United Nations

UN Body Aims to Censor Presentation on Press Freedom

June 28, 2018

The New York Times reports that the UN Alliance of Civilizations opened itself to allegations of censorship on World Press Freedom Day by calling for a nongovernmental organization to delete references to Turkey in a video presentation singling out countries with restrictions on the media.
Haley: UN Voting Shows Lack of Return on US Foreign Aid

June 28, 2018

Ben Evansky reports that US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley asserted that findings from a State Department analysis on the alignment of countries' voting records with the US in the UN General Assembly shows America is not receiving an "acceptable return" on its global investments in the form of foreign assistance and contributions to the UN budget.
UN Agents: US Border Policy Is Potentially "Torture"

June 27, 2018

The Independent reports that a group of UN human rights mandate holders has condemned US President Donald Trump's recently modified policy of separating parents who have illegally crossed the border from their children as a potential violation of international human rights standards against torture.
Paper Opposes US Adoption of Kigali Amendment

June 27, 2018

The Heritage Foundation has published a paper labeling the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol, a 1988 instrument seeking to limit ozone-depleting chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) from entering the atmosphere, as an inappropriate attempt to promote a more expansive aim of combating global warming with the side-effect of harming the global economy.
UN Agent Seeks Canadian Action on "Systemic" Discrimination

June 26, 2018

Following her official visit to Canada, UN Special Rapporteur Dubravka Šimonović called for national policy reforms to deal with violence against women, including ensuring the availability of more affordable housing and dealing with "institutional, systemic, multiple, intersecting forms of discrimination" against indigenous women in the country.
UN, OECD Launch Refugee Labor Action Plan

June 26, 2018

The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) have launched an action plan toward policies to integrate refugees into labor markets, in particular pushing authorities to "streamline procedures for work permits and other necessary documents."
UN Official: "Short-termism" Poses Threat to SDGs

June 25, 2018

In a recent global forum on development finance, UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed cited "short-termism" in global investments as a threat to the achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and called for dramatically increased development funding to meet the $7 trillion per year cost estimate for fulfilling the SDGs.
UN Agency Seeks Bioeconomy to Fight Climate Change

June 25, 2018

Demonstrating the UN system's use of the climate agenda to push for a dramatically altered global policy landscape in line with its social and environmental goals, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization recently called for the transformation of the global economy to promote "bio-based" agriculture and family-owned farms.
UN Official Criticizes Israeli Plans for Bedouin Relocation

June 25, 2018

UN Humanitarian Coordinator Jamie McGoldrick has warned the Government of Israel not to carry out plans to relocate the Palestinian Bedouin community in the West Bank, arguing that, by doing so, Israel would be violating its legal obligations "as the occupying power."
UNESCO Institute Updates Education Policy Portal

June 25, 2018

UNESCO's International Institute for Educational Planning recently launched an updated "Learning Portal" to influence national officials in their decisions on adopting and monitoring education policies to advance the UN's global agenda for "sustainable development."