NGO Watch®

Council Seeks Reform of Global Refugee Architecture

February 04, 2019

The NGO- and government-supported World Refugee Council in Canada has called for an “overhaul” of global rules and institutions focused on refugees, including by assessing mandatory funding contributions on members of the UN refugee agency and creating a Global Action Network for the Forcibly Displaced.
NGO Criticizes Trump for “Assault” on Human Rights

January 25, 2019

As part of its World Report 2019, the nongovernmental organization Human Rights Watch claimed the Trump Administration has “assaulted human rights in the US and abroad” by implementing new immigration, health, and other policies and by “distancing” the US from multilateral human rights institutions and international judicial bodies.
ICRC Launches Course on SDGs for Humanitarian Groups

January 25, 2019

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has launched an online course on “Sustainable Development in Humanitarian Action,” aiming to advance the environmental and social objectives of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) among humanitarian organizations.
NGO Launches “Data Explorer” Linking SDGs to Human Rights

January 17, 2019

The Danish Institute for Human Rights has launched an algorithm and database called the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG)-Human Rights Data Explorer linking the comprehensive SDG agenda to the recommendations of UN human rights treaty bodies as part of an attempt by the UN and activists to attach the SDGs to international rights obligations.
NGO: UK Welfare Cuts Undermine Right to “Live Independently”

January 16, 2019

Bethany Brown of Human Rights Watch argues that social care cuts, lack of government oversight, and age discrimination in the UK are undermining the rights of elderly people “to health and to live independently in the community.”
Experts Seek Return to Original Meaning of UDHR

December 18, 2018

Elyssa Koren and Paul Coleman of religious freedom nonprofit ADF International call for a return to the “original understanding” of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and its protection of a set of “core rights” while respecting the sovereign authority of countries to “fight out issues of moral concern” in their internal systems.
NGO: UN Climate Talks Involve “Life and Death Decisions”

December 12, 2018

The nongovernmental organization Oxfam recently published a preview of the ongoing UN climate talks in Poland referring to the “life and death decisions” to be made at the summit to prevent a “truly terrifying” “global humanitarian catastrophe” that will impoverish and kill people across the globe.
NGOs, Academics Push for UN Ban on Autonomous Weapons

September 04, 2018

The Express reports that academics and activist organizations are pushing countries to work through the UN to prohibit the development and use of “fully autonomous weapons” systems by countries including the US, Israel, the UK, China, and Russia.
NGOs Seek Binding Environmental Instrument for Americas

August 30, 2018

An open letter from nongovernmental organizations including Amnesty International calls on countries in Latin America and the Caribbean to sign on to a binding regional agreement setting transnational standards linking environmental protection and human rights, including by providing for “access to justice in environmental matters.”
Paper: Reform Global Governance to Ease Tech Transfer to China

August 30, 2018

Anton Malkin of the Centre for International Governance Innovation calls for the reform of the global trade governance system to accommodate the challenges faced by “developing and middle-income economies,” as illustrated by China’s “Made in China 2025” industrial policy, in acquiring foreign-owned technology and expertise.