United Nations

UN Agencies Seek Universal "Sexuality Education"

August 14, 2017

A group of UN agencies has launched a joint report on adolescent health calling on all countries to implement "comprehensive sexuality education," including lessons on "promotion of gender equality and respect for human rights," in their national education curricula to ensure protection of "sexual and reproductive health" rights, widely interpreted to include abortion.
California, China Sign Climate Technology Deal

August 14, 2017

Reuters reports that the governments of California and China have responded to US President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw the US from the UN's Paris climate deal by bypassing US federal authorities in establishing a California-China Clean Technology Partnership to explore carbon emissions trading and green energy development.
World Bank Prioritizes Climate Commitments

August 14, 2017

In the wake of US President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw the US from the UN's Paris climate change deal, the World Bank Group issued a statement insisting on its continuing prioritization of the UN's climate agenda and asserting its goal of making its portfolio 28 percent climate-related by the year 2020.
World Bank Calls for "Greening" of Africa's Cities

August 14, 2017

In June, the World Bank released a report calling for a "comprehensive green urban development strategy" to ensure that the growth of Africa's cities complies with the UN agendas on "sustainability" and "climate resilience."
UN Agent Weighs in on Medication in Mental Health Policy

August 14, 2017

In a June report, UN Special Rapporteur on the right to health Dainius Pūras called on governments across the globe to move toward a "rights-based approach" to mental health, warning of power imbalances in the health sector that lead to "paternalistic and excessively medicalized concepts" and result in overuse of medication and violation of rights.
Essays Seek Canadian Implementation of UN Indigenous Declaration

August 11, 2017

The Centre for International Governance Innovation has published a collection of essays on how the Canadian government should use the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples as a mechanism through which it can "braid together" international, national, and Indigenous laws to uphold the global human rights agenda in its relationship with the Indigenous community.
UN Chief: "Now Is the Time" for a Palestinian State

August 11, 2017

Marking 50 years since the start of the 1967 Arab-Israeli War, UN Secretary-General António Guterres weighed in on his desired outcome for negotiations between Palestinians and Israelis by calling for the immediate creation of a Palestinian state.
US Entities Bind Themselves to UN Climate Goals

August 10, 2017

Reuters reports that former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg has submitted a statement on behalf of "over 1,000 U.S. governors, mayors, businesses, universities and others" to the UN declaring their intention to pursue the greenhouse gas emissions goals of the Paris climate deal in the absence of US federal action and report their progress to UN agencies.
Gennarini: UN's Paris Deal Undermines Democracy

August 10, 2017

Stefano Gennarini of the Center for Family and Human Rights argues that the UN's Paris climate deal is an example of "bureaucracy run amuck to the point of undermining democratic rule and the people’s sovereignty."
Haley: Dictators Use UNHRC to "Whitewash Brutality"

August 10, 2017

In June, US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley published an op-ed in which she calls on the UN to "reclaim the legitimacy" of the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC), which she indicates has become merely a "showcase for dictatorships that use their membership to whitewash brutality," in part by introducing competitive voting in the body.