United Nations

UN Chief Eyes Mandatory Dues to Remedy Cholera Outbreak

March 23, 2017

The New York Times reports that the UN's inability to raise the necessary funds from member states to combat a continuing cholera outbreak in Haiti, caused six years ago through the conduct of UN peacekeepers, has led Secretary-General António Guterres to consider a mandatory dues assessment to plug the funding gap.
Schaefer: US Must Lead by Leaving UN Climate Deal

March 23, 2017

Brett Schaefer of the Heritage Foundation has called on the Trump Administration to "demonstrate US leadership," fidelity to constitutional principles, and friendship for Israel by withdrawing from the UN's Paris climate deal and quitting the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.
UN Removes "Apartheid Israel" Report from Website

March 22, 2017

An article in The Washington Post links pressure from US and Israeli officials with the removal from a UN website of a report condemning Israel's "apartheid" regime and the resignation of the head of the issuing UN agency, though a UN spokesman denied the removal was related to the report's content.
US Targets UN Climate, Peacekeeping Funding Cuts

March 22, 2017

CBS News reports that the Trump Administration's recent budget proposal would target various UN programs for significant funding cuts, particularly peacekeeping programs and initiatives working to implement the international organization's agenda on global warming.
UN Agency: Governments Must Close Gender Pay Gap

March 22, 2017

UN Women has launched a campaign to "stop the biggest robbery in history" by closing what the agency says is a 23 percent global gap between men's and women's pay - brought on by the undervaluing of "informal work" and the "motherhood penalty" - through such centralized national measures as a minimum wage and "universal social protection."
UN Agency Pushes Food Policy Reform in Eurasia

March 21, 2017

A report from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization proposes national government policies to encourage a balanced diet and deal with "overnutrition issues" in European and Asian countries, including taxes or subsidies to encourage consumption of healthy foods and requiring the fortification of popular foods with vitamins to enhance their nutritional value.
UN, EU Seek Global Governance of Marine Resources

March 21, 2017

A recent conference hosted in Paris by the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO and the European Commission aimed to produce a roadmap pushing authorities to adopt "marine spatial planning" techniques to further global governance of marine ecosystems near coastal areas.
UNICEF Warns Hungary on Detention of Minors

March 21, 2017

The UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) has issued a statement warning of the potential conflicts of Hungary's new policy requiring the detention of undocumented migrants over 14 years of age with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and other provisions of global human rights law.
Study: UN Deal Requires Zero UK Emissions by 2070

March 21, 2017

The journal Nature Energy has published a study finding that, in order to meet its greenhouse gas emissions pledges under the UN climate deal agreed in Paris in 2015, the UK must introduce an "ambitious policy package" targeting zero carbon emissions by the year 2070 at the latest.
Israeli Official Calls on Trump to Quit UNHRC

March 21, 2017

In a recent opinion piece, Michael Oren, the Deputy Minister for Diplomacy in the Israeli Prime Minister's office, called on the Trump Administration to withdraw US participation from the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) to oppose what he perceives as unfair and “racist” targeting of Israel by the international body.