UNMISS Commander reinforces UN’s vital role protecting civilians

During his three-and-a-half-year tenure leading the UN peacekeeping mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), Force Commander Lieutenant General Mohan Subramanian has overseen efforts that have helped save an estimated 162,000 lives.The mission tackles a wide range of issues – from armed insurgency and the impacts of climate change, to economic insecurity and other pressing humanitarian concerns.While challenges remain and reforms are needed, M. Subramanian emphasises that without UNMISS, the situation in South Sudan would be far bleaker. In an exit interview with UN News, Sachin Gaur began by asking him how the UN mission contributed to the lives of local communities in the world’s youngest country.

On Holocaust Remembrance Day, the UN in New York marked a historic first, with the presentation of testimony from a Ukrainian Roma researcher and advocate during the annual commemoration.Nataliia Tomenko is a youth advocate and expert on Romani history, and Deputy Director of Ukraine’s Youth Agency for the Advocacy of Roma Culture.She presented a video account by her grandmother, Halyna Tomenko, a Holocaust survivor whose story reflects the persecution endured by Roma families across Eastern Europe. Too frail to travel from Ukraine, her testimony was shared on her behalf.Speaking to UN News’s Evgeniya Kleshcheva, Ms. Tomenko reflects on her grandmother’s extraordinary story and on how young people can turn remembrance into action.

Predictions that artificial intelligence will largely replace teachers in classrooms are proving to be overstated, according to the UN education agency, UNESCO.In fact, UNESCO estimates that an additional 44 million teachers will be needed worldwide by 2030.That does not mean the agency dismisses the potential of AI. On the contrary, it says the advanced technology could help transform education systems, freeing up time for students to develop critical thinking and other skills that cannot be automated.Evgeniya Kleshcheva from UN News spoke to Shafika Isaacs, Chief of UNESCO’s Section for Technology and AI in Education, who says one of the biggest misconceptions is that education systems are so broken that only algorithms can fix them.

After more than a decade of war, Syria is witnessing significant refugee and internal displacement returns – even as renewed hostilities in parts of the country force others to flee once again.Nearly 1.4 million refugees have returned from neighbouring countries since the fall of the Assad regime in December 2024. Almost two million internally displaced Syrians have also headed home to their places of origin.But fresh fighting in Aleppo and the northeast in recent weeks has triggered new displacement, while harsh winter conditions are compounding humanitarian needs.To explain what’s driving these movements and how UN agencies are responding on the ground, UN News’s Nancy Sarkis has been speaking to Céline Schmitt, spokesperson for the UN refugee agency in Syria:

The severity of online child abuse has prompted the UN and partners from the private sector, civil society and government, to commit to working together to ensure AI-tools benefit children, rather than endangering them.A joint statement was released earlier this week by the UN’s International Telecommunications Union (ITU), children’s agency, UNICEF, and offices across the UN system involved in safeguarding children.It is hoped the new shared commitment will lead to a clear roadmap for protecting youngsters worldwide.Cosmas Zavazava, the Director of the ITU’s Telecommunication Development Bureau. told UN News’s Conor Lennon from UN News about the many threats children face, and how UN is working with the tech companies to boost protection.

After more than 1,000 days of conflict, Sudan’s education system is in crisis, with an estimated eight million children currently out of school, the UN child rights agency, UNICEF, warned ahead of the International Day of Education marked on 24 January.According to its Sudan spokesperson, Eva Hinds, one in three schools has been damaged or destroyed, nearly 6,400 are closed nationwide, and around half of all school buildings are no longer functioning as classrooms, many having been repurposed as shelters for the displaced. Prolonged absence from school exposes children to heightened risks of child labour, exploitation and early marriage, particularly for girls. Ms. Hinds told UN News’s Abdelmonem Makki from N’Djamena, Chad – after wrapping up a 10-day visit to Darfur – that denying education to so many threatens an entire generation and could undermine Sudan’s recovery for decades to come. 

The war that erupted in Sudan in April 2023 between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces has killed thousands of civilians and caused devastation, mass displacement and famine.The conflict is a major preoccupation of UN human rights chief Volker Türk, who is just back from visiting the country. There, he met victims of terrible sexual violence, including escapees from the besieged city of El Fasher. With more details about the situation in Sudan and voicing concerns that what happened in El Fasher risks being repeated in South Kordofan’s Kadugli and Dilling, the High Commissioner’s spokesperson, Ravina Shamdasani, joins UN News’s Daniel Johnson.

More than two years into the conflict, Sudan is facing one of the world’s most serious and complex health emergencies, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). The fighting, which began in April 2023, has forced millions of people from their homes, deepened hunger and left much of the country’s health system barely functioning, said Dr Shible Sahbani, WHO Representative in Sudan, in an interview with UN News.  Disease outbreaks are spreading as access to health care continues to shrink. Cholera, dengue and malaria are widespread, while measles and polio are re-emerging as routine immunisation coverage falls to record lows.Speaking to UN News’s Abdelmonem Makki, Dr Sahbani stressed the urgent need for sustained funding, safe humanitarian access and protection for health workers and facilities, as attacks on health care continue. Above all, he appealed to the international community not to forget Sudan. 

Created in 1966 to boost development within newly independent countries from the Global South, the UN Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) has stayed true to its founding mission, in a world that has been transformed over the past six decades.At UNIDO’s Global Industry Summit, held in Riyadh this November, the agency’s Member States reaffirmed their commitment to help developing countries grow their economies sustainably, minimising harm to the environment and improving the lives of their citizens.Conor Lennon was in Riyadh for UN News and spoke to Fatou Haidara, UNIDO’s ? Managing Director of Global Partnerships and External Relations, about the ways that the agency has adapted to the changing priorities of its Member States, and why it continues to be a central pillar of sustainable industrialisation.

Europe’s influenza season has arrived earlier than expected this year, raising concerns about pressure on health systems as respiratory illnesses circulate during the winter months.  While the surge has prompted questions about vaccine effectiveness and vulnerable groups, health experts say the situation remains manageable – if people take the right precautions.Speaking with UN News’s Vibhu Mishra, Marc-Alain Widdowson, who leads pandemic threat and communicable disease work at the World Health Organization’s European Regional Office, explains what’s driving this year’s flu season, who is most at risk, and why it’s still not too late to get vaccinated.