United Nations

US Negotiates UN Budget Decrease

January 08, 2018

AP reports that the US government has taken credit for the negotiation of a decrease of more than $285 million in the UN's 2018-2019 budget.
UNESCO Reports on Promotion of "Diversity" in Culture

January 08, 2018

The UN Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) recently launched a report on its monitoring of global compliance with the UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions, calling for greater diversion of development funding into programs that promote "cultural expression."
UNESCO Seeks Advice on Measuring "Culture" in SDGs

January 08, 2018

The UN Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) convened a meeting of academics and other "high-level experts" in December to determine how to measure "culture" as a component of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
UN Agencies Use Satellites to Monitor SDG Progress

January 08, 2018

The UN Office for Outer Space Affairs and the UN Development Programme have committed to a closer partnership on using space technology, including "satellite imagery and analysis," to advance the UN's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
UN Agent Criticizes US on Economic Inequality

January 08, 2018

After an official visit to several US states, UN Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights Philip Alston warned that the US has failed people in poverty and asserted that new policies under the Trump Administration reforming the tax and welfare systems will "shred crucial dimensions of a safety net that is already full of holes."
OHCHR Calls for End to Abortion Ban in El Salvador

January 08, 2018

The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has called on El Salvador to end its ban on abortion, calling the country's abortion laws "draconian" and arguing that their application to the decisions of expecting mothers to seek an abortion violates international human rights law.
Politician Seeks UN Deployment of Peacekeepers in Chicago

January 05, 2018

ABC7 reports that Richard Boykin, who serves as Commissioner of Illinois's Cook County, recently visited the UN Assistant Secretary General to request UN intervention through peacekeeping efforts in Chicago to help reduce gun violence.
World Bank Agrees to Billions in Funding for City Climate Action

January 05, 2018

The World Bank Group has signed an agreement with the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy, an organization of mayors around the world committed to combating global warming, to invest $4.5 billion in cities' "aggressive" measures to implement the UN's "sustainable development" and "climate resilience" agenda.
US Remains in Talks on UN Refugee Pact

January 05, 2018

George Russell reports that, despite pulling out of talks on the development of a Global Compact on Migration, the Trump Administration is still engaging in the negotiation of a separate global agreement on the treatment of refugees in an effort to streamline and modernize the UN refugee system's approach to dealing with asylum seekers.
Local Officials Sidestep US Policy on Migration Pact

January 04, 2018

Foreign Policy reports that local government officials in the US are seeking to circumvent the federal government policy by petitioning UN officials for inclusion in the international organization's plans for a global compact on migration in 2018 following the Trump Administration's decision to withdraw from talks on such a compact.