United Nations

MENA Countries Set out "Climate Finance" Project Plans

December 07, 2016

At the recent UN climate summit in Marrakesh, Morocco, representatives from Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) countries described their pledges to combat climate change by reducing their greenhouse gas emissions, much of which they say they will accomplish through global "climate finance" programs supported by the World Bank.
UN Promotes "Sustainability" Through Physical Education

December 07, 2016

The UN Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) describes how its Quality Physical Education program advances the UN's comprehensive "sustainable development" agenda in schools around the world by promoting "peace, inclusion and equitable development" among children.
UN Official Supports "Sustainability" Curricula Efforts

December 07, 2016

At a recent meeting with UN Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Director-General Irina Bokova, UN General Assembly President Peter Thomson applauded UNESCO's efforts in "mobilizing the global education system of the world" to raise public awareness of the UN's comprehensive "sustainable development" agenda.
UNESCO Signs Countries to Citizenship Education Agenda

December 07, 2016

Two groups operating under the UN Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) convened officials from Uganda, Colombia, Mongolia, and Cambodia for a workshop on how to advance UNESCO's Global Citizenship Education project promoting the teaching of "sustainable development" and human rights in the classroom.
UNESCO Pushes Climate Curricula at UN Summit

December 07, 2016

The UN Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) hosted side events and launched publications at the recent UN climate summit in Marrakesh, Morocco, calling on countries to include climate change education and "Education for Sustainable Development" in their national curricula to encourage students to pursue more "sustainable" lifestyles.
UN Summit Concludes with Pledge of Climate "Rulebook"

December 06, 2016

The recent UN climate change summit in Marrakesh, Morocco, ended with governments promising to support the development of a global "rulebook" by 2018 to guide their policies in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and with nongovernmental organizations warning of insufficient redistribution of "climate finance" to poor countries.
UN Calls for Agriculture-Focused "Climate Finance"

December 06, 2016

Officials from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Bank expressed concern at the recent UN climate summit in Marrakesh, Morocco, regarding the difficulty of reaching a deal with developed countries to redistribute more financing to agricultural systems in poor countries that will adapt to the future impacts of global warming.
UN Body Seeks Lower Bar for "Customary" Law

December 05, 2016

Stefano Gennarini reports that US officials and others are warning against an attempt by the UN's International Law Commission to loosen the definition of "customary international law" to bind states to transnational legal principles that are not universally accepted or practiced.
ILO, Russia Sign Deal on Labor, "Social Protection"

December 02, 2016

The UN's International Labour Organization and the Russian government have signed a Programme of Cooperation for 2017-2020 under which Russian authorities have agreed to expand "social protection" schemes and promote global labor standards in their country.
UN Agent: Australia's Migrant Detention Violates Rights

December 02, 2016

The Sydney Morning Herald reports that UN special rapporteur on the human rights of migrants, Francois Crepeau, has accused Australia of "cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment" in violation of its international human rights obligations in taking a "punitive" approach, including detention, to unauthorized migrants reaching the country by boat.