NGO Watch®

NGO Criticizes DC for Lack of Economic, Social "Rights"

June 27, 2018

A report from the American Friends Service Committee criticizing the District of Columbia for failing to comply with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted in 1948 shows the expansive, nontraditional view of human rights among modern NGOs that count income equality, affordable housing, and "environmental justice" among the basic rights of mankind.
NGO Investigates Opioid Guidelines as Rights Abuse

June 26, 2018

Columnist Charles Lane writes on an investigation by the nongovernmental organization Human Rights Watch regarding whether US opioid prescription guidelines violate the human right to appropriate health care, illustrating concerns that NGO activists are equating moderate health-policy choices with "deliberate human rights violations such as police brutality or torture."
NGOs Criticize Banks for "Backsliding" on Fossil Fuels

June 08, 2018

A group of nongovernmental organizations has published its latest edition of a report grading 36 of the largest global banks on their support for projects and corporations using "extreme" fossil fuels - including liquefied natural gas - finding that US and Canadian banks are "backsliding" on their public commitments to shift investments to renewable energy sources.
NGOs Seek Business Support for New Global Labor Accord

June 06, 2018

Upon the expiration of the Bangladesh Accord on Fire and Building Safety, signed by global clothing brands following a fatal factory collapse in 2013, a group of nongovernmental organizations and global unions is pushing brands to sign on to a 2018 "transitional" accord that could open them to legal action for failing to push for worker safety in their supply chains.
NGO: Spain Violated Health Rights Through "Austerity"

June 05, 2018

In a recent report, Amnesty International accused the Spanish government of violations of the international human rights agenda by pushing through "austerity" measures making access to healthcare more expensive and called on government authorities to perform a human rights impact assessment to determine how health policy reforms had affected the right to health.
NGO Welcomes World Bank Donors' Sustainability Push

June 04, 2018

The nongovernmental organization Oxfam has welcomed a communique from World Bank donors tying an increase in the development institution's capital with its promotion of the climate and sustainability agenda but warned against the use of private-sector resources to accomplish such aims.
NGO Seeks UN Criticism of Alleged Racism in US Justice System

June 04, 2018

The nongovernmental organization The Sentencing Project recently submitted a report to the UN Special Rapporteur on Contemporary Forms of Racism accusing the US of violating its international human-rights obligations by failing to address systemic racial disparities in the country's criminal-justice system.
NGO Releases Tool Linking SDGs, Rights Agenda

June 01, 2018

As activist groups seek to ground the UN social and environmental agenda in a pre-existing set of global human rights commitments, the Danish Institute for Human Rights recently released a Universal Periodic Review (UPR) - Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Data Explorer as a way to support links between the SDGs and the UPR rights review process.
NGO Welcomes UN Agency's Shipping Emissions Targets

June 01, 2018

The nongovernmental organization WWF has applauded as "a good first step" targets set by the UN's International Maritime Organization to reduce greenhouse gas emissions produced by the shipping industry by 50 percent by the year 2050 and an agreed ban of the transportation and use of heavy fuel oil in the Arctic.
Colorado Lawsuit Targets Oil Companies over Climate Impacts

May 31, 2018

The nongovernmental organization EarthRights International recently announced it is supporting a lawsuit in the names of a group of Colorado communities against Suncor and ExxonMobil to force these energy companies to cover costs these communities expect to incur over the next three decades to deal with impacts of these companies' contributions to global warming.