Caribbean island nations are vulnerable to a host of extreme weather events, from hurricanes to floods and droughts, that are becoming more dangerous and intense as a result of the climate emergency. UN News met with three of the most prominent young climate activists on Trinidad & Tobago, and learned of their frustration with current environmental legislation, and what they are doing to raise awareness of the crisis. Conor Lennon spoke to Priyanka Lalla, a teenage climate activist and UNICEF Youth Advocate for the eastern Caribbean, Joshua Prentice, a climate and ocean scientist, and ..read more

Dominica may have found a solution to cover all of its electricity needs, and even sell electricity abroad, without burning fossil fuels: geothermal energy. This power source is 100 per cent clean, cheap and practically limitless. Conor Lennon from UN News meets Vince Henderson, Dominica’s Minister for Economic Development and Sustainable Energy, and Fred John, CEO of the Dominica Geothermal Development Company to find out if the country really is on its way to a clean energy future ..read more

Small Island Developing States are particularly vulnerable to plastic pollution. As well as coping with a tsunami of waste washes up on their beaches every day, these countries – which are generally highly dependent on imports – generate a large amount of plastic waste of their own, and often struggle to manage it. Plastic pollution has a detrimental effect on the health and livelihoods of people living in small island states, which often lack the means to effectively treat and process it. It’s not great for the economy either: tourists don’t want to hang out on dirty beaches, and marine litte ..read more

COP27 officially ended on Friday, but no agreement was reached when Conor and Laura recorded their last podcast in Sharm El-Sheikh. But, despite the gloomy predictions of no deal, the COP27 outcome document was finally agreed, on Sunday morning. Back home in New York after a 25-hour journey, Conor goes solo, to pull together a final COP episode of The Lid Is On. You can find all the details on the outcome document here. Music: Within the Earth, Ketsa ..read more

In Kosovo, where tensions remain high between the ethnic Albanian and ethnic Serb communities, the United Nations is leading efforts to promote open communication and dialogue. The UN Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) was established in 1999, well before the declaration of independence in 2008, and today plays a central role in promoting peace and security, and respect for human rights, in a region where memories of the wars of the late Twentieth Century, fought between the countries of the former Yugoslavia, are still fresh for many who suffered directly or lost loved ones. On 22 April, Caroline Ziad ..read more

UN Secretary-General António Guterres is back in Sharm El-Sheikh, in an attempt to nudge countries towards resolving their differences on contentious climate issues, and reaching an acceptable outcome to COP27. He boiled down the topics to three main areas: loss and damage, the emissions gap, and climate finance. Conor and Laura were on hand in Egypt to make sense of the negotiations, and the reaction from activists and representatives of some of the countries most vulnerable to the climate crisis ..read more

The Haitian economy may be on its knees, but the gangs that control much of the capital Port-au-Prince seem to have little trouble obtaining guns, mainly from the USA. The country is awash with weapons: according to experts convened by the UN Secretary-General, these “deadly arsenals” mean that gangs have “firepower that exceeds that of the Haitian national police,” and the problem is getting worse. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), has reported an increase in the trafficking of increasingly powerful and sophisticated weapons into the country since 2021, such as AK47, AR15 ..read more

In the second episode of Humanitarian Leadership Stories, our co-production with OCHA, the UN Humanitarian Office, top UN relief officials explain how the key humanitarian principle of putting people in crisis first – and remaining accountable to them – guides their work. Daniel Johnson hears how UN humanitarian coordinators go about their work, taking calculated risks where armed groups are concerned, and not shying away from standing up to authority either. Post-production: Srdan Slavkovic Music: Ketsa, Night Whispers ..read more

April 7 marks three decades since the beginning of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda. An almost unimaginable slaughter, which saw an estimated 800,000 people killed in just 100 days, and shocked the world. Eric Eugene Murangwa was a football at the time, playing for Rayon Sports, one of the top teams in the country, based in the capital Kigali. As a Tutsi, he was in extreme danger when the genocide began. But, despite being well know, he managed to survive, despite the attempts to kill as many Tutsis as possible. He says that football saved his life. Thirty years on, Eric is living ..read more

Now in its thirteenth year, the war in Syria shows no signs of letting up, and several foreign powers are active in the country, including Russia, the US, Turkey and Israel, which has stepped up its bombardments since the 7 October Hamas attacks.  The latest report of the United Nations Commission of Inquiry details a marked escalation of violence, over the last six months, and outlines the disastrous consequences for the civilian population: around 13 million have been forced from their homes, and 90 per cent are living poverty.  Conor Lennon from UN News asked Hanny Megally, t ..read more