United Nations

Schaefer: Flaws in UNHRC Sparked US Exit

June 20, 2018

Brett Schaefer of the Heritage Foundation argues, using data from the history of the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC), that the Trump Administration's decision to exit the body is the right one and not indicative of "hostility" toward the international community.
Experts: US Faces Struggle in Prioritizing Religious Freedom

June 13, 2018

Aaron Rhodes of the Forum for Religious Freedom–Europe and Roger Pilon of the Cato Institute write that US officials will struggle in efforts to restore international religious freedom due to a rising movement seeking to "contextualize" freedom within a legal framework elevating economic and social rights and banning "hateful" speech.
UK Submits Long-term Climate Strategy to UN Agency

June 08, 2018

The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) has announced that the UK has become the eighth country to submit a "long-term low-emissions strategy" to the body, showing how it will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent by the year 2050 as part of its efforts to achieve its pledges under the 2015 Paris climate accord.
China Meets Paris Climate Targets Three Years Early

June 08, 2018

The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) has announced that China will meet its 2020 carbon-emissions targets pledged under the 2015 Paris climate accord three years early, highlighting the low ambition of the climate deal as it relates to developing countries and the pre-existing trend toward low-carbon energy when the deal was launched.
UN Rights Agent Assesses Sweden's "Solidarity"

June 07, 2018

Demonstrating the embrace by the UN human rights system of the "right to development," UN Independent Expert Obiora Okafor recently visited Sweden to examine whether the country is sufficiently promoting "human rights-based international solidarity" in its global development assistance and environmental action.
UN Observer Blasts "Contempt for the Poor" in US

June 06, 2018

UN human rights mandate holder and New York University Professor Philip Alston concluded in a recent report that the Trump Administration has shown "contempt for the poor" through policies including tax cuts "for the very wealthy" and a "systematic assault on the welfare system," warning that widening economic inequality is threatening democracy.
UN Agent: Indonesia Must Overcome Food Rights Challenges

June 06, 2018

UN Special Rapporteur on the right to food Hilal Elver has warned that the Indonesian programs are failing to sufficiently promote the nutritional rights of its people, particularly as the country sustains impacts from global warming, and called on authorities to adopt a "human rights based approach to food security."
UN Rights Observer Warns Ghana on "Social Protection"

June 06, 2018

Illustrating the embrace by the UN human rights apparatus of the economic, social, and cultural rights agenda, UN Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights Philip Alston has warned Ghana that, without prioritizing "social protection" and reducing wealth inequality, it will fail to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
UN Agent Seeks Rights Standards for Online Companies

June 06, 2018

Lawyer Evelyn Douek analyzes a report of UN Special Rapporteur on the freedom of expression David Kaye promoting global human rights standards as a "common vocabulary" for social-media companies to use in their exchanges with governments that wish to restrict the views expressed on their platforms.
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.