United Nations

Experts Critique UN Partnerships in Syria

August 21, 2017

George Russell reports that development experts and civil society groups are expressing concern that programs developed by UN agencies, including the International Organization for Migration, providing support for the rebuilding of Syria by President Bashar al-Assad's regime and his allies could act as a vehicle for further atrocities to be committed by the Syrian strongman.
Observer: US Must Push Reform at WHO

August 21, 2017

Jeff Stier of the National Center for Public Policy Research writes that the US must defund the World Health Organization (WHO) if the UN agency's new Director-General fails to introduce policies addressing the body's "persistent wasteful spending, utter disregard for transparency, pervasive incompetence, and failure to adhere to even basic democratic standards."
EU Council Calls for SDG Implementation Strategy

August 18, 2017

The Council of the EU adopted conclusions in June calling on the European Commission to develop a strategy by the year 2018 containing "timelines, objectives and concrete measures to implement" the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), an activist wishlist containing global economic, social, and environmental targets, "in all EU policies."
UN Agents Merge Environmental, Health Agendas

August 18, 2017

Highlighting the continued focus of UN health agents on noncommunicable diseases and on fusing the global agenda on the "right to health" with climate action, UN representatives at an "environment and health" conference in the Czech Republic called for joint governmental action across Europe to reduce pollution- and climate-induced illnesses and death.
UN Agency Prioritizes Global "Gender Mainstreaming"

August 18, 2017

Speaking in June at the UN Economic and Social Council's Coordination and Management Session in New York, Lakshmi Puri of UN Women highlights her agency's focus on "the effective implementation of the gender mainstreaming strategy in all policies and programmes to ensure concrete gender equality outcomes" across the UN system and in UN members.
Hawaii Signs Laws Supporting UN Climate Agreement

August 18, 2017

ABC News reports that, as part of growing action in US states to support the UN's Paris climate accord rejected by the Trump Administration, the Hawaiian Governor has signed into law two bills supporting action on the Paris agreement, one of which "expands strategies and mechanisms to reduce greenhouse gas emissions statewide" in line with the global climate agenda.
Jury Convicts Macau Billionaire in UN Corruption Case

August 17, 2017

A US jury convicted Macau billionaire Ng Lap Seng on charges of bribing two UN ambassadors, including former President of the UN General Assembly John Ashe, in his attempt to build a multi-billion-dollar conference center in the Chinese metropolis.
UN Statement Urges Economic, Social Rights for Indigenous Peoples

August 17, 2017

Several UN officials have released a statement expressing concern over the lack of progress in realizing the economic, social, and cultural human rights of indigenous peoples 10 years after the adoption of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
Lawyer: UN Inconsistent on “Right to Life”

August 17, 2017

Attorney Wesley Smith, writing in National Review Online, argues that the UN Human Rights Committee has applied a "relative and elastic" standard in its draft comment on the meaning of the “right to life” in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights by saying that governments must not limit access to abortion or ban assisted suicide for terminally ill adults.
UN Agent Publishes Declaration on Right to "Solidarity"

August 17, 2017

Highlighting the comprehensive scope of the "rights" recognized by the UN human rights system, UN Independent Expert on human rights and international solidarity Virginia Dandan has published a "draft declaration on the right to international solidarity" that pushes for countries to collaborate on "developing systems for a new international order."