United Nations

UN Climate Report Indicates Strict Deadlines for Carbon Neutrality

December 04, 2018

The UN Inter-governmental Panel for Climate Change published a report in September indicating that, in order to achieve the targets set out in the UN’s Paris climate accord, the world must become carbon neutral by the year 2050, with a peak in carbon emissions in 2020.
UNESCO Launches Global Exhibition on Sexuality Education

December 04, 2018

In September, the UN Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) launched a new campaign promoting “comprehensive sexuality education” for children across the globe, including a Foundation for Life and Love exhibition seeking to show how children must learn about “sexual and reproductive health issues” in an educational setting.
UN, Boston College Seek to "Mobilize Society" with Pollution Observatory

December 03, 2018

The UN Environment Programme and Boston College have jointly established a Global Observatory on Pollution and Health to report on public policy related to pollution and “mobilize society to see pollution as a serious threat.”
UN Agency Blames Worsening Hunger on Climate Change

December 03, 2018

In September, the UN’s Food and Agricultural Organization published a report asserting that global warming has become one of the leading causes of increasing hunger around the world and calling for coordinated international action to stem the phenomenon’s ongoing catastrophic impacts.
UN Agent: Blockades Violate Human Rights

December 03, 2018

UN Special Rapporteur on the effect of sanctions on human rights Idriss Jazairy recently warned that blockades of countries and regions violate rights, as they represent a form of “collective punishment” of civilians, and cited Iran, Syria, Gaza, and potentially Venezuela as possible victim countries of such blockades.
UN Works Toward Global Treaty on Marine Protection

November 30, 2018

Scientific American reports on efforts by the UN to extend its Convention on the Law of the Sea to provide global, legally binding protections for marine life from overfishing and to expand marine protected areas.
UN Agents Condemn Israeli Ruling on Bedouin Village

November 30, 2018

In September, UN observers on human rights issues released a statement describing the “appalling” nature of an Israel High Court decision permitting the Israeli government to demolish a Palestinian Bedouin village, arguing the decision contravenes international human rights law and amounts to a “war crime.”
UN Observers Warn of "Regression" on Abortion Rights

November 30, 2018

In September, a group of UN human rights mandate holders called on national governments to respect “international human rights norms” by allowing access to “safe and legal abortion” to protect women from a wide range of human rights abuses - including the violation of women’s rights against “torture and ill treatment.”
US Official Discusses Rights Engagement After UNHRC Withdrawal

November 30, 2018

In remarks at the Heritage Foundation, Senior Advisor of the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor at the US State Department Michael Kozak discusses the Department’s plans, following the US withdrawal from the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC), to engage with countries and in international fora on pressing global human rights issues.
Experts Applaud US Defunding of UNRWA

November 30, 2018

Brett Schaefer and James Phillips of the Heritage Foundation write that the Trump Administration’s decision to end funding for the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) for Palestinian refugees was justified in light of UNRWA’s flaws, including its broad definition of “refugee” and evidence that it has contributed to violent extremism.