Author: MIL-OSI Publisher

Source: United Nations (video statements)

The Village Vanguard is the oldest jazz club in New York City, founded by Max Gordon in 1935. The club worked as a platform to present all kinds of cultural and political events and became primarily a jazz music venue in 1957. Since then, the club has hosted many renowned jazz musicians from around the world, including Sonny Rollins, John Coltrane, Bill Evans, and Thelonious Monk.

UN News and UN Video interviews the current owner of the club, Deborah Gordon and three-time Grammy Award-winning American jazz pianist Sullivan Joseph Fortner for the International Jazz Day on 30 April.
The Day was proclaimed by UNESCO in 2011 to celebrate the power of jazz as a force for peace, dialogue and mutual understanding.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3gwjHYYd-n0

Source: United Nations (video statements)

Renowned musicians from around the world will gather on 30 April in the US city of Chicago for an All-Star Global Concert to mark International Jazz Day. The concert, now in its 15th edition, brings together celebrated artists and audiences to reaffirm the power of jazz in fostering intercultural dialogue, unity and artistic exchange.

The event’s lineup, announced by UNESCO and the Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz, includes musicians Gregory Porter (United States of America), James Morrison (Australia), Tiger Okoshi (Japan), Mandisi Dyantyis (South Africa), Antonio Sánchez (Mexico), Mino Cinélu (Martinique, France) and many more.

Established by the General Conference of UNESCO in 2011 and recognized by the United Nations General Assembly, International Jazz Day brings together countries and communities worldwide every 30 April. The annual International Jazz Day celebration highlights the power of jazz and its role in promoting peace, dialogue among cultures, diversity and respect for human dignity.

International Jazz Day has become a global movement reaching more than 2 billion people annually on all continents through education programmes, performances, community outreach, radio, television and streaming, along with electronic, print and social media.

More information: https://jazzday.com/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OnqbWQOloMk

Source: United Nations (video statements)

Press conference by Robert Floyd, Executive Secretary of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO), on the vital role of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) in advancing the NPT’s (Eleventh Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons) non-proliferation and disarmament objectives.

Floyd addressed the press on the vital role of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) in advancing the non-proliferation and disarmament objectives of the Eleventh Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT).

He said, “The NPT Review Conference and Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference here this week, but for the next four weeks, is an important review of the cornerstone of the nuclear nonproliferation and disarmament architecture.”

He said that CTBTO “is about implementing a treaty that sits within that architecture, and that is a treaty, the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, banning nuclear explosions of any size – from the tiniest to the largest. That is an essential part of being able to stop the spread of nuclear weapons around the world from state to state, and also to limit the further development of nuclear weapons.”

He continued, “The Treaty has not yet entered into force, and therefore is not legally binding, but our international monitoring system will detect a nuclear weapon explosion of 500 tons of TNT or above, anywhere across the face of the planet, or underwater, underground, it will be detected. And that is a powerful benefit to all humanity, because any state that thinks of developing a nuclear weapon would need to test one, and if they did, it will be known to all.”

He highlighted, “In the current situation, the CTBT and the ban on testing is a little bit more in front of mind than what it has been for a long time, particularly when states are threatening to return to testing and the likelihood that if one state tests, others would and even more would potentially then go into a spiral of expanded testing. That is a spiral that we do not want to see start, because it may never be able to be stopped.”

He reported, “We have 187 states have signed. 178 have ratified. But there are nine specific ones that still need to ratify so the treaty could become legally binding. That is an important issue.”

Answering a question, he said, “We need to see a way that the United States of America, the Russian Federation, the People’s Republic of China, might be able to address the treaty and its ratification together. It is, I think, quite unlikely that any one of them would move on that without the others simultaneously moving together. And that certainly is something that I would encourage all of those states to consider, and that would certainly be a powerful step forward.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eHgLoRfkAhM

Source: United Nations (video statements)

This World Immunization Week, a family shares what they’ve seen, what they’ve carried, and why vaccines matter across every generation.

For every generation, vaccines work.
#WorldImmunizationWeek #VaccinesWork #WHО #PublicHealth #Nurses

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/dG69MM71iIs

Source: United Nations (video statements)

Noon briefing by Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesperson for the Secretary-General.

Highlights:
Deputy Secretary-General
Lebanon
UNIFIL
Occupied Palestinian Territory
West Bank
Iran
Yemen
Somalia
Sudan
South Sudan
Democratic Republic of the Congo/Peacekeeping
Democratic Republic of the Congo/Humanitarian
Information integrity
Victim’s Rights Advocate Report
Climate/Europe
International Day

DEPUTY SECRETARY-GENERAL

The Deputy Secretary-General is back in New York City, following her recent visits to Australia and Singapore earlier this week, in which she engaged with government leaders, civil society, the private sector, media, youth on advancing gender equality, multilateral cooperation and responses to global challenges.

In Singapore yesterday, the Deputy Secretary-General paid a courtesy call on the country’s President, Tharman Shanmugaratnam, and exchanged views on key international developments, UN80 reforms and Singapore’s leading role on artificial intelligence and new technology. She thanked the President for Singapore’s strong support for the United Nations and multilateral cooperation.

