Continuing UN Talk Radio Day coverage...
As Alan and Kerri are setting up in the corner, Greenfield has got Susan Myers, Executive Director of the UN Foundation's New York office, on the hook, and Joe Madison is talking to Dennis King, Senior Technical Advisor on Polio Eradication at UNICEF, which has, in partnership with the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, reduced the occurrence of polio worldwide by 99 percent. In fact, only four polio endemic countries remain -- Afghanistan, Nigeria, Pakistan, and India. Considering that the Initiative has the tools to completely eradicate polio (like the UN did with smallpox in 1977), Madison wanted to know what needs to be done now. King responded that it "needs to be an issue that [local authorities] want to solve." He continued to say that the virus has been isolated to "very discrete geological and cultural pockets" with "high illiteracy rates" and a populace that is "suspicious of outside initiatives." Some have suggested that this is fueled by the anti-Western sentiments of some radical imams. The four remaining endemic countries have tough-to-reach pockets of Muslim populations.
Continuing UN Talk Radio Day coverage...
As Alan and Kerri are setting up in the corner, Greenfield has got Susan Myers, Executive Director of the UN Foundation's New York office, on the hook, and Joe Madison is talking to Dennis King, Senior Technical Advisor on Polio Eradication at UNICEF, which has, in partnership with the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, reduced the occurrence of polio worldwide by 99 percent. In fact, only four polio endemic countries remain -- Afghanistan, Nigeria, Pakistan, and India. Considering that the Initiative has the tools to completely eradicate polio (like the UN did with smallpox in 1977), Madison wanted to know what needs to be done now. King responded that it "needs to be an issue that [local authorities] want to solve." He continued to say that the virus has been isolated to "very discrete geological and cultural pockets" with "high illiteracy rates" and a populace that is "suspicious of outside initiatives." Some have suggested that this is fueled by the anti-Western sentiments of some radical imams. The four remaining endemic countries have tough-to-reach pockets of Muslim populations. 
Today, the UN Foundation, in partnership with Talkers Magazine and Talk Radio News Service, is hosting the second annual "Talk Radio Day at the UN." Throughout the day, 20 U.S.-based radio show hosts from across the country will air their shows live from the UN headquarters in New York, and UN Dispatch will be here to cover it.
Sam Greenfield from Air America is already broadcasting...Long before Susan Rice was Obama's pick for UN Ambassador, she contributed this piece to UN Dispatch. Originally published May 31, 2007.
by Susan Rice, a Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution
When Americans see televised images of bone-thin African or Asian kids with distended bellies, what do we think? We think of helping. For all the right reasons, our humanitarian instincts tend to take over. But when we look at UNICEF footage or a Save the Children solicitation, does it also occur to us that we are seeing a symptom of a threat that could destroy our way of life? Rarely. In fact, global poverty is far more than solely a humanitarian concern. In real ways, over the long term, it can threaten U.S. national security.
On January 22, UN Dispatch reported that 105 Indian police officers where being deployed to Liberia as the UN's first all-female peacekeeping force. Today we sat down with a unit commander, Seema Dhundia, to check in on their progress.
Nafis Sadik, formerly the Executive Director of the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), now serves as Special Adviser to the Secretary General and Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Asia. We sat down with Dr. Sadik recently to discuss the connection between population, women's reproductive health, and security.
Andrew Young, who also served as a Representative in the U.S. Congress, a top aide to Martin Luther King Jr., and the Mayor of Atlanta, was appointed the U.S. Ambassador to the UN by President Carter in 1977. We sat down with Ambassador Young recently to discuss his thoughts on the UN and how his early years formed his philosophy on conflict and its resolution.
by Elizabeth McKee
Director, Nothing But Nets
Today, April 25th, is the first time the United States will officially observe National Malaria Awareness Day. The President is hosting an event at the White House to commemorate what has been celebrated by the rest of the world as Africa Malaria Day since 2001. A forgotten disease that was eradicated in the United States, malaria affects over 500 million individuals a year, killing a child in Africa every 30 seconds.
Director, Nothing But Nets
Today, April 25th, is the first time the United States will officially observe National Malaria Awareness Day. The President is hosting an event at the White House to commemorate what has been celebrated by the rest of the world as Africa Malaria Day since 2001. A forgotten disease that was eradicated in the United States, malaria affects over 500 million individuals a year, killing a child in Africa every 30 seconds.