United Nations

UN Agency Advances Agenda on Income Inequality

October 19, 2016

Researchers from the UN's International Labour Organization have published a blog post blaming income inequality for "trapping" people around the world in poverty and recommending measures including social protection systems to combat persisting inequality.
UN Launches Platform for SDG Funding

October 19, 2016

At a recent meeting of government finance and foreign affairs officials, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announced the launch of a Financial Innovation Platform that would steer trillions of dollars in the financial sector toward fulfillment of the UN's comprehensive Sustainable Development Goals.
UN Climate Deal Crosses Approval Threshold

October 19, 2016

Reuters reports that, following formal approval by the EU, Canada, Bolivia, and Nepal, the UN's Paris climate pact has crossed the threshold of supporting countries needed to enter into force and will take effect beginning on November 4, at which point it will become more difficult for countries that have agreed to the deal to extricate themselves from the agreement.
UN Forces in South Sudan Fail to Protect Civilians

October 19, 2016

A report from the US-based Center for Civilians in Conflict says that UN peacekeepers in South Sudan abandoned their posts and refused to come to the aid of nearby civilians, including aid workers, whom military forces targeted with physical and sexual assault.
UN Identifies Right to Housing in City Centers

October 18, 2016

In advance of the UN Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development in Ecuador, a group of UN officials affirmed their view that "adequate housing" is a "universal human right" and that national and municipal urban development policies should focus on providing affordable housing in the physical center of cities.
UN Agency: "Ageist" Policies Harm Health

October 18, 2016

The UN's World Health Organization has released a new study blaming discrimination against people based on their age - including by "depicting older people as frail, dependent, and out of touch in the media" and mandatory retirement ages - for health problems in older adults.
Academics Warn of "Flexible" Language in UN Climate Deal

October 18, 2016

Reporting the findings of their study on the impacts of "flexible" versus "firm" language in international treaties, academics Katerina Linos and Tom Pegram warn of the absence of firm language in the UN climate pact set to enter into force this year on "climate resilience" in developing countries.
World Bank Links Economic Equality Agenda with SDGs

October 18, 2016

A recently published World Bank study targets economic inequality as an obstacle to the reduction of extreme poverty around the world and proposes policies such as cash redistribution and progressive taxation to "boost shared prosperity" as part of efforts to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals for the year 2030.
Rhodes Points to Risks of Multilateral Rights Institutions

October 17, 2016

Aaron Rhodes of the Forum for Religious Freedom-Europe warns that the "bureaucratization of human rights" at the regional and global level permits authoritarian governments to water down traditional human rights standards and stands in the way of a more effective "unilateral" approach to promoting rights among national governments and civil society.
UN Rights Chief: Restrict UNSC Veto on Syria

October 17, 2016

In response to the expanding humanitarian crisis in Aleppo, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein has called upon the UN Security Council to restrict the use of the veto by its permanent members under certain circumstances in order to permit the referral of the Syrian conflict to the International Criminal Court.