Person Archives - Page 2 of 4

First Person: How youth and forests tackle Honduras’ water crisis

·October 7, 2023·5 min read

Montserrat Xilotl, a Regional Technical Advisor in Climate Change Adaptation for the UN Development Programme (UNDP), explains why. Montserrat Xilotl, Regional Technical Advisor in Climate Change Adaptation for the UN Development Programme (UNDP). “Forests are nature’s water filters and storage systems. When rain falls, the trees, and vegetation capture and...

First Person: From Afghan refugee to Ukraine aid worker

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·September 30, 2023·3 min read

Having previously endured conflict in Afghanistan, Ali comprehended the far-reaching implications of large-scale military actions on the lives of civilians. Immediately after the start of the Ukraine war, Ali and his wife, the owners of a small clothing store in Odessa, began to engage in relief work and donate clothes...

First Person: ‘Immense psychological injuries’ following 2003 attack on UN Baghdad

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·August 20, 2023·5 min read

Khaled Mansour, now a writer and journalist, was the WFP spokesperson in Iraq at the time and narrowly missed the massive explosion which killed 22 of his UN colleagues. On World Humanitarian Day which was established to mark the 19 August attack, he reflects on his life since and what he...

First Person: Iraqis ‘not abandoned’ after 2003 attack on UN Baghdad

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·August 19, 2023·4 min read

The then New York-based Elpida Rouka had accompanied the Executive Director of the Office of the Iraq Programme on a mission to Baghdad and survived the deadly explosion which killed 22 of her UN colleagues. The 19 August attack is commemorated annually by World Humanitarian Day. “A young 25-year-old barely two...

First Person: Family death ‘turning point’ in South Sudanese humanitarian’s life

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·August 16, 2023·5 min read

She is currently deployed with the UN humanitarian affairs office, OCHA, to the north of her country, supporting refugees who are fleeing conflict in Sudan. She has been speaking to UN News ahead of World Humanitarian Day which is commemorated annually on 19 August. “Saving lives became a passion of mine when...

First Person: Rising above floods in Viet Nam

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·August 5, 2023·2 min read

Extreme weather between October and November of 2020, highlighted the vulnerability of the inhabitants of the city of Huế in central Viet Nam to flooding. City resident Nguyễn Văn Tia told UN News how his family was impacted by the flooding and has benefited from the FloodAdaptVN programme coordinated by...

First Person: Ukrainian ‘city of heroes’ plans post-invasion future

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·July 20, 2023·5 min read

Alexander Senkevich, the Mayor of Mykolaiv, spoke to UN News about reconstruction efforts and the role of the United Nations amidst the threat of ongoing shelling. “We were bombed for 230 days, 159 people died, and 750 were injured. A lot of the city was destroyed because there was shelling...

First Person: Thai teenage drop-out turns peer educator

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·July 11, 2023·3 min read

Ahead of World Population Day, marked annually on 11 July, Chompunuch Maneechat, known as Baitoey, spoke with UN News about the importance of young people seizing every opportunity to improve themselves and contribute to society with meaningful work. “I left school in my hometown, Phrae, when I was 15 years old...

First Person: A Thai police trainer’s ‘passion’ for fighting the SE Asia drug trade

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·July 2, 2023·4 min read

The trainee police officers are part of a network of law enforcement specialists in Thailand, but also across the region, who are cooperating across borders to stem trafficking operations by international crime syndicates. They are collaborating under the border liaison office (BLO) network, supported by the UN Office on Drugs...

First Person: Reducing the harm caused by drugs in Thailand

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·June 23, 2023·3 min read

Watcharapol Mahaprom, who goes by the name Paan, accesses services at a clinic in Bangkok run by the UNODC-supported non-governmental organization, Ozone. The organization promotes harm-reduction services which focus on their clients’ needs with the aim of preventing the health and social impacts of drug use. He spoke to UN...

First Person: ‘We want to be included’

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·June 15, 2023·3 min read

Nicholas Herd is a campaigner for L’Arche Canada, part of international non-profit organization working towards the inclusion of people with intellectual disabilities. He is participating in the UN Conference of States Parties to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities which is taking place at UN Headquarters in New York....

First Person: Caught in the crossfire in Sudan

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·May 8, 2023·4 min read

At the same time, UN agencies are also helping to provide emergency relief support, including the International Organization for Migration (IOM), whose Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM) aims at assisting refugees and third country nationals who are desperately trying to flee fighting by escaping to neighbouring countries. Sudan’s national army and...