United Nations

UN Leader Eyes US Election in Climate Push

September 14, 2016

The New York Times reports that UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is pressuring countries to rush their ratification of the UN deal on greenhouse gas emissions agreed in Paris at the end of last year with an eye to binding the US to the deal before the next US President takes office in January 2017.
Aid Groups Suspend Work with UN on Syria

September 14, 2016

George Russell reports that 73 nongovernmental organizations providing relief to areas in Syria outside the control of the Bashar Al-Assad regime have broken off coordination with UN relief efforts in light of concerns that these efforts are linked to the Assad government.
ILO Praises China's "Social Protection" Model

September 14, 2016

In a recent conference in Beijing, Director-General of the International Labour Organization Guy Ryder lauded China's policies of "universal social protection," including a health insurance and pension system, as a model for other developing countries in East Asia and elsewhere to follow.
US, China Formally Join UN Climate Deal

September 14, 2016

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has applauded the leaders of the US and China for formally joining the UN deal on monitoring and reducing greenhouse gas emissions negotiated in Paris last year and called for more countries to join the agreement to meet the required threshold to bring it into force by the end of 2016.
UN Agency Blames Israel for Palestinian Economic Woes

September 14, 2016

A report from the UN Conference on Trade and Development identifies Israel's "occupation" of Palestinian territory as the main obstacle against economic progress in the area, predicting that, without the Israeli presence, the gross domestic product of Palestine would be at least twice what it currently generates.
UNESCO Report Calls for Climate Focus in Education

September 14, 2016

The UN Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization has published a Global Education Monitoring report calling for schools around the world to increase attention among children regarding environmental concerns, including the UN's agendas on climate change and "sustainable development."
Israeli Official Seeks Reversal of Anti-Israel Trend at UN

September 13, 2016

Israel's Ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon, has published an op-ed calling for countries at a High-Level Forum on Global Anti-Semitism to reverse the trend at the UN in which he says anti-democratic regimes have manipulated the international organization's procedures to make Israel the special target of criticism on human rights and other issues.
UN Office Tweet Questions Value of Free Markets

September 13, 2016

The Telegraph reports that the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights recently deleted a tweet asking whether "free market fundamentalism," which it defined as "the belief in the infallibility of free market economic policies," poses an "urgent threat."
UNESCO Plans Ethical Principles on Global Warming

September 13, 2016

The UN Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization and the Kingdom of Morocco have signed an agreement to work toward the development of a global "Declaration on ethical principles in relation to climate change" through an "expert group" that will hold its first meeting in Rabat, Morocco, in September 2016.
UN Official Predicts 2016 Entry into Force of Climate Deal

September 09, 2016

EFE reports that the Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, Patricia Espinosa, has predicted that enough countries will ratify the UN deal on reducing greenhouse gas emissions agreed in Paris last year that the pact will officially enter into force by the end of 2016.