United Nations

Schaefer Proposes UN Reforms on Funding, Transparency

May 07, 2015

In recent U.S. Senate committee testimony, Brett Schaefer of the Heritage Foundation called on Congress to place pressure on the UN to initiate reforms aimed at balancing funding across member countries and promoting transparency and accountability at the organization.
UN Pursues Environmental Agenda in Development Efforts

April 29, 2015

Indicating the continued push by the UN and activists to include broadly worded environmental goals in their post-2015 development agenda, UN General Assembly President Sam Kahamba Kutesa has called for the organization's environmental agenda to be at the center of future development efforts.
UN Officials Call for EU Migration Reforms

April 29, 2015

In response to recent fatalities among migrants attempting to cross the Mediterranean Sea into Europe, a group of UN officials have published a statement calling proposed EU border policies insufficient and seeking reforms that would ease the path of migrants into European countries.
NGO Sues IFC over India Project Finance

April 29, 2015

The nongovernmental organization EarthRights International has sued in U.S. court the International Finance Corporation ("IFC"), an arm of the UN's World Bank Group, on behalf of a group of villagers they say experienced harm from the IFC's financing of the construction of a coal-fired power plant in India.
UN Report Targets Israel over Gaza Military Strikes

April 28, 2015

The New York Times reports that the Palestinian leadership may use an internal UN inquiry finding that the Israeli military had killed Palestinian civilians in UN-operated facilities in Gaza last year to bolster their attempt to hold Israel responsible for the conflict at the International Criminal Court.
UN Agent Criticizes Secret Trade Negotiations

April 28, 2015

As the U.S. negotiates international trade agreements in Asia and Europe, UN Independent Expert Alfred de Zayas writes that the private negotiation of such agreements, without the involvement of certain key "stakeholders," such as environmental protection groups, is a violation of international human rights law.
UN Pushes Energy Inclusion in Development Goals

April 22, 2015

Demonstrating why some are concerned the UN Sustainable Development Goals, to be adopted later this year, are too ubiquitous to succeed, UN Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson has identified the inclusion of goals seeking large increases in energy efficiency and renewable energy as "clear and critical."
Panel Calls for UN Treaty on Security Contractors

April 22, 2015

In the wake of the trial of Blackwater security personnel for the killing of Iraqi civilians in 2007, the UN working group on the use of mercenaries welcomed the conviction of the personnel and called for an international treaty body in the UN system to examine the use of private security contractors.
UN Calls for Comprehensive EU Migration Measures

April 22, 2015

Following the fatal capsizing of a boat filled with migrants on the Mediterranean Sea, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees has called proposed EU measures insufficient and seeks greater search-and-rescue efforts and more legal migration alternatives, such as through work and study visas.
UN Pushes Human Rights Approach to Sexual Health

April 22, 2015

A recent program by the UN Population Fund called for governments to integrate the international human rights agenda into policies on sexual and reproductive health care, often interpreted as including abortion.