Interviews United Nations

With only six years to the 2030 deadline, humanity is alarmingly off track in the bid to reach the 17 Sustainable Development Goals, or SDGs. 
Keeping track of progress is a gigantic task but one of the global tech giants – Google - is answering the call.  
At the recent AI for Good Global Summit, Melike Yetken Krilla, who’s in charge of Google’s relations with international organisations, brought UN News’ Anton Uspensky up to speed on big data solutions such as Data Commons for the SDGs, a platform aggregating data on the Goals, and Flood Hub – which provides early warning of natural disasters.

Since the Taliban took back power as the de facto authority in Afghanistan in 2021, women’s rights have come under attack.
Today, the country barely makes the headlines despite the ongoing suppression of women’s rights and humanitarian crises, such as earthquakes and recent floods.
Jorge Moreira da Silva, the Head of the UN Office for Project Services, recently returned from a visit to Afghanistan to inspect some of the Office’s initiatives. 
He told Mayra Lopes from UN News that, despite many difficulties, the UN has never left the country and continues to provide the support its people need.

The potentially transformative effects of Artificial Intelligence have been brought into focus by the UN in recent days, following a major conference in Geneva: the AI For Global Good Summit.
The title of the event says it all: how is the technology being used to further UN-endorsed goals, such as reducing inequality, tackling the climate crisis, and supporting sustainable development.
But the fact that we need to promote “AI for Good” is perhaps also an acknowledgement of fears that AI can be used in ways that are not beneficial, and some speakers brought up some of the issues that need to be addressed, such as gender bias in tech, and social media addiction.
Conor Lennon from UN News asked Fred Werner, one of the founders of the Summit and the Head of Strategic Engagement at the ITU, the UN’s agency for digital technology, how the technology is being used by the UN, and whether or not it has the potential to save lives.

Restoring land, halting desertification and building resilience against drought are the focus of World Environment Day on 5 June.
Up to 40 per cent of the world’s land is already degraded, while more than three billion people worldwide are negatively impacted by drought, according to the UN Environment Programme (UNEP).
UN News’s Julia Dean in Canberra spoke with UNEP’s Coordinator for Nature Action in Asia and the Pacific, Makiko Yashiro, about the 2024 campaign and why these are such critical issues for people and planet. 

A medical epidemiologist working with the Indian Ocean Commission’s One Health initiative says that the number of ministers from small island States attending this week’s SIDS4 Conference in Antigua and Barbuda shows there is real “political commitment” to take urgent action.
Dr. Lovena Preeyadarshini Mangroo of Mauritius says although all five island nations that make up the Commission have similar problems, each country is different and must be properly understood before prevention and response plans to head of epidemics and other health risks can be put in place.
UN News’s Matt Wells caught up with her in Antigua and began by asking her to spell out what was at stake for safeguarding public health.

The developed world must increase support for small island developing States “not as an expression of generosity but of responsibility”, the UN’s Special Representative for Disaster Risk Reduction has said.
Kamal Kishore – who also heads up the Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) - was speaking to UN News in Antigua and Barbuda as the Fourth International Conference on Small Island Developing States (SIDS4) came to a close on Thursday.
He told Matt Wells that SIDS have always been “ahead of the curve” in trying to mitigate the impacts of increasingly extreme weather on their vulnerable countries and economies - but they can’t do it alone.