UN Interviews

Depriving any person caught up in fighting of their basic human dignity, is nothing less than a “moral failure” on the part of the international community.That’s the view of the head of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Mirjana Spoljaric, whose neutral, impartial and independent aid teams – among many other things – support those trapped in conflict through no fault of their own.UN News’s Liudmila Blagonravova spoke to Ms. Spoljaric at UN Headquarters in New York on Tuesday, after she addressed the UN General Assembly on the issue, making a call for international law to be made an urgent political priority.

With new Israeli legislation coming into effect on Thursday outlawing Palestine refugee agency, UNRWA, international staff have already been forced to leave the agency’s headquarters in East Jerusalem for Jordan, after their visas were cut short.The UN is bracing for the “nightmare scenario” which would mean a halt to all operations – a major blow to “all the people it serves” in the region, UNRWA spokesperson Jonathan Fowler told UN News’s Ezzat El-Ferri from Amman, Jordan.The move represents another blow to multilateralism worldwide, he said.

In the first week of the ceasefire, the World Food Programme (WFP) has been able to reach more than 330,000 people with food assistance in Gaza.With so many now on the move, WFP’s priority is to ensure assistance follows the people.Programme Director of Emergencies, Samer Abdel Jaber, told UN News’s Nancy Sarkis that their work is “needed more than ever” across the whole Middle East, with crises continuing in Lebanon and Syria, where millions are still going hungry.

Long before the United States entered the Second World War in December 1941, American aid workers were fanning out across territory occupied by the Axis powers, attempting to help Jews escape, as their grip tightened.A new book on their work underlines the chaos of the time, and the difficult decisions they had to make, knowing that for every person they saved, many more would be killed.Saints and Liars, by Debórah Dwork, the Director of the Center for the Study of the Holocaust, Genocide, and Crimes Against Humanity at the City University of New York Graduate Center, tells the stories of rescue workers in five key cities as the situation on the ground grew increasingly dire.At the launch ahead of the  International Day of Commemoration in memory of the victims of the Holocaust marked annually on 27 January, Tracey Petersen, the manager of the UN Holocaust Education Outreach Programme, interviewed Debórah Dwork at UN Headquarters, and began by asking her about the book’s title.

The situation in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo is becoming increasingly unsafe for both civilians and aid teams, the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, warned on Friday, amid threats by the M23 rebel group that its fighters are about to attack Goma, the regional capital of North Kivu.According to the agency, some 400,000 people have been uprooted by violence in North and South Kivu since the beginning of the year alone because of intensifying violence and clashes between the M23 rebels, the Congolese Armed Forces and other armed groups.In an exclusive interview with UN News’s Alpha Diallo, UNHCR’s chief of office in Goma, Abdoulaye Barry, told us what conditions were like in the key city that’s home to two million people.

The UN human rights office, OHCHR, warned on Thursday that children are not being spared from escalating Israeli military operations in the West Bank.In the last few days, Israeli security forces have surrounded Jenin camp – targeting militants – using drones, Apache helicopters, fighter jets, and aerial bombing tactics, according to OHCHR’s top official in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Ajith Sunghay.Children both from the West Bank and Gaza want to return to school – and are extremely affected by “the pains of the occupation and war”.In an interview with UN News, Mr. Sunghay, told Daniel Johnson that children in Gaza have already gone through “massive trauma” and that it will take years for them “to go back to some sense of normalcy”. 

The screening at the UN of the stunning new film, Cabrini, portraying the hardships faced by vulnerable migrants moving to New York City at the turn of the last century, provides a timely reminder that there’s still much that needs to be done to help vulnerable people on the move everywhere today.That’s the message from the star of the film, Cristiana Dell’Anna, who plays the real-life Italian missionary Mother Francesca Cabrini, famous for working in New York’s slums providing shelter, education and hope to street children who faced discrimination and rank racism in their new adopted home.Here’s Ms. Dell’Anna now, speaking to UN News’s Daniel Johnson in Geneva.

The conflict in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has reached alarming new levels following the M23 armed group’s seizure of Minova in South Kivu - a critical hub along the supply route to regional capital Goma.Since the UN Organization Stabilization Mission in the DRC (MONUSCO) withdrew from South Kivu in June 2024, UN peacekeepers have focused on defending key positions in North Kivu, including Goma and Sake, where clashes between the M23, the Congolese Armed Forces and other armed groups persist.Recent fighting in Bweremana claimed at least 10 lives and triggered mass displacement toward Kalehe, Goma and Rusayo, with now over 250,000 people displaced.Speaking to UN News’ Cristina Silveiro, MONUSCO spokesperson Ndeye Khady Lo highlighted the severe challenges humanitarian workers face in delivering aid without logistical and security support.

In a matter of days, UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees may be forced to end its crucial, life-saving operations in Gaza and The West Bank.Legislation passed by the Israeli Government, due to come into effect at the end of the month, would make it impossible for UNRWA to continue operating in the occupied Palestinian territories.Juliette Touma, the UNRWA Director of Communications, told Conor Lennon from UN News that despite the threat hanging over the agency, her colleagues on the ground remain dedicated to providing essential services in both Gaza and the West Bank.

After eight years gathering evidence of serious crimes committed by members of the Assad regime, the International Impartial and Independent Mechanism (IIIM), a body set up by the General Assembly in 2016, was finally able to set foot in Damascus in December 2024, just days after the fall of the dictator, Bashar al Assad.Robert Petit, the head of the IIIM, told Conor Lennon from UN News that there is renewed hope that his team will be allowed to deploy on the ground in Syria and, eventually, that perpetrators will face justice.