Listen Now

In the last of our mini-series recorded in The Gambia, we look at the challenges and opportunities for entrepreneurs, and how the UN is helping new companies to grow, bringing much-needed jobs to rural areas. Conor Lennon meets Musa Darbo, who quit his well-paying job in the US to return home and start a rice business, in order to employ struggling smallholder farmers, and end The Gambia’s dependence on imported rice. Music: Within the Earth, Ketsa

Gambia has the highest per capita emigration rate of any African nation; between 2015 and 2020 over 33,000 Gambians, mainly young men, left home in search of better opportunities in Europe, despite the low likelihood of success, and significant dangers. Since the end of the dictatorship in 2017, thousands of migrants have returned, and the UN is helping them to find jobs and start small businesses, as well as running projects aimed at developing the wider economy, and dissuading others from making the perilous trip by convincing them that they can have succeed at home. In the fourth episode of our mini-series recorded in The Gambia, Conor Lennon meets a returned migrant making a life for himself and his family in the capital, Banjul, after a traumatic, two-year-long attempt to reach Italy. Music: Within the Earth, Ketsa

When it comes to climate action, The Gambia can proudly lay claim to being the first country to meet its commitments under the 2015 Paris Climate Agreements. But, like all developing countries, its people are suffering disproportionately from the effects of the climate crisis, particularly more unpredictable rainfall, and flooding. In episode three of our mini-series recorded in The Gambia, Conor Lennon heads to the Central River Region, to find out how, with the support of the UN, rural communities are adapting to the changing environment and, at the same time, learning to becomes more self-sufficient. Music: Within the Earth, Ketsa

Many women and girls in The Gambia are affected by “period poverty”, meaning that they are unable to afford menstrual products, which puts them at risk of infection, and discourages them from attending school. In the second of our Lid Is On episodes recorded in The Gambia, one of the world’s least developed countries, Conor Lennon from UN News heads to Basse, in the rural Upper River Region, to find out how the UN is addressing period poverty, and providing employment for vulnerable women and girls. Music: Within the Earth, Ketsa

The Gambia, the smallest country on the African mainland, and one of the least developed countries in the world, has been going through a transition to full democracy since 2017, the end of a two-decade long dictatorship. In the first episode of a mini-series recorded in The Gambia, Conor Lennon talks to Niania Dabo-Tourey, the country head of the UN Capital Development Fund (UNCDF, one of several UN agencies accompanying the country on this journey), about the ways they are supporting rural communities to adapt to the climate crisis, learn the skills they will need to start new businesses, and grow the economy in a sustainable way. Music: Within the Earth, Ketsa

It’s been a year since Russian forces invaded neighbouring Ukraine, the beginning of a conflict that led to the displacement of more than 14 million Ukrainians, and around 40 per cent of the population in need of humanitarian aid. Several months into the fighting, Denise Brown took up her position as Resident Coordinator, the most senior UN official in Ukraine. She told Conor Lennon from UN News that, despite the huge challenges faced by the Ukrainian people, their defining feature has been their courage, and their determination. Music: Within the Earth, Ketsa

It is becoming increasingly clear that the climate crisis is having a major impact on migration flows, with millions forced to move from their homes as a result of a disaster, or because they have been affected by slower-moving environmental changes that leave their homes uninhabitable, such as desertification or sea-level rises. On today’s show, Conor Lennon speaks to Felipe González Morales, the UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants, on the need for consistent policies to address the impact of the climate emergency on migration. Do you have suggestions, comments or story ideas for The Lid Is On? Email us at thelidison@un.org! Music: Within the Earth, Ketsa

Appointed by the UN Human Rights Council, but independent, unpaid, and free to  speak their minds, Special Rapporteurs occupy a curious space within the UN System. To find out more about what it’s like to be a Special Rapporteur, and why they are willing to give up their time to cover what are, often, difficult situations, Conor Lennon invited three of them – Nazila Ghanea, Morris Tidball-Binz, and Fionnuala Ní Aoláin, into the UN studios, whilst they were in New York to brief the General Assembly on their findings. Do you have suggestions, comments or story ideas for The Lid Is On? Email us at thelidison@un.org! Music:: Within the Earth, Ketsa

$4.3 trillion: that’s the estimated cost of the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, a blueprint for a fairer future, covering all of the big issues facing the world, from eradicating poverty and hunger, to building societies free from fear and violence, and taking urgent action on climate change. To help bridge that funding gap, UN chief António Guterres set up the Global Investors for Sustainable Development Alliance (GISD) in 2019, made up of prominent business leaders from across the world. To get a sense of the scale of the task, Conor Lennon speaks to Navid Hanif, the Assistant Secretary-General for Economic Development in the Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA), Leila Fourie, CEO of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, and co-chair of the Alliance. Do you have suggestions, comments or story ideas for The Lid Is On? Email us at thelidison@un.org! Music: Within the Earth, Ketsa

