United Nations

UN Launches Policy Guidance Body for Wetlands

August 04, 2017

The UN Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) recently announced the establishment of a "Global Blue Carbon Data Network" consisting of a network of regional centers created to share data on carbon emissions in wetland areas and to support integrating "blue carbon" policy into "local to national to international ocean and climate policy."
UN Official Enlists Cities in Climate Agenda

August 04, 2017

Reuters reports that Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change Patricia Espinosa, citing the catastrophic future impacts of global warming on urban areas, has called on cities to be the main drivers of the UN's climate and "sustainable development" agendas.
UN Forestry Advice Aids SDG Alignment

August 03, 2017

New guidelines from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization press national governments to develop a "strong mechanism" for monitoring their forest resources to fight global warming and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
WHO Promotes Breastfeeding as Key to SDGs

August 03, 2017

The World Health Organization (WHO) is calling on national governments to increase investment in breastfeeding promotion programs in part to reach the targets under the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) related to nutrition, disease prevention, and cognitive development.
UN Event Touts Youth, Elderly Role in SDGs

August 03, 2017

The UN recently held an event highlighting the universal nature of its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by pushing for "solidarity across generations" in involving people of all ages in implementing the comprehensive social and environmental agenda.
Report Spotlights UN Inability to Curb Sex Abuse

August 02, 2017

George Russell writes that a report from the UN Office of Internal Oversight Services reveals, years after reports of child sex abuse in the country rocked the UN system, the continued inability of the UN peacekeeping mission in the Central African Republic to effectively monitor, record, or investigate allegations of sexual abuse by its peacekeepers.
Professor Criticizes India’s SDG Report

August 02, 2017

Visiting Professor at New York University’s Center for Global Affairs W.P.S. Sidhu has criticized India’s recent "voluntary national report" to the UN on the country's implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), arguing that India failed to make “a convincing case of leading the world on SDGs” and should more deliberately incorporate the goals in national policy.
UNESCO Event Pushes Urban Action on SDGs

August 02, 2017

UN Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Director-General Irina Bokova met with UN and Italian officials in Fabriano, Italy - one of 116 UNESCO “Creative Cities” - to highlight the role cities must play in the localized implementation of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
African Initiative Guides National SDG Education Strategies

August 02, 2017

The UN Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) recently announced the meeting of a "Regional Coordination Group" for West and Central Africa to develop ideas and resources for implementing education targets in the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the region by guiding national education planning and teacher standards.
Honduras Resists UN Pressure on Abortion Laws

August 01, 2017

The nongovernmental organization C-Fam has reported that, in the face of pressure from UN human rights mandate holders to recognize what they said are internationally recognized "sexual and reproductive health rights," the Honduran Congress ruled out a reform of the country's penal code to decriminalize certain types of abortion.