NBC’s Revolution Places Children on the Front Lines of War: Fact or Fiction?
As followers of this blog will know, UN staff have teamed up with the producers and writers of the NBC science-fiction show Revolution, which this season has drawn a number of its story lines and characters from the harsh reality of daily life for many people living...
NBC’s Revolution Uses the Power of TV to Help UN Turn on the Lights
As followers of this blog will know, UN staff have teamed up with the producers and writers of the futuristic TV drama Revolution to help give more depth to the real-world issues reflected in the show's science fiction world with no electricity. Using the experiences...
Guest post by Angélique Kidjo: Raise Your Voice Against Female Genital Mutilation
In 2012, I met Ambassador Cesare Maria Ragaglini, the Permanent Representative of Italy to the United Nations. Ambassador Ragaglini is a passionate diplomat. He asked me if I would be willing to do a concert in the UN General Assembly Hall to raise awareness about...
Akhtar’s Story
by GILL FICKLING When I first met Akhtar in 2009, he was dirty, hungry, disillusioned and scared. He was then living in a squalid camp of flimsy cardboard boxes in Greece’s western port city, Patras, along with 1600 other Afghan boys and men who, like him, had come...
Listen on the go – UN audio in your pocket
You already do so much on your mobile device -- it's not just for calling anymore, and has not been for several years. Now, in addition to all it does, you can also listen to what's going on now at the United Nations from UN Radio, as well as audio from UNTV...
Aaron gets a taste of reality in NBC’s Revolution: Think.Eat.Save
Guest post by Dana Gunders, Staff Scientist at the Natural Resources Defense Council (@dgunders) In last week's episode ("Dreamcatcher") of NBC’s dramatic science fiction series Revolution, Aaron is jolted back to the present day where energy, food, and comfort are...
The UN looks back at its Oscar win!
In its nearly 70 years, the United Nations has won many awards, including the Nobel Peace Prize several times for its work on peacekeeping, climate change, children, refugees and more. But lesser known is that the UN has been decorated by the film industry – with an...
Message of solidarity and support to the people of Central African Republic
The UN aims to post as much content as possible in our six official languages -- Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish -- but we also post content in other languages, too. For example, this week Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon recorded a message on...
Director Steve McQueen to Speak Out at the United Nations on Slavery
Guest post by Steve McQueen, director of the film 12 Years a Slave. He has been nominated for an Academy Award for Best Director. Slavery is a huge hole in the canvas of cinema, and for me it needed to be visualised. If we don't know our past, we have no foundation...
Chance of a lifetime: competing for glory, fighting for a cause
Chance of a Lifetime is not your run-of-the-mill competition-based TV show. Yes, it features talented people competing under extreme pressure, all vying for victory. But here, it is also for a higher purpose. A diverse pool of twelve talented young documentary...