Californian teenager Kale Ilac’s dream is to become a diplomat. The 16-year-old, who is battling cancer, is hopefully on the way, thanks to the Make-a-Wish Foundation, who arranged for Kale and his family to take a special tour of the UN in January, meeting senior diplomats and UN officials. On this episode of The Lid Is On, we follow Kale on his visit, which has inspired him to lead a life in service of others. Music: Within the Earth, Ketsa

UN News publishes stories in 10 languages, with the aim of ensuring that as many people as possible understand the impact of the United Nations, and in order to provide a reliable news source on a variety of platforms. On today’s show, Conor Lennon speaks to Mita Hosali, who is in overall charge of the UN’s news output, as Deputy Director of the News and Media Division at the UN. They discuss the ways in which the concepts of news, information, and truth are seemingly being questioned as never before, how UN News can continue to fulfil its mandate, and what can be done to combat the growing scourge of disinformation. Do you have suggestions, comments or story ideas for The Lid Is On? Email us at thelidison@un.org! Music: Within the Earth, Ketsa

On today’s episode of The Lid is On, Conor speaks to Melissa Fleming, the head of Global Communications at the United Nations, and host of award-winning podcast series, Awake at Night. They discuss the growing dangers of online disinformation, the global impact of the Ukraine war, and the importance of communicating effectively about the positive difference the UN makes to millions around the world. Music: Within the Earth, Ketsa

In our first Lid Is On of 2023, we take a trip to Geneva, to meet our Palais des Nations correspondent Daniel Johnson, who gives us a virtual visit of the venerable building and its surroundings, and looks back at some of his favourite moments from 2022, in particular the interview that earned him a hug (a rare occurrence for journalists)! Music: Within the Earth, Ketsa

For the last Lid Is On of the year, Conor Lennon invited some of his colleagues for a festive episode, to find out a bit more about them (discovering that one has even sung at Carnegie Hall), and how they wade through reports, studies and data, to tease out stories that demonstrate the real difference the UN makes to people’s lives every day. May Yaccoub, head of the Arabic Unit, Matt Wells, head of the English Unit, and climate specialist Laura Quinones, share the topics that made the biggest impression on them in 2022, from the Black Sea Grain Initiative, to aid in Lebanon, and international climate agreements.

This is the fifth and final episode of Seeking Peace, a podcast from the Department of Peace Operations. In this episode, Melanne Verveer from Georgetown University’s Institute for Women Peace and Security, examines the challenges and complex realities that women uniformed peacekeepers face. We will hear from General Maureen O’Brien, who serves as the Deputy Chief of Military affairs at the UN, about her pioneering career.

Today, we bring you the fourth episode of Seeking Peace, a podcast from the UN Department of Peace Operations. Melanne Verveer from Georgetown University’s Institute for Women Peace and Security, highlights the extraordinary women whose work defies expectations of traditional gender roles in peacekeeping. Interviewees on today’s episode are Téné Maimouna Zoungrana leads the rapid intervention activities in the Ngaragba Prison in the Central African Republic, and Colonel Stephanie Tutton, Chief of Policy and Doctrine in the UN Office of Military Affairs. 

In Episode 3 of Seeking Peace, a podcast from the UN Department of Peace Operations, Melanne Verveer from Georgetown University’s Institute for Women Peace and Security, focuses on women’s role in bringing about peace through politics. We will hear from Mireille Laurier Affa'A Mindzie, the Senior Gender Advisor for the UN Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Beatrice Epaye, a politician and educator from the Central African Republic, and Jeta Xharra, the director of the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network in Kosovo.

In Episode 2 of Seeking Peace, a podcast from the Department of Peace Operations, Melanne Verveer from Georgetown University’s Institute for Women Peace and Security explores women’s roles in peace negotiations and the implementation of peace agreements. The interviewees in this episode are the UN Assistant Secretary General for Africa, Martha Ama Akyaa Pobee, Maïga Aziza from Mali, the first-ever Member of Parliament to represent Timbuktu, and South Sudanese activist Alokiir Malual, about women’s involvement in peace negotiations, and the implementation of peace agreements.

This week, The Lid Is On has partnered with the UN Department of Peace Operations, to bring you five episodes from the latest season of their podcast, Seeking Peace.   In this episode, Melanne Verveer, the Executive Director of the Georgetown University's Institute for Women Peace and Security, and former United States Ambassador for Global Women's Issues, introduces inspiring activists from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and the divided island of Cyprus.

On this week’s The Lid Is On, we’re introducing you to UNiting Against Hate, a new series from UN Podcasts. Katy Dartford talks to those who have encountered hate speech first-hand, as well as activists and experts from around the world about how they are trying to counter it. In this episode, she has an in-depth conversation with two organizations who monitor hate speech, and discusses with them the relationship between hate speech and disinformation. Like and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts, to ensure you don’t miss an episode! Music: Backcomb, Ketsa