has witnessed first-hand the deadly consequences of the dramatic aid slowdown.Mr. Fletcher has publicly challenged policymakers who signed off on cuts to come to Afghanistan to see the effect they're having on the population, saying that “the effect of aid cuts, is that millions die”.Conor began by asking if he uses the same blunt language with senior politicians in private.

The Māori women and girls of New Zealand who have survived sexual violence face a double trauma when accessing care, according to Māori activists.Worldwide, nearly one in three women will experience gender-based violence, a statistic that is even higher amongst Indigenous women and girls, especially in the Māori community.Due to the stigma surrounding sexual violence, and the lack of cultural awareness in the healthcare system, Māori women and girls rarely report instances of sexual violence.During the 24th session of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, currently being held at the UN Headquarters in New York, UN News’s Emma Trager-Lewis sat down with Kerri Nuku, Director of the New Zealand Nurses’s Organisation; and Tracey Morgan, Chair of the College of Primary HealthCare Nurses in New Zealand.Both women are Māori activists participating in the forum and began by introducing themselves in both Māori and English. 

Since arriving in Libya two months ago, UN Special Representative Hanna Tetteh has been engaging with key political figures to address the complex challenges facing the country as it struggles to recover from years of civil strife and multiple crises.While there is general agreement on the need for elections, Ms. Tetteh has told UN News that consensus on moving forward remains elusive – emphasizing the importance of strengthening democracy through a Government which has a genuine mandate from the people.Reem Abaza began by asking Ms. Tetteh for her key takeaways so far as the top UN official in Libya.

The people of Sudan are facing “endemic trauma” as the African country marks two years of a civil war, according to a documentary photographer working for the United Nations.Violence has escalated in recent weeks and now the UN estimates that over 30 million people require humanitarian assistance.Famine is devastating five regions and up to 12 million people have fled their homes.Photographer Giles Clarke is a frequent visitor to Sudan.Daniel Dickinson asked him to describe the situation on the ground during his latest visit.

The recent escalation of violence between Lebanon and Israel has left widespread devastation, and many unexploded weapons in residential and agricultural areas.These hidden threats - remnants of both past and ongoing hostilities - have once again become a significant concern for civilians living in border areas.Stephen Robinson, Mine Action Senior Policy Adviser at the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) spoke to UN News’s Nancy Sarkis about the urgent need for mine action in Lebanon.

The situation in South Sudan remains precarious, with the threat of renewed civil war looming large.A growing concern, according to Lieutenant General Mohan Subramanian, Force Commander of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), is the dangerous spread of misinformation, disinformation and hate speech, which continue to fuel instability in an already fragile environment.He warned that even a single fake message shared on platforms like WhatsApp can trigger chaos, undermine peace efforts and deepen tensions between communities.General Subramanian spoke to UN News’s Sachin Gaur and started by telling him about the key challenges the UN peacekeeping mission is facing in its efforts to maintain security. 

After a deadly Russian strike on Sumy, Ukraine, on Sunday — which killed at least 34 people, including two children, and injured over 100 — the UN Children’s Fund, UNICEF, has renewed its call for an end to the war.Jinan Ramadan, Chief of UNICEF’s Field Office in Kharkiv, has just returned from a mission to assess the situation in Sumy.Her office, which also coordinates humanitarian aid for the region, visited the local children’s hospital where many young victims are being treated.In an interview with UN News’s Evgeniya Kleshcheva, Ms. Ramadan shared powerful accounts of the suffering she witnessed — from traumatized families to injured children — and highlighted the critical support UNICEF is providing in the wake of the tragedy. 

Myanmar’s earthquake catastrophe is now known to have killed more than 3,600 people and injured more than 5,000.The toll is still rising, says the UN Children’s Fund, UNICEF, which is on the ground providing vital assistance to the most vulnerable individuals who’ve lost everything. UN News's Daniel Johnson has been speaking to the UN agency’s Chief of Social Policy, Bjorn Gelders. He says that about 6.3 million people need help urgently - before the monsoon rains come – and for a long time afterwards, too.