UN News Today

• Energy grid attacks, torture in Ukraine by Russian military could be crimes against humanity
• Cocaine trafficking surges following COVID-19-related slowdown
• UN human rights chief calls for further progress in Uzbekistan

In this week’s show, as people in Ukraine face a second week of Russian hostilities, we hear how UN humanitarians and rights bodies are doing as much as they can to help, from those aid workers on the ground in Lviv, near the Ukraine- Poland border, to the Human Rights Council, which has been holding an urgent debate on the crisis.

Stay with us for some tough testimony on the impact that the crisis is having on health workers, and also for always-relevant commentary - and a nod to Bertolt Brecht’s “Refugee Conversations” - from Solange Behoteguy-Cortes.

The UN Secretary-General has appealed for the military rivals in Sudan to lay down their arms for at least three days so that people trapped in their homes can get desperately needed food, supplies and medical help.

Six days of fighting have been extremely devastating for civilians, including thousands of pregnant women now cut off from care, or hospitals where they can safely deliver their babies.

The UN’s reproductive health agency, UNFPA, estimates that there are at least 219,000 mothers-to-be in the capital, Khartoum, alone.

UNFPA Regional Director Laila Baker spoke to UN News’s Abdelmonem Makki about how staff there – who are mostly Sudanese nationals – are supporting expectant mothers amidst the crossfire and frustrated hopes of a ceasefire.

Climate change has continued to drive hunger and displacement in 2022, as ever more frequent extreme weather events – drought, floods, heatwaves – have been threatening the very existence of vulnerable communities.

In a new report, the UN’s World Meteorological Organization (WMO) shows that last year, humanity’s “war on nature” – in the words of UN Secretary-General António Guterres – has resulted in several alarming records, while the years 2015 to 2022 have been the eight warmest ever.

Omar Baddour, WMO’s head of climate monitoring and policy, has been talking to Dominika Tomaszewska-Mortimer about the key trends identified in the report.

The fashion industry has always been driven by esthetics, but its environmental and social impacts are now coming to the forefront. Growing awareness of fashion’s carbon footprint and evolving consumer attitudes are prompting some of its biggest names, to question their business models and embark on a sustainable transformation.

Ahead of this Saturday’s Earth Day, Riccardo Bellini, the CEO of luxury fashion house Chloe, has been talking to Dominika Tomaszewska-Mortimer about his company’s sustainability journey and why he’s optimistic that his industry can leverage innovation and partnerships, for a greener future.