United Nations

UN Official Criticizes EU Search-and-Rescue Efforts

February 18, 2015

Following the death of at least 300 migrants attempting to reach Europe from Libya by boat, UN High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres warned that current search-and-rescue efforts by the EU are inadequate and called on the bloc to conduct more robust operations in the Mediterranean Sea.
UN Agencies Launch Health Reform Collaboration with China

February 18, 2015

The UN's World Bank Group and World Health Organization have announced cooperation with the Chinese Government to "deepen" system-wide health care reforms in China and "develop new models of health service delivery" in the country.
UN Agent Criticizes Pro-Private Education Policies

February 13, 2015

UN Special Rapporteur Kishore Singh has warned that African governments considering expanding private basic education systems in their countries would be endangering children's basic human rights by delegating education to the private sector.
Lawyer Resigns from UN Gaza Commission

February 11, 2015

Anne Bayefsky writes that the resignation, due to lack of impartiality, of international human rights lawyer William Schabas from a commission established to investigate "war crimes" allegedly instigated by Israel in Gaza "disgraces" the UN Human Rights Council apparatus.
Study Analyzes Global Human Rights Governance Through NHRIs

February 11, 2015

Professor Tom Pegram of University College London writes on the effectiveness of UN institutions' "orchestration" of national human rights institutions ("NHRIs") in advancing their goal of global governance of human rights issues.
Booker: UN Climate Push Based on Faulty Data

February 11, 2015

Christopher Booker writes in The Telegraph that U.S. government organizations and institutes have adjusted weather station climate data, relied upon by the UN, governments, and climate activists to push limits on greenhouse gas emissions, to mask declining temperatures in the latter half of the 20th century.
UN Agent Calls for More Open European Border Policy

February 11, 2015

UN special rapporteur François Crépeau has called on the EU and its member states to widen the "official channels" through which migrants can enter their borders and to develop policies that are based on the human rights of migrants.
UN Chief Seeks Development Based on "Social" Factors

February 11, 2015

In recent remarks to the UN Commission for Social Development, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called for development not simply to be based on economic growth, but also on social and environmental concerns.
Bayefsky: UN Is "Platform" for Anti-Semitism

February 11, 2015

Anne Bayefsky writes that the UN's recent recognition of the suffering of victims of the Holocaust is undercut by the fact that it has become a "global platform" for countries that purvey anti-Semitism through statements and policies on the world stage.
Israel Says UN Force Not Reporting Weapons Transfers

February 11, 2015

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has criticized the UN Interim Force in Lebanon, which is charged with monitoring the disarmament of Lebanese groups such as Hezbollah, for not accurately reporting illicit weapons transfers to these groups since 2011.