Prior to that, during a visit to Melbourne, the Deputy Secretary-General delivered the keynote address at the Opening Plenary of the Women Deliver 2026 Conference, underscoring that women’s rights are human rights and warned of a global rollback on gender equality amid conflict, climate shocks, shrinking resources and growing pushback against women’s autonomy.

LEBANON

The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs tells us that the situation in Lebanon continues to be fragile and volatile given the insecurity, especially in the southern part of Lebanon. Lebanese authorities reported that three civil defence rescue workers were killed in the southern part of the country when two strikes hit a building in Tyre District. That took place yesterday. Authorities said the emergency teams were responding to people wounded in an earlier strike at the same place.

The incident underscores the risks faced by civilians, including emergency and humanitarian workers. According to the World Health Organization, since the start of the conflict, the number of attacks on healthcare has climbed to 149, with 100 deaths and 233 injured. Attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure, and health workers are not only unacceptable, they are against international humanitarian law, as we keep saying.

All parties in this conflict have to observe their obligations under these laws.

Today, Israeli authorities issued a new displacement order south of the Litani River, covering 16 areas and instructing residents to move to the nearby town of Saida.

Women and children remain disproportionately affected. There are reports they are facing increased psychological distress and are bearing the brunt of the impacts of displacement, family separation, and economic hardship. Risks of gender-based violence remain high, particularly in overcrowded shelters.

We and our partners are responding to the mounting needs where access allows.

Compounding the situation, today our colleagues at the Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Food Programme warned that the sharp escalation in violence has reversed recent food security gains and pushed the country back into crisis. This is what the latest Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) for Lebanon tells us.

The projected analysis reveals that 1.24 million people, that’s nearly one in four of the population that was looked at, are expected to face food insecurity levels classified as Crisis or IPC Phase 3 or worse, between April and August of this year. IPC 3 means that people start skipping meals or start selling some of their [possessions] in order to buy food.

But despite these growing needs, the humanitarian response remains significantly underfunded. The Lebanon Flash Appeal has received just over $117 million, which is only 38 per cent of the money that we need, which is $308 million.

Full Highlights: https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/noon-briefing-highlight?date=2026-04-29

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CA3MyeTg_YU

Source: United Nations (video statements)

The 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda remains one of the darkest chapters in human history. In just one hundred days, more than one million women, men, and children were murdered—overwhelmingly Tutsi. Long before the killing began, a wave of propaganda flooded the airwaves, spreading fear, normalizing hate, and stripping people of their humanity. Words came first—and words helped make the violence possible.

Diogène Ntarindwa, known by his stage name Atome, is a Rwandan playwright and comedian whose life has been shaped by this history. Born in Burundi to Rwandan parents who fled earlier massacres of the Tutsi, he later joined the Rwandan Patriotic Front and entered Kigali in 1994 while the genocide was still underway. He describes himself not as a survivor, but as a witness.

In Hate Radio, directed by Milo Rau and presented in its U.S. premiere at St. Ann’s Warehouse in February 2026, Diogène performs the role of Kantano, a real-life broadcaster for Radio Télévision Libre des Mille Collines (RTLM). The play places audiences inside the RTLM studio—often called “Radio Machete”—where hate speech was delivered through jokes, music, and chilling everyday banter.

RTLM played a critical role in inciting violence; its co-founder was later convicted by the UN International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. For Diogène, performing Hate Radio is an act of testimony. After more than 250 performances, carrying these words ensures their danger is never forgotten—and never repeated.

At UN Headquarters, Diogène sits with the Special Advisor on the Prevention of Genocide to discuss how language escalates from insult to incitement — and visits the "Kwibuka Flame of Hope," a permanent memorial installed at UN Headquarters in New York in 2024 as a gift from Rwanda. It stands as a tribute to the victims and survivors of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi and as a reminder of our shared responsibility to confront hate before it takes root.

In recognition of 7 April 1994, the start of the genocide, this date is observed each year as the International Day of Reflection on the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda.

In 2004, the United Nations established the Office of the Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide, on the basis of the lessons learned from the failures of prevention in Rwanda in 1994 and Srebrenica in 1995, to provide early warning, analysis, and advice to the Secretary‑General on prevention of genocide and other atrocity crimes.

LEARN MORE:
🔗 Outreach Programme on the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda: https://www.un.org/en/preventgenocide…
🔗 Office of the Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide: https://www.un.org/en/genocide-preven…
🔗 International Day of Reflection: https://www.un.org/en/preventgenocide…
🔗 Kwibuka Flame of Hope: https://www.un.org/en/preventgenocide…
🔗 United Nations Audiovisual Library: https://media.un.org/avlibrary/en

0:00 — The Radio Broadcasts That Incited Genocide in Rwanda
0:29 — The 1994 Genocide Against the Tutsi: What Happened
0:56 — St Ann’s Warehouse: The Post-It That Waited 10 Years
1:35 — Diogène Ntarindwa: The Actor Who Was a Witness
2:25 — How Repetition and Propaganda Normalize Hate Speech
3:47 — From Incitement to Prevention: A Conversation at the United Nations 5:01 — The Kwibuka Flame: Rwanda’s Memorial at the United Nations

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-9p6pplIPs