United Nations

UN Negotiations Yield Draft Refugee Compact

July 27, 2018

UN member states and a variety of stakeholders, including nongovernmental organizations, have drafted a global compact for refugees, to be considered by the UN General Assembly later this year, that includes the creation of a Global Refugee Forum and “Support Platforms” for refugees.
UN Committee Publishes Global Education Financing Strategy

July 26, 2018

The UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) - Education 2030 Steering Committee has issued global recommendations emphasizing the status of education as a human right and calling for increased funding to public schools, with a focus on increasing public revenue to account for expanded education budgets.
UN Partnership Targets SDGs on Nutrition, Agriculture

July 26, 2018

The UN Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) have agreed to ramp up efforts to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), using tools ranging from “learning modules” at agricultural schools to introducing “nutrition education” around the world.
UN Reviews Potential Restrictions on Autonomous Weapons

July 26, 2018

A press release from the UN Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) reviews the UN’s efforts to add to discussions within the international organization a focus, urged by nongovernmental organizations, on the global prohibition of “lethal autonomous weapons systems.”
UN Panel Calls for “Gender Mainstreaming” in SDGs

July 26, 2018

A group of UN agencies recently convened a panel in Nairobi, Kenya, calling for a “gender-responsive implementation” of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to remedy the “unequal distribution of resources, power and wealth” between women and men around the world.
NGO Criticizes Unenforceable UN Refugee Compact

July 25, 2018

Amnesty International has criticized national leaders involved in the negotiation of the UN’s Global Compact on Refugees for failing to create a global, “human-rights based” system of responsibility sharing requiring the “compassionate” distribution of refugees around the world.
Asia Climate Week Focuses on Need for Climate Finance

July 25, 2018

Organized in Singapore under the framework of the UN’s Paris climate agreement, Asia Pacific Climate Week 2018 placed a large focus on the need for countries around the world to reach a $100-billion annual target for financing projects aimed at adapting to and mitigating the impacts of global warming.
UN Staffers Push for 30-Year National Climate Plans

July 25, 2018

An op-ed from two UN staffers calls for national governments to move “beyond incremental thinking and planning” in achieving their goals under the UN’s Paris climate accord and “envision an ideal future for their countries and citizens” in setting long-term plans to combat global warming.
UN-Supported Study: Climate Change Will Expand Global Debt

July 25, 2018

The UN recently commissioned a study finding that the impacts of global warming have increased the cost of capital and will balloon the debt payments from “climate change vulnerable countries” in the next 10 years if governments do not meet their commitments under the UN’s Paris climate deal.
Brussels Summit Aims for “Robust” Climate Action

July 24, 2018

The EU, Canada, and China recently convened a Ministerial on Climate Action in Brussels at which government participants rejected the renegotiation of the UN’s Paris climate deal and committed to creating “comprehensive” and “robust” implementation guidance for the agreement at an upcoming meeting in Katowice, Poland.