“I found it fascinating as a leader […] to be in an environment of collective fear […] people naturally go to a place of great horror […] yet you're trying to buffer it yourself, because you've got to function […] The second point is the ego of leadership […] you've got to be very careful that you're not letting the ego [... drive] you past the point of really solid judgement and solid reflection.”

Deborah Lyons knows how to keep a cool head in a crisis. In August 2021, when the Taliban seized power, in her former role as Head of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), Deborah was responsible for ensuring the safety of staff across the country, among them many women. Since returning to power, the Taliban have severely curtailed women’s rights. Millions of women and girls are now excluded from work and school, contrary to initial assurances from Afghanistan’s new leaders. In this episode, Deborah Lyons reflects on the tragedy facing Afghan women, the trauma of the Taliban takeover, and what it takes to lead in turbulent times.

To counter the denial and distortion of the Holocaust, UNESCO and the United Nations sought to objectively measure the extent of these phenomena on social networks.

The best defence against conspiracy theories is knowledge. Teachers can play a central role in building the resilience, knowledge and analytical skills needed to spot and debunk conspiracy theory narratives.

“We don't have to be naive, but we have to believe in change, because change has happened. And we can make it happen again.”

Despite monitoring multiple global crises, Rebeca Grynspan has never lost her faith in the power of change. As Secretary-General of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), she is assessing the impact of the war in Ukraine on cash-strapped countries still reeling from the pandemic. A trio of crises – climate change, COVID-19, and the war in Ukraine – are setting global development by decades, with vulnerable countries worst affected by global food and energy shortages. In this episode, Rebeca Grynspan reflects on these setbacks, their disproportionate impact on women, and why the world can never give up on the promise of development.

Photo: ©UNCTAD/Violaine Martin

Hate is action. Hate is words. Hate is hate. Say #NoToHate and join us to take action to claim your #bodyright.

A video announcing this year’s laureate of the only UN prize dedicated to journalism. When others back down, journalists seek the truth and uncover facts. The prize honours those who stand up to protect your freedom.

If you like political cartoons, chances are that you’ve come across the work of Patrick Chappatte, in leading international newspapers and journals.

In addition to his prolific output, Mr. Chappate is also president of the Freedom Cartoonists Foundation; to coincide with World Press Freedom Day 2022 on 3 May, it’s unveiled a new exhibition in Geneva, featuring drawings by other top illustrators who take great risks to stand up to authority.

He explains to UN News’s Daniel Johnson how the challenges to a free press seem to be proliferating – and why it’s so important to push back against those who would stifle free speech.

Audio Credit: Daniel Johnson, UN News - Geneva

Photo Credit: © Freedom Cartoonists/Antoine Tardy

Social media influencers are glamourizing the use of cannabis, heroin and other controlled substances, and governments and companies need to do more to stop these kinds of messages being spread on popular platforms, the head of a UN-backed drug control body warned on Thursday. Jagjit Pavadia, the President of the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB), spoke to Conor Lennon from UN News on the launch of the organization’s annual report, which also shows that many potentially harmful drugs are easily available online. Ms. Pavadia began by outlining the scale of the problem, and the danger it poses, particularly to young people and children.

New data from the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) reveal strong global growth in Internet use, with the estimated number of people who have used the Internet surging to 4.9 billion in 2021. The unusually sharp rise in the number of people online suggests that measures taken during the pandemic contributed to a 'COVID connectivity boost' that has brought an estimated 782 million additional people online since 2019, an increase of 17 per cent. However, ITU data confirm that the ability to connect remains profoundly unequal.

World Television Day celebrates the power of TV to inform the public on the issues facing humankind, to influence public opinion and to impact decision-making. Despite the competition that television faces from online platforms, TV-set ownership continues to grow. During the COVID-19 pandemic television viewership increased and took on a new significance. In low- and middle-income countries, where Internet penetration rates are typically under 50%, television even enabled remote learning for students without online access.

Ending impunity for crimes against journalists is vitally important to guarantee freedom of expression and access to information for all citizens. The level of impunity for crimes against journalists remains extremely high globally, with nearly nine out of ten crimes going unpunished. This year’s campaign for the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists highlights the psychological trauma experienced by journalists, who are victims of threats, and raises awareness of the importance to investigate and prosecute these threats.

Media and information literacy empowers people to develop themselves and their societies to better respond to potentially harmful kinds of content. As the world recovers from the COVID-19 and continues to grapple with the alarming rise in disinformation, media and information literacy comes to the fore as a sustainable solution for building resilience and for advancing the role of information as a public good. Global Media and Information Literacy Week (24 – 31 October) highlights the importance of strengthening media and information literacy for all, looking towards a post-pandemic world.

Freedom of expression is a fundamental right, indispensable in democratic societies. However, this right is not an absolute right, and may be lawfully restricted according to certain principles and conditions. Under international human rights law, and specifically, article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), the three-part test determines whether a restriction on freedom of expression is legitimate.

"We took around seven children back to the UNICEF compound here in Kabul… there was a little boy called Mudares [...

"We know that whenever you have these sort of atrocity crimes that happened here [Bosnia and Herzegovina], they're often preceded by hate." Ingrid Macdonald, UN Resident Coordinator in Bosnia and Herzegovina, is tasked with spearheading the UN’s efforts to support development in a country deeply scarred by ethnic divisions and the legacy of war and the 1995 genocide at Srebrenica. Since relocating to Sarajevo in early 2020, just as COVID-19 was taking hold, Ingrid has been focused on finding ways to bring divided communities together and tackle hate speech and genocide denial, just 26 years after Bosnian Serb forces massacred 8,000 Muslim men and boys. She talks about the challenges she faced in her roles and of trying to advocate for the vulnerable, including women in Afghanistan.