United Nations

UN Report Seeks Redistribution to Achieve "Sustainability"

November 27, 2017

A recent report from the UN Conference on Trade and Development expressed concerns about a slow-growing world economy and, as a solution, called for a 21st-Century "global new deal," which it defined as an "ambitious and collaborative effort to tackle the inequities of hyperglobalization to build inclusive and sustainable economies."
UN Observer Decries Violations of "Right to Development"

November 27, 2017

A warning from UN Special Rapporteur on the right to development Saad Alfarargi that climate change and economic crises are violating the "human right" of impoverished people to development demonstrates the widespread efforts in the UN human rights apparatus to embed the concept of social and economic rights throughout the UN system.
WHO Laments Lack of Progress on NCDs

November 27, 2017

A September report from the UN's World Health Organization (WHO) on government measures to address noncommunicable disease (NCD) risk factors such as unhealthy diets and smoking warns that the world is not on track to meet the UN targets on NCDs and pushes for "bolder political action" by governments in the face of "interference by powerful economic operators."
Leadership Network Seeks Urgent Climate Efforts

November 21, 2017

The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) has announced the creation of a Climate Action Leadership Network by national governments seeking to encourage countries around the world to urgently ramp up their commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions as part of the UN's Paris climate deal.
State Governors Reject US Rejection of Paris Deal

November 21, 2017

An article in The New York Times reporting the participation by governors of some US states in meetings with global leaders on climate change at a recent session of the UN General Assembly illustrates how some state leaders are sidestepping official US foreign policy to commit to the UN climate agreement rejected by the Trump Administration.
UN Report Blames Climate Change for Growing Hunger

November 20, 2017

Indicating the lock-step nature in which the UN system is pushing the organization's agenda on global warming, a recent report on food security and nutrition from a group of UN agencies blames climate change as a "major driver" of an increase in "hunger" around the world.
Bolton: UN Reform Resolution Is Mere "Rhetoric"

November 20, 2017

In an interview with Fox News, former US Ambassador to the UN John Bolton dismissed a US-sponsored resolution on UN reform as "just the usual rhetoric" and called for countries to move to a system of purely voluntary contributions to the UN to further significant changes and create accountability within the international organization.
Bolton Calls for Closure of UNRWA

November 20, 2017

Deeming the work of the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) - the agency charged with assisting Palestinian refugees - to be "highly politicized," former US Ambassador to the UN John Bolton has called for the US to withhold funding from UNRWA until the UN folds its functions into the office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.
US Criticizes UNFPA Praise of Chinese Birth Limitation

November 20, 2017

Dr. Susan Yoshihara of the Center for Family and Human Rights reports that, at the presentation of a strategic plan from the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) in September that included provisions encouraging "sexual and reproductive health rights," the US delegation criticized the plan's praise for China's four-decade "coercive birth limitation" policy.
UN Rights Observer Criticizes UK on Air Pollution

November 20, 2017

The UN Special Rapporteur on human rights related to toxic waste Baskut Tuncak has criticized the UK for "flouting" its obligations to protect the rights of its citizens to life, health, and adequate housing by permitting what he deems to be an unsafe level of air pollution in its towns and cities and has warned that Brexit could further reduce pollution restrictions in the country.