United Nations

Schaefer Warns of Impact of US Bill on UN Funding

June 04, 2019

Brett Schaefer of the Heritage Foundation warns that a funding bill under consideration in the US Congress that, among other policies, overrides a cap on US payments for UN peacekeeping operations will undermine attempts by lawmakers and executive officials to reduce the US share of UN spending and save taxpayer dollars.
UNESCO: Digital Voice Assistants Highlight Tech Bias Against Women

June 03, 2019

A recent publication from the UN Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) argues that the “gendered submissiveness and servility” of digital voice assistants with female voices illustrates bias in the tech industry and calls for, among other changes, discouragement by such “assistants” of “gender-based insults and abusive language.”
US Prompts UNSC Change in Sexual Violence Resolution

May 30, 2019

Stefano Gennarini of the Center for Family & Human Rights reports on the recent US veto threat at the UN Security Council (UNSC) that prompted the removal from a resolution on sexual violence in conflict of references to abortion and “sexual and reproductive health” rights.
UN Launches Youth Alliance to Further Environmental Agenda

May 30, 2019

The UN Environment Programme has launched a Youth and Education Alliance (YEA!) that includes an initiative “to integrate environmental education into university curricula around the world” and to work with “youth movements” to inculcate environmentally friendly values in children.
Luxembourg Supports UN Network on SDG Finance

May 30, 2019

The Government of Luxembourg has agreed with the UN Environment Programme to fund an International Network of Financial Centres for Sustainability that seeks to funnel investments into projects aimed at achieving the comprehensive UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Corporations Participate in NGO Labor Reporting Initiative

May 30, 2019

The nongovernmental organization ShareAction, through its Workforce Disclosure Initiative, has analyzed data reported from 90 companies on their labor forces and supply chains in a push for investors to consider social impacts when deciding where to place their money.
Governments Commit to Contribute Further to UN Climate Action

May 29, 2019

According to the UN Secretary-General’s envoy on climate change Luis Alfonso de Alba, 80 countries currently signed up to the UN’s Paris climate accord have agreed to ramp up their pledges to clamp down on greenhouse gas emissions to fulfill the goals of the UN’s agenda on global warming.
UN Chief: Carbon Subsidies “Destroy the World”

May 29, 2019

At a recent forum for action on global warming, UN Secretary-General António Guterres called for an end to worldwide fossil fuel subsidies, through which, he said, officials were spending taxpayer money “to destroy the world.”
Trump Announces Withdrawal from UN Arms Trade Treaty

May 01, 2019

NPR reports that US President Donald Trump has announced his Administration’s withdrawal from the UN Arms Trade Treaty, signed by the Obama Administration but never ratified by the US Senate, characterizing the move as taking back US policymaking from an “unelected, unaccountable, global bureaucracy."
UNICEF Warns of Climate Impacts on Bangladeshi Children

April 29, 2019

Showing the expanding focus of UN agencies on the impacts of climate change, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has published a report seeking “urgent action” to protect children in Bangladesh from the catastrophic results of global warming and warning of an increasing number of “climate migrants” in the country.