Person Archives - Page 3 of 4

First Person: Keeping memories of Rwandan genocide victims alive

·April 15, 2023·4 min read

A toddler’s dress, and a five-year-old’s dress and sweater. Washed, cleaned, but still stained with blood. These are the personal items that Immaculée Songa donated to “Stories of Survival and Remembrance - A call to action for genocide prevention,” currently on show at UN Headquarters, along with a photo album,...

First Person: Passion to feed a healthier Gambia

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·April 8, 2023·3 min read

At only 24 years of age, Alhadgie Faal has built a successful small business, by turning family land in Kanuma, which is in Gambia’s North Bank region, into a sizable plot, where he grows fruit and vegetables to sell to restaurants and hotels. He started his company after receiving training...

First Person: Journeys of resilience in Ukraine

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·April 1, 2023·5 min read

Manfred Profazi, who is based in Vienna, Austria, has been touring some of the regions in Ukraine which have been most seriously affected by over 13 months of conflict following Russia’s full-scale invasion. He has told UN News what he’s been seeing across the devastated country and how IOM has...

First Person: ‘Simple dreams’ of Syrians following earthquake

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·April 1, 2023·4 min read

Shirin Yaseen from the Office of the Spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General visited northwestern Syria as part of an interagency mission to assess the situation there. “On the day we visited Jindairis in northern Syria, one of the areas most affected by the February earthquake, the weather conditions were very bad. A...

First Person: The Indonesian power ranger

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·March 25, 2023·5 min read

Known by her nickname, Ega was one of 15 women selected to participate in the UN Development Programme-supported Perempuan Inspiratif Mitra Polhut (Inspiring Women to Partner with Forest Rangers) initiative, which aims to protect the Bogani Nani Wartabone National Park and provide opportunities to nearby communities. © Bogani Nani Wartabone...

First Person: Starting from zero – Gambian returning migrant counts cost of attempted Europe crossing

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·March 18, 2023·5 min read

“I’m from Jarra, a rural area in the Lower River Region of The Gambia, in the middle of the country. I moved to the capital, Banjul, when I was 15, to live with my brother and go to high school. I didn’t graduate, though, because we couldn’t afford the fees....

First Person: ‘Nepal is ready for its next chapter’

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·March 12, 2023·5 min read

There are currently 46 so-called Least Developed Countries (LDCs), a United Nations designation. They have been participating in an international conference in Doha, Qatar, focused on how best to support their development and future graduation from the LDC group. Subharsh Nepali (left) and colleagues (file) “In the 1970s, when Nepal...

First Person: Vulnerable Ukrainian farmers plough a self-sufficient furrow

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·March 10, 2023·4 min read

Pierre Vauthier is the chief of office for the FAO in Ukraine. He told UN News how the FAO team in the country – around 100 staff members, mostly Ukrainian specialists in agriculture-related areas – was dispersed throughout the country, in often difficult working conditions. “One of the difficulties we...

First Person: Hatching a plan for success in rural Gambia

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·February 26, 2023·5 min read

Guidom Sabally’s high school education was cut short because his family could no longer afford school fees. For many years, he struggled to find work as an unskilled labourer. Now in his 40s, Mr. Sabally was able to take up the opportunity of free technical training, provided by a UN-led...

First Person: The towns in Ukraine which no longer exist

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·February 20, 2023·3 min read

Johannes Fromholt is currently near the frontline in Donetsk Oblast and has been describing the support the UN is providing. “I am currently in Kurakhove, which is close to the frontline. We see heavy fighting, which has intensified even in the past week. We came here as part of a...

First Person: Türkiye earthquake – 60 seconds of terror

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·February 8, 2023·3 min read

“Like hundreds of thousands of other people in South-Eastern Türkiye I was fast asleep when the world started to shake. I don’t really know how to describe to anyone who hasn’t felt an earthquake, let alone one of the biggest ever recorded in this region. It’s just completely surreal. The...

First Person: The Liberian police inspector working to end sexual and gender-based violence

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·November 26, 2022·2 min read

“I am in charge of cases pertaining to women and children in Nimba county. The most prevalent cases I handle here are rape, persistent non-support (failure to pay alimony) and domestic violence. Rape is the most commonly reported of these cases. It is a very difficult issue to work on,...