“It's tragic and it's unimaginable, but at the same time, people live their lives and they do the best they can, and they remain generous and warm, despite the circumstances that they live in. You go to these places and you see the worst and you see the best, and it's all in one package, and it is just something that really, really touches you. It's not like a regular job.”

Vivian van de Perre’s calling is to help nations transition from conflict to peace. Now the deputy head of peacekeeping in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), she leads a life-saving operation in the rebel-held city of Goma.

A recent peace accord has raised hopes of an end to the violence that has plagued eastern DRC for the past three decades. In this episode, recorded before the peace agreement, Vivian van de Perre reflects on the impact of funding cuts on active war zones, on peacekeeping as a delicate balancing act, and shares why she falls for every place she serves.

“[Losing colleagues is] heartbreaking, and you can't think about it all day long, because it will be so demoralizing you have to keep going. Nobody expects to not come back.”

Photo: ©United Nations/MONUSCO

“[Serving refugees] is not a job, it's a mission, and there's always fire in the belly that keeps you wanting to do more, but also never giving up. This is the UNHCR I joined.”

Yacoub El Hillo spent more than thirty years serving refugees and displaced people in some of the world’s worst conflict zones. But when cataclysmic war erupted in his hometown of Khartoum, Sudan, the Regional Director for Africa at the United Nations Development Coordination Office (DCO) had to help his own family flee the violence.

“I don't think there's any home in Khartoum that was spared … the assumption is that everything is gone.”

Having served in more than 16 duty stations, from Liberia to Syria, Somalia and Afghanistan, Yacoub El Hillo has rarely seen any conflict as devastating as the one currently decimating Sudan. In this episode, he reflects on the scale of the human suffering there, looks back on a rich and varied career with the UN, and shares why all nations deserve a chance to strive for a brighter future.

Photo: ©OCHA Syria

“You know, what am I doing every day for human beings, particularly those who are in, you know, a much more challenging situation, we need to support their courage, their resilience, their need to survive...and their rights.”

With her background in human rights law, Georgette Gagnon was once said to represent the conscience of war. Currently serving as the Secretary-General’s Deputy Special Representative for Afghanistan, she has been devastated by the sweeping loss of rights for women and girls there.

“You used to see across the country hundreds of girls going to school... Now, of course, you don't see that, and it's heartbreaking. It's such a huge loss for the entire society,” she says.

Afghanistan has one of the highest numbers of people in need of humanitarian support, and drastic cuts to humanitarian assistance affect access to critical care for millions. In this episode, Georgette Gagnon shares her hopes and fears for a country close to her heart, and reflects on a career serving in some of the world’s toughest places, from Syria to Sudan and Libya.

Photo: ©UN photo/UNAMA/Tahmina Osta

The World Health Organization (WHO) has repeated its call for the release of an employee detained by the Israeli military following attacks on a WHO guesthouse and its main warehouse in Deir Al-Balah, central Gaza, on Monday. 

Substantial amounts of medical supplies and medicines have been lost, while the humanitarian situation continues to deteriorate rapidly, said WHO representative in the occupied Palestinian territory, Dr. Rik Peeperkorn. Despite the “huge blow” to Gaza’s already crippled health system, the veteran emergency medic insisted that WHO will stay and deliver for the people of Gaza, despite the increasing challenges. 

Here he is now, with UN News’s Daniel Johnson.

Photo:© WHO/Pierre Albouy

As we mark the 2025 Nelson Mandela International Day, we re-wind and re-play an archive UN Radio programme by Ben Malor looking back at the struggle against apartheid and the campaign for Mandela's release in which the United Nations played an important role — archive special programme for the first commemorative Mandela Day in 2010. Photo:© UN Photo/Greg Kinch

ILO Senior Researcher Pawel Gmyrek joins Manjula Selvarajah, technology columnist and host at CBC Radio One (Canada), to unpack the findings of a new ILO Working Paper on generative AI and jobs. The conversation explores how GenAI is transforming the world of work, the methodology behind the ILO’s refined global exposure index, and what policymakers, workers, and employers should keep in mind as the technology evolves.

Investing in the future of communities that are most likely to migrate to other countries is more effective than spending money on reinforcing border security according to Amy Pope, Director General of the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

Ms. Pope was speaking on the sidelines of the UN’s Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development Sevilla, Spain. The Conference was a crucial opportunity to push for financial reforms and boost investment in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), 17 global goals adopted by all UN Member States to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure healthy lives for all by 2030, including Goal 10.7 on the orderly, safe, regular and responsible migration and mobility of people.

UN News’ Matt Wells spoke to Ms. Pope and began by asking her how sustainable development is linked to migration issues. 

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.

In West Africa, fonio farming is more than just agriculture, it’s a symbol of resilience and cultural heritage. Chef Binta, an award-winning chef and advocate for nomadic cuisine, is empowering women farmers by promoting this ancient grain. Through the Fulani Kitchen Foundation and support from FAO, she is helping communities enhance food security and shape a sustainable future while celebrating culinary traditions.

The tobacco industry continues to sell death and destruction by using flavors, packaging and advertising.   Is there any “safe” product or consumption method? How does tobacco use harm your body? Join us today in conversation with Simone St. Claire on Science in 5.

What happens when algorithms, rather than people, decide who gets hired, promoted, or assigned to the night shift? In the first episode of Work in Progress, a podcast from the International Labour Organization (ILO) Research Department, we speak with Nikolai Rogovsky, a senior economist at the ILO. We discuss how artificial intelligence is transforming human resource management and its implications for fairness, dignity, and the future of work. With nearly 30 years of experience at the ILO and a Ph.D. from Wharton, Nikolai discusses insights from ILO Working Paper No. 95. The document explores how companies use AI for hiring and workforce optimization and the risks this poses to decent work.

It’s more than just a metal. It’s in our phones, our homes, our cars – quietly powering our daily lives. As demand increases for clean technologies, like solar panels and electric vehicles, copper is increasingly in the spotlight. But what are the costs and consequences of mining it – and who really benefits? Can we meet these demands without repeating past mistakes? In this episode of UNCTAD’s The Weekly Tradecast, we speak with Professor Daniel Franks, Director of the Global Centre for Mineral Security at the University of Queensland. Listen now to learn about the global race for critical minerals, the environmental and social costs of extraction, and the urgent need for inclusive reforms in how we power our future.

With 1.2 billion young people in emerging economies reaching working age over the next decade—and only about 420 million jobs expected to be generated—the urgency of finding scalable and sustainable solutions has never been greater.

In this episode of The Development Podcast, we hear from one young person about their journey into the world of work and what the World Bank Group is doing to address one of the most urgent issues facing development: how to meet the stable employment aspirations of the developing world's fast-growing youth population.

Things should be looking good for young people in the world of work, but they’re not. While unemployment among young workers between 15 and 24 has recovered from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, there’s a growing epidemic of unhappiness among those workers in both the developed and now the developing world. So, what is to be done? This podcast asks David Blanchflower, a professor at Dartmouth College, renowned labour economist and recognized expert on youth employment, what can be done.

Are vaccines safe? What’s actually in them? In this two-part episode of the World Health Organization podcast Science in 5, Dr. Kate O’Brien breaks down how vaccines are tested, approved, and monitored even after they reach the public. She also explains what happens if a safety concern is flagged.