United Nations

UN Official Pushes Preventive "Responsibility to Protect"

February 29, 2016

Using the chaos in Syria as an example of the failure of the international community to fulfill its "responsibility to protect," agreed at a UN summit in 2005, UN Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson called on countries to put this principle in action by intervening early in conflicts to prevent calamities including genocide and crimes against humanity.
UN Agency Criticizes European Refugee Controls

February 26, 2016

Complaining of the lack of a "comprehensive and coordinated approach" in the EU to deal with refugees from North Africa and the Middle East, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees has criticized attempts by countries, through a variety of means, to reduce the number of migrants claiming asylum in their borders.
UN Science Report Warns Against Brexit

February 26, 2016

A UN Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization ("UNESCO") Science Report warns of "far-reaching" negative impacts of Britain's departure from the EU on scientific research, predicting that the move could cause a reduction in "international flows of knowledge" and lead to a rise in "anti-immigration" sentiment in the UK.
UNESCO Seeks to Measure "Global Citizenship Education"

February 26, 2016

The UN Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization ("UNESCO") and the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement will collaborate to measure progress on "Global Citizenship Education" and "Education for Sustainable Development," which seek to advance the UN's environmental and social agendas in schools around the world.
UNESCO, Italy Establish Research Center on "Cultural Heritage"

February 26, 2016

The UN Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization ("UNESCO") has signed an agreement with the Government of Italy to create an International Training and Research Centre on the Economics of Culture and World Heritage, which will study the economics of "cultural heritage" with an eye to "environmental sustainability" and "cultural diversity."
UN Uses Health, Security Policies to Pursue Climate Agenda

February 25, 2016

The UN Environment Programme has announced pledges made by governments to "set the table" for the agency's upcoming Environment Assembly in Nairobi, including promises related to the reduction of health and security risks by advancing the UN's environmental agenda and "to the development of a new sustainable and equitable economic model" that eliminates poverty.
UNOHCHR Faces Criticism over Zika Virus Comments

February 25, 2016

C-Fam reports that diplomats from countries including Nicaragua and the Holy See have objected to statements from the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights ("UNOHCHR") that they have interpreted as encouraging Latin American countries in which the Zika virus is spreading to permit access of women infected by the virus to abortions.
UN Rights Chief Seeks "Due Process" for Guantanamo Detainees

February 24, 2016

Applauding US President Barack Obama's proposal to close the terror detention facility at Guantanamo Bay and to transfer some occupants to US prisons, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein called on the US to try detainees before civilian courts and to provide them "due process guarantees" in line with international standards.
NYT Highlights UN Lapses in Sex-Abuse Cases

February 23, 2016

An editorial in The New York Times documents the gap between the UN's "zero-tolerance" policy on sex abuse of minors by its peacekeepers since 2003 and its enforcement of this policy, as allegations of sex abuse relating to the organization's peacekeeping operations in the Central African Republic continue to surface.
UN Blames 2015 Natural Disasters on Climate Change

February 22, 2016

A report from the UN Office of Disaster Risk Reduction seeks to demonstrate that climate-related disasters, including droughts and floods, "dominated disaster trends" in 2015 and that countries must reduce greenhouse gas emissions to limit natural disaster risks "now and in the future."