United Nations

UNHCR Issues Recommendations on Refugee Crisis

March 17, 2016

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees ("UNHCR") has issued a set of six steps through which it says EU member states should move toward "solving" the refugee crisis, including opening new legal pathways for refugees to enter Europe.
UN Agency Pushes SDG Data-Collection Effort

March 16, 2016

George Russell reports that, to match the "sprawling" scope of the UN Sustainable Development Goals ("SDGs"), which seek social and environmental transformation of society by 2030, the UN Statistical Commission has proposed an "unprecedented" system of global data gathering to measure SDG progress.
UN Cites Benefits of "Comprehensive Sexuality Education"

March 16, 2016

A report published by the UN Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization ("UNESCO") argues that UN-promoted "comprehensive sexuality education" has led to the exercise by young people across the globe of their sexual and reproductive health rights, often interpreted to include a right to abortion.
US Pays $500 Million to UN Green Climate Fund

March 16, 2016

The Guardian reports that the Obama Administration has paid its first, $500-million installment of the $3 billion it pledged to the UN's Green Climate Fund, which pays poor countries to mitigate and adapt to the effects of global warming, under the UN climate deal reached in December 2015.
US Lawmakers Call on UN Rights Chief to Clarify Zika Comments

March 10, 2016

Over fifty US Members of Congress have signed a letter calling for UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein to clarify a statement he made which they say appears to push countries affected by the Zika virus, which is linked to birth defects, to loosen restrictions on access to abortion and "exploits a genuine public health crisis to advance a political agenda."
EU Members Seek Higher Targets Under UN Deal

March 10, 2016

According to the website Climate Home, a group of EU member states has criticized the European Commission for keeping in place greenhouse gas emissions targets it agreed in 2014 for the year 2030 following a far-reaching UN climate deal in December 2015 and has called for the EU to meet its commitments under the new deal by raising its ambition on climate targets.
UN Rights Chief Warns FBI on Unlocking Terrorist's iPhone

March 09, 2016

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein warns that the US Federal Bureau of Investigation ("FBI") risks opening a Pandora's Box in government surveillance by ordering Apple to assist with unlocking the iPhone of Syed Rizwan Farook, one of the terrorists killed following his participation in the 2015 San Bernardino shootings.
UNHRC Hosts Panel on Human Rights and Climate Change

March 09, 2016

The UN Human Rights Council ("UNHRC") recently hosted a panel discussion during which speakers called on governments to act to counter climate change to prevent violations of human rights, particularly of nontraditional economic, social, and cultural rights.
UN Signals Bureaucratic Obstacles to Justice for Sex Abuse

March 09, 2016

George Russell writes that civil society observers are criticizing a new report from UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon publicizing more allegations of sex abuse made against UN-affiliated peacekeepers and indicating that bureaucratic obstacles at the UN and in member states are slowing justice for victims of this abuse.
UN Observers Seek Rights-focused Response to Flint Water Crisis

March 09, 2016

A group of UN human rights mandate holders have called on the US to respond to lead contamination in the water supply in Flint, Michigan, by focusing on the human rights aspects of the situation and by ratifying more UN rights treaties, such as the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.