United Nations

German Body Adopts Plan for "Sustainability" Education

August 25, 2017

A press release from the UN Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization celebrates the adoption by Germany's National Platform on Education for Sustainable Development (ESD), a "steering body" that includes government officials, of a "National Action Plan" for the implementation of ESD in education settings throughout Germany.
UNESCO Advances "Sustainability" Education in Japan

August 25, 2017

The UN Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has announced the establishment of the Japanese Society of Education for Sustainable Development to help promote UNESCO's global agenda on including teaching on the UN's comprehensive Sustainable Development Goals in school curricula throughout Japan.
UN Agency Partners with Newspapers on SDG Promotion

August 25, 2017

The UN Development Programme recently announced a partnership with 50 newspapers around the world to promote the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by publishing stories on efforts by "ordinary people" to fulfill the UN's comprehensive social and environmental targets by the year 2030.
New ILO Body to Explore Social Justice in Employment

August 24, 2017

The UN International Labour Organization (ILO) has established the Global Commission on the Future of Work to “provide the analytical basis for the delivery of social justice in the 21st century” amidst rapid changes in the global economy and employment.
UN Agent Criticizes EU, Italian Migrant Policy

August 24, 2017

UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions Agnes Callamard has called on the Italian government and the EU to fulfill international human rights obligations to rescue migrants and refugees in the Mediterranean Sea and prevent their return to "appalling" conditions in Africa.
UN Agent Criticizes Venezuela Sanctions

August 24, 2017

UN Special Rapporteur Idriss Jazairy has criticized the use of unilateral economic sanctions against the country of Venezuela during its political crisis, saying that such measures violate the "economic, social, and cultural rights" of Venezuelans and require the approval of the UN Security Council.
UN Chief Launches Plan for Internal Reforms

August 24, 2017

George Russell writes that the Trump Administration has so far been successful in spurring UN Secretary-General António Guterres to develop significant reforms of the UN system to address criticisms of inefficiency, ineffectiveness, and irrelevance.
UNESCO Develops Ethical Climate Change Principles

August 24, 2017

An Ad Hoc Expert Group of the UN Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has prepared the preliminary text of a proposed agreement of principles guiding member states and other actors on their ethical responsibilities to implement the global agenda on combating climate change.
Tech Experts Urge UN to Regulate AI Weaponry

August 24, 2017

Several major technology leaders and experts have signed an open letter to the UN urging the organization to limit the development of weapons that employ artificial intelligence (AI), warning the technology could open a “Pandora’s box” of violence and instability.
Activist Criticizes UN over Haiti Cholera Funds

August 24, 2017

Former diplomat Stephen Lewis, who now runs the advocacy group AIDS-Free World, writes that "the UN has betrayed the people of Haiti once again" by failing to deliver on its promise of $400 million in aid to victims and their families to help remedy the ongoing cholera outbreak spread by infected UN peacekeepers in the country in 2010.