United Nations

UN Rights Chief: World Bank Must "Marry" Rights, Economics

June 05, 2018

Human Rights Watch has published an article applauding UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein for demanding at a meeting of World Bank economists that they "marry human rights and economics" by coordinating with UN human rights observers and prioritizing the global rights agenda in the institution's project financing.
ILO Meeting Produces Emergency-Service Work Guidelines

June 05, 2018

An expert meeting at the UN's International Labour Organization (ILO) recently proposed global guidelines on how public emergency-service providers should protect their employees in light of hazards including illness, injury, and disasters brought on by climate change, and promoting the collective bargaining of such employees to ensure "decent" working conditions.
US Opposes Sexual-Rights Language in UN Report

June 04, 2018

Elyssa Koren of ADF International observes how the US and a group of African countries prevented the adoption of an outcome document by the UN Commission on Population and Development over the insistence by other countries that it include language promoting "sexual and reproductive health rights."
UN Refugee Chief Launches Action Plan on Internally Displaced

June 01, 2018

UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi has announced a three-year global action plan pushing governments to expand their legislative frameworks addressing "displaced" people within their territory and providing for better reporting on their conditions.
ECOSOC Overturns Committee's Rejection of Rights NGOs

May 31, 2018

AP reports that the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), under pressure from the US and Canadian governments, recently overturned the decision by the UN's NGO Committee to reject the accreditation of two organizations focused on the promotion of civil and political rights in North Korea and Iran.
UN Forum Pushes "Collective Rights" of Indigenous Peoples

May 31, 2018

At the annual meeting of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, speakers called for the employment of "collective rights" of indigenous peoples to protect their interests in the land, limit the impacts of climate change, and further the social and environmental goals of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
UN Launches Fund Aimed at Road-Safety Measures

May 31, 2018

The UN has launched a Road Safety Trust Fund to help achieve road-safety targets contained in the comprehensive UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), focusing on encouraging on a global basis a number of traffic-related policies including "improved behaviour of road users."
US Eyes Funding Cuts for UN Bodies over PA Membership

May 30, 2018

AFP reports that the Palestinian Authority's (PA) accession to membership in two UN agencies and a chemical weapons watchdog has prompted US officials to consider eliminating funding for these organizations in line with US legal restrictions on funding for international bodies that accept Palestine as a member.
PA Seeks to Halt US Vetoes of UNSC Actions

May 24, 2018

The Times of Israel reports that the Palestinian Authority (PA), citing the US's blocking of a proposed statement by the UN Security Council (UNSC) supporting "peaceful" protests by Palestinians in Gaza and calling for a UN investigation of Palestinian deaths, has called for the UNSC to adopt a "new formula" that would prevent the US from vetoing future resolutions.
UN, World Bank Launch Joint SDG Framework

May 23, 2018

The UN and World Bank Group have agreed to a Strategic Partnership Framework consolidating their commitments to achieving the UN's comprehensive social and environmental targets contained in its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including through financing for "sustainable development" and action against climate change.