UNcomplicated

In this special anniversary episode of our UNcomplicated podcast, hosts Sinjuda and Jason get to stay in their pyjamas to interview our colleague Reem Abaza, who spent the COVID-19 emergency working at the heart of the UN, as spokesperson for the President of the 74th General Assembly. 

Why is it so difficult to make gender equality a reality?  Our UNcomplicated podcast hosts, Sinduja Srinivasan and Jason DeWall, discover that one major reason is the prevalence of violence against women. For this show marking International Women’s Day 2020, we hear from Kalliopi Mingeiorou, a top UN official working to end violence against women, and also from a survivor of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), Maryum Saifee, who’s become a tireless campaigner against this ritualistic and global human rights abuse against women and girls.

Uncomplicated hosts, Sinduja Srinivasan and Jason DeWall, talk to UN peacekeeping officials Ken Payumo and Nick Birnback, and learn more about the challenges faced by peacekeeping staff, keeping millions safe with limited resources.

For their first podcast of 2020, our UNcomplicated hosts, Sinduja Srinivasan and Jason DeWall, celebrate a milestone year for the UN, as it turns 75. They’ve been talking to Fabrizio Hochschild, who’s leading the world body’s birthday mission, to listen to the concerns of a new generation of global citizens, and keep the UN relevant in the decades ahead. Music credits: 'The Veil', by the band Signal and Report, written by Chris Hall and Noah Miller; plus their track, 'Abbey Minor'

For this latest edition of our hit UN News podcast UNcomplicated, hosts Sinduja Srinivasan and Jason DeWall talk to independent UN expert on the right to privacy. Joe Cannataci, one of the world authorities on data protection and internet regulation. He explains what our right to privacy is, and how our data is being increasingly manipulated, and monetized.

For this second episode of our new hit podcast from UN News, the UNcomplicators delve inside the biggest week of the year at UN Headquarters when world leaders come to town, and the key summits take place, that can shape policymaking for decades to come. Sinduja and Jason speak to one of the world’s best interpreters about the challenges the team of more than 120 language experts face, covering the UN’s six official languages, during dozens of high-stakes speeches - where every word counts.

Welcome to the first edition of UNcomplicated, a new podcast from UN News, that grew out of a coffee shop conversation between UN staffer Sinduja Srinivasan and her friend Jason DeWall, who had never set foot inside UN Headquarters. “The UN can seem intimidating and complicated”, our dynamic hosts told us. “We aim to make the United Nations accessible and straightforward”. So, with the world leaders’ General Debate looming, which kicks off the latest UN General Assembly in a few days’ time, Sinduja and Jason set off with a microphone, to bring us this inaugural episode.