United Nations

UN Climate Talks Yield "Gender Action Plan"

December 29, 2017

Highlighting the comprehensive scope of UN-organized negotiations over combating climate change, UN Women has touted the adoption by various governments at the recent UN climate summit in Bonn, Germany, of a "Gender Action Plan" that serves as a "roadmap to incorporate gender equality and women’s empowerment in climate change discourse and actions."
UN Agency Launches Global Forest Mechanism

December 28, 2017

At the recent UN climate summit in Bonn, Germany, the UN Development Programme announced that launch of a Global Platform for the New York Declaration on Forests to provide a "central coordination mechanism" and work with nongovernmental organizations to speed up government action to halt all deforestation by the year 2030.
Report Indicates UNHCR Consults Assad Regime on Aleppo Aid

December 28, 2017

Emma Beals cites evidence indicating that the office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is accepting direction from the Syrian government of President Bashar al-Assad in rebuilding the ravaged city of Aleppo, where international organizations have pointed to a long train of humanitarian law violations by the Assad regime during the long-running Syrian civil war.
President of UN Talks Pushes Climate Rights Agenda

December 28, 2017

An article from Human Rights Watch lauds the announcement by Fijian Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama during the recent UN climate summit in Bonn, Germany, that his government would be pushing for the integration of the global human rights agenda in climate action plans as it presided over UN climate negotiations through 2018.
UNGA Condemns US Policy on Jerusalem

December 27, 2017

The New York Times reports that a lopsided majority of the UN General Assembly (UNGA) has voted to demand that the Trump Administration rescind its decision to move the US embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, with major American allies France and the UK joining the vote against the US policy.
UN Office Opposes Brazilian Abortion Proposal

December 21, 2017

AFP reports that the UN Population Fund's Brazil office opposed a November legislative proposal in Brazil that would recognize the right to life as "inviolate from the moment of conception," warning of the "increased risk to women's health" posed by the proposal's denial of access to abortion.
Bonn Talks Highlight Struggle for Ambition on Climate

December 21, 2017

An article in The New York Times examines the proceedings of the UN climate summit in Bonn, Germany, in November, at which world leaders struggled to develop a system under which governments ramp up, and are held accountable for, their commitments to phase out greenhouse gas emissions under the UN's Paris climate deal agreed in 2015.
Global Deal on HFCs Will Enter into Force in 2019

December 21, 2017

The New York Times reports that Sweden's ratification of the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol, which requires countries to phase out the use of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) in an attempt to combat global warming, means that the agreement will enter force in 2019.
Haley Criticizes UNSC Resolution on Embassy Move

December 20, 2017

In an explanation of the US veto of a UN Security Council (UNSC) resolution condemning the US decision to move its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley asserted that she cast the veto in "defense of American sovereignty" and to protect the US role in the Palestine-Israel peace process.
UN Experts Call on Mexico to Reform Security Law

December 20, 2017

A group of UN mandate holders has called on the Mexican government to reject a draft security law that would give the military an increased role in security affairs, asserting that the law does not provide proper safeguards for civilian oversight and human rights.