United Nations

WHO Launches "Climate Proof" Health Project for Islands

December 19, 2017

At the recent UN climate summit in Bonn, the World Health Organization (WHO) launched a new initiative to help protect the health of people in a group of "Small Island Developing States" from the impacts of global warming, including by developing "climate proof" health systems in these countries.
UNESCO Members Adopt Ethical Principles on Climate

December 19, 2017

At a recent session of the organization's General Conference, member states of the UN Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) adopted a "Declaration of Ethical Principles in Relation to Climate Change" to reframe global policy responses to climate change as an issue of morality.
UN Agency Seeks More Data on Climate "Adaptation"

December 19, 2017

In November, the UN Environment Programme released an assessment finding that the world must develop better ways to assess progress on achieving the "global goal on adaptation" to the impacts of climate change under the UN's Paris climate accord to hold national leaders to account for their climate pledges under the deal.
Brookings, UNESCO Seek to Measure GCE Progress

December 19, 2017

As part of their Global Citizenship Education (GCE) Working Group project, the Brookings Institution and the UN Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) recently published a toolkit on how to measure global progress toward implementing GCE, which teaches children how to be "agents of long-term, positive changes in their societies."
UN Reserves Funds for Legal Action Against Israel

December 19, 2017

According to the nongovernmental organization UN Watch, the UN has set aside $1.3 billion across 16 UN agencies from 2018 to 2022 to provide advice and "technical capacity" to Palestinian officials on the use of “international accountability mechanisms” to hold Israel responsibility for violations of international law.
Pence: US Will Avoid UN in Mideast Relief Efforts

December 18, 2017

Penny Starr reports that US Vice President Mike Pence has announced a shift in US policy under which the US State Department will avoid using UN structures to distribute humanitarian relief to persecuted religious minorities in the Middle East.
UN Agents Seek Rights-Focused Implementation of Paris Deal

December 15, 2017

Ahead of a recent climate summit in Bonn, Germany, to discuss the implementation of global commitments made under the UN's Paris climate deal, UN human rights mandate holders issued a statement pushing for participants to place human rights, including economic, social, and cultural rights, at the center of their efforts to combat global warming.
UN Agents Condemn Political "Demonization" of Media

December 15, 2017

A group of UN human rights mandate holders has condemned "the public demonization of reporting and specific media outlets and reporters by political leaders at the highest levels," linking such criticism to the targeted killing of journalists.
UNESCO Offers Guidelines on SDG Education Reporting

December 14, 2017

Highlighting the focus of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) on gathering education data for global policymaking, UNESCO's Institute for Statistics has released a report guiding member states on more effective methods of collecting and utilizing data to implement the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) on education.
US Supports Refugee, but Not Migration, Compact

December 14, 2017

Fox News reports that the US delegation to the UN has pulled out of talks on a Global Compact for Migration but has made the proposed Global Compact on Refugees a “priority” because the Trump Administration believes the pact would further its goal of discouraging refugee resettlement abroad.