United Nations

UNESCO Letter Prioritizes SDGs in Universities

September 19, 2017

UNESCO's recent International Institute for Educational Planning (IIEP) Letter highlights the extent to which the UN agency has prioritized embedding the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for the year 2030 into education systems around the world, including by pushing higher education institutions to teach students to advance the SDGs.
UN Official Calls for Faster SDG Implementation

September 19, 2017

UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed has called for countries to begin "picking up the pace" on achieving the UN's comprehensive wishlist of social and economic targets contained in the organization's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) ahead of the 2030 deadline.
UN Official Criticizes Hungary on Immigration Policy

September 19, 2017

UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi has criticized the government of Hungary for its attempts to limit migration into the country, arguing that measures like razor wire “convey an impression of rejection" for would-be migrants.
UNESCO Promotes "Sustainability" Education in Africa

September 18, 2017

Representatives of governments and international organizations at a July UNESCO event in Nairobi agreed to establish a "community of practice/online platform" aimed at advancing the UN's agendas on "Education for Sustainable Development" and "Global Citizenship Education" in East Africa through sharing of best practices in "sustainability" and peace education.
UN Seeks Broad "Economic Empowerment" Measures

September 18, 2017

During the UN's recent High-Level Political Forum reviewing global progress on achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the UN Secretary-General’s High-Level Panel on Women’s Economic Empowerment emphasized the need to achieve the broad concept of "economic empowerment" of women to fulfill the universal targets contained in the SDGs.
UN Pushes Need for Universal Action on SDGs

September 18, 2017

At an event in July on accelerating progress toward achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for the year 2030, Achim Steiner of the UN Development Programme called on all countries to avoid "cherry-picking" priority areas from the SDGs and instead work toward the comprehensive fulfillment of the UN's social and environmental agenda.
India, UN Cooperate on "Sustainability" Fund

September 18, 2017

The UN Development Programme has praised India's commitment of $1 million to the India-UN Development Partnership Fund, established to "support Southern-owned and led, demand-driven, and transformational sustainable development projects across the developing world," to support a climate resilience project in the South Pacific.
UN Agents Blame Israel for Gaza Power Cuts

September 15, 2017

A group of UN human rights mandate holders have blamed Israel as an "occupier" of Palestinian territory for recent power and sewage treatment cuts in Gaza resulting from a disagreement between the Palestinian Authority and Hamas over the payment of fuel taxes.
Groups Use Test to Promote "Sustainability Literacy"

September 15, 2017

The UN Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) reports that 603 universities, businesses, and other organizations from 57 countries are now using a "Sustainability Literacy Test" to gauge and report on the level of understanding among their students and employees of the UN's "sustainable development" agenda.
UNESCO Seeks "Sustainability" Education in South Africa

September 15, 2017

In June, the UN Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) hosted in South Africa the third of its series of four symposia on the future of the UN agency's global agenda on "education for sustainable development" and how it will help achieve the UN's ambitious Sustainable Development Goals.