United Nations

UN Agency Seeks End of Refugee Transfers to Hungary

May 24, 2017

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi has called on EU member states to suspend all transfers of asylum seekers to Hungary, asserting that the country's policy requiring the detention and eventual expulsion of anyone unlawfully crossing its border violates international law.
Campaign Pushes Link Between Climate, Rights

May 24, 2017

In a contribution to The Hill, former President of Ireland and climate change campaigner Mary Robinson announces a global campaign promoting "climate justice" and seeking to link universal access to renewable energy sources to the UN's "economic, social, and cultural human rights" agenda and its comprehensive Sustainable Development Goals.
Critics Call for Blacklisting Australia from UN Rights Body

May 23, 2017

The Guardian reports that speakers at a women's event in New York who have documented alleged abuses of detainees in detention centers off the coast of Australia called for the UN Human Rights Council, whose current controversial members include Egypt, China, Cuba, and Saudi Arabia, to block Australia's bid to become a member due to its detention practices.
UN Agency Creates Global Standards on Medicine Use

May 22, 2017

The UN's World Health Organization has launched a patient safety "challenge" in which it will develop global standards seeking to "improve the way medicines are prescribed, distributed and consumed," including through government health regulations, in order to reduce the risk of improper prescription or use of medicines.
UN Report Pushes Urban "Sustainability" in Asia

May 18, 2017

The UN's Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific recently released a report blaming "income inequality" for growing poverty in the Asia-Pacific region and calling for the fulfillment of the comprehensive social and environmental "sustainable development" agenda in Asian cities to address the problem.
UN Agency Assists North Korea with Patent for Banned Chemical

May 17, 2017

George Russell reports that the UN's World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) registered a patent application from North Korea for a chemical whose exportation to the country is banned by the UN Security Council due to its potential use in nerve gas but did not report the application to UN sanctions monitors.
WHO Launches New Campaign on Noncommunicable Disease

May 15, 2017

As part of the UN agency's array of campaigns against noncommunicable diseases, including obesity and mental health issues, the World Health Organization (WHO) recently launched a call for governments around the world to invest more financial resources in combating depression.
Uncertainty on US Clouds UN Climate Meeting

May 10, 2017

AFP reports that uncertainty regarding future US participation in a global climate change deal agreed in Paris in 2017 has dampened enthusiasm at the opening of an ongoing UN meeting in Bonn aimed at working out a worldwide "rulebook" for the Paris agreement that would bind signatories closer to global climate policy.
UN Agent Pressures Indonesia on "Right to Health"

May 08, 2017

The UN Special Rapporteur on the right to health Dainius Pūras has called on Indonesia to invest more in its efforts to achieve an "equitable and sustainable healthcare system based on universal health coverage" and called for the government to strengthen "sexual and reproductive health rights," often interpreted to include a right to abortion.
UN Rights Observer Objects to Obamacare Repeal

May 03, 2017

The Hill reports that a private letter from the UN human rights office to the US State Department voices the concerns of UN Special Rapporteur Dainius Puras that the repeal of the Obama Administration's signature health law could violate the human rights of almost 30 million Americans to health and social security.