United Nations

Experts Call on U.S. to Push for UNRWA Reform

March 11, 2015

Brett Schaefer and James Phillips of the Heritage Foundation write that the U.S. should push for reform of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East ("UNRWA") to focus on its original mandate to resettle Palestinian refugees and to cut any ties with the terrorist organization Hamas.
UN Agent Applauds U.S. Net Neutrality Rule

March 04, 2015

UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of expression David Kaye has praised a new U.S. Federal Communications Commission rule prohibiting internet service providers from discriminating based on content and called on other governments to use the regulation as a model for their own systems.
UN Calls for Early Pressure on Countries over Human Rights

March 04, 2015

At the opening of the current session of the UN Human Rights Council, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called on the Council to act early in monitoring alleged human rights violations and pressuring governments to prevent such violations among their people.
HRC Panel Seeks Global Cooperation on Economic Rights

March 04, 2015

A panel held by the UN Human Rights Council ("HRC") featured UN officials, national representatives to the UN, and human rights activists calling for greater international cooperation on human rights, in particular nontraditional "economic, social, and cultural" human rights.
AI Seeks UN Global Governance on Conflict, Human Rights

February 25, 2015

Secretary General of Amnesty International ("AI") Salil Shetty writes that governments should cooperate to "unshackle" the UN by giving the organization the authority to more easily intervene in armed conflicts and in human rights violations around the world.
Ban Calls for Strengthened UN Mandate on "Transnational" Issues

February 25, 2015

Emphasizing that the UN Charter is a "living document," UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has called for global cooperation on "transnational" issues including public health and climate change and has argued that UN pressure on countries' human rights issues has strengthened their sovereignty.
Mariaschin Criticizes UN's Heavy Focus on Israel

February 25, 2015

Daniel Mariaschin of B'nai B'rith International writes that the disproportionate focus of the UN General Assembly and the UN Human Rights Council on Israel "marginalizes the United Nations as a reliable venue for conflict resolution" and is evidence of a "failed system."
HRW Criticizes World Bank Involvement in Ethiopia Project

February 25, 2015

Human Rights Watch ("HRW") has criticized the World Bank for what it deems to be an insufficient response to an internal investigation finding that a development project of the bank in Ethiopia resulted in the forced relocation of villagers.
UN Event Emphasizes Global Warming-Human Rights Link

February 19, 2015

The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Mary Robinson Foundation recently hosted a "Climate Justice Dialogue" in which participants discussed how to push action countering global warming by emphasizing its effects on economic, social, and cultural rights.
UN Conference Produces Negotiating Text on Global Warming

February 18, 2015

A recent UN conference in Geneva concluded with an agreed-upon negotiating text for a binding international treaty seeking to counter climate change to be discussed at a Paris conference in late 2015.