United Nations

UN Agents Criticize London Development Project

September 22, 2017

A group of UN human rights mandate holders has warned that UK authorities are threatening the "economic, social, and cultural rights" of residents and shop owners in the area of an indoor market in London by proceeding with plans for a development project that requires their displacement.
Asia Meeting Adopts Recommendations on Education SDGs

September 22, 2017

Representatives of governments, nongovernmental organizations, academic institutions, and international organizations concluded the 3rd Asia-Pacific Meeting on Education 2030 by adopting a set of "regional recommendations" on education reforms in the Asia-Pacific region to help fulfill wide-ranging education targets under the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
NGO Criticizes "Rogues' Gallery" Panel at UNHRC

September 21, 2017

The nongovernmental organization UN Watch has criticized the UN Human Rights Council for hosting a recent panel on which contributors criticized Western sanctions imposed on authoritarian regimes.
UN Pushes for Global Collection of Education Data

September 21, 2017

As part of UN efforts to ramp up the collection of data for use by global institutions to measure the progress of the "sustainable development" agenda, UNESCO's Institute for Statistics recently hosted a meeting of representatives from "regional and international learning assessments" who pledged to use cross-border tools for assessing education outcomes at the global level.
Trump Promotes National Sovereignty at UN

September 20, 2017

The Los Angeles Times reports that, in his first address to the UN General Assembly, US President Donald Trump hammered home a nationalist doctrine of "principled realism" based in "a coalition of strong and independent nations that embrace their sovereignty, to promote security, prosperity and peace for themselves and for the world.”
UN Seeks Shift in Perception of Migrants

September 20, 2017

As they prepare for a 2018 summit at which they expect countries to agree to a wide-ranging Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration, UN officials at a recent consultation in New York discussed the need to improve the public perception of migrants by emphasizing their contributions to "human development."
UN Official Blasts Australian Refugee Processing

September 20, 2017

UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi recently condemned Australia's system of offshore processing centers on the islands of Nauru and Papua New Guinea for asylum seekers arriving in Australia by boat, arguing that they cause "extensive, avoidable suffering" and run contrary to "common decency."
UN Officials Seek Multilateralism on Climate, SDGs

September 19, 2017

UN officials opened the high-level segment of the UN Economic and Social Council's 2017 session in July by stressing the need for multilateralism and funding from rich to poor countries to combat worldwide challenges such as climate change, as one official labeled the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) "a new social contract for the world."
UN Bases SDG Efforts in Global Technology

September 19, 2017

A report from several high-ranking UN officials organized by the UN's International Telecommunications Union describes how the UN will work to leverage the power of information and communication technologies to achieve each of the comprehensive Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
UNESCO Teaches Gambian Youth "Sustainability"

September 19, 2017

In July, UNESCO's network in The Gambia gathered hundreds of young people in the country to teach them about the UN agency's "Global Citizenship Education" (GCE) and "Education for Sustainable Development" (ESD) programs aimed "to promote fundamental values of peaceful co-existence" and ended the session with a declaration in favor of GCE and ESD learning.