United Nations

UN Aims for Gender-Sensitive Global Legal Framework

February 24, 2017

In a recent interview, Begoña Lasagabaster of UN Women explains how the new UN initiative Roadmap for Substantive Equality: 2030 will advance global efforts "to repeal and amend all laws that discriminate against women and girls" and support "gender-sensitive" laws, including on equal pay and paid maternity leave, that comply with the global human rights agenda.
Nigeria Looks to "Green Bonds" for Climate Finance

February 24, 2017

At a recent workshop on climate finance in Nigeria at which a World Bank official predicted the country would need $140 billion to achieve greenhouse gas commitments it made as part of the UN's Paris climate deal, Nigerian environment minister Ibrahim Usman Jibril revealed his government's plans to introduce "green bonds" to fund the country's climate pledge.
UN Meeting Seeks "Women's Empowerment" Policies

February 24, 2017

In consultations on the agenda of the 61st session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women, Latin American and Caribbean government officials agreed to a "Declaration of Panama" committing them to "women's economic empowerment," including raising the minimum wage and establishing a mechanism monitoring the enforcement of equal pay measures.
Analysis Takes on Criticism of Mexico City Policy

February 23, 2017

Stefano Gennarini of C-Fam writes that the criticism by UN officials and activists of the human rights effects of the Trump Administration's withdrawal of abortion funding from foreign countries under the "Mexico City Policy" belies the fact that there is no binding provision of a UN treaty recognizing a right to abortion or to public provision of family planning methods.
UN Agents Seek Global Governance for "Social Justice"

February 22, 2017

Two UN human rights mandate holders have called for the recognition of a broad array of nontraditional human rights to allow people to access "social justice" and pushed for a "monitoring or corrective procedure with universal jurisdiction" to take on global threats to these economic and social rights.
UN Chief: "Lack of Trust" Blocks Global Governance

February 21, 2017

Speaking at a World Government Summit in Dubai, UN Secretary-General António Guterres spotlighted the "terrible lack of trust" between people and governments, and between people and multilateral institutions, as an obstacle to the effective functioning of the UN and other organizations in finding "global responses" to the world's problems.
UN Chief: Refugee Settlement Is "Collective Responsibility"

February 21, 2017

At a recent press conference in Istanbul, UN Secretary-General António Guterres asserted that "effective burden-sharing" for the resettlement of refugees is a "collective responsibility of the international community" and criticized countries for closing borders and "escaping their responsibilities" to the refugee community.
IOC, EU Push Model of Global Ocean Governance

February 21, 2017

The UN Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization's Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) has praised the European Commission for using the IOC's "marine spatial planning" process on managing ocean activity to advocate for global governance of marine resources and biodiversity.
UNESCO: Teach "Global Citizenship" to Prevent Bullying

February 21, 2017

The UN Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) recently hosted a workshop in Seoul on how its Global Citizenship Education agenda, which seeks to teach students of all ages how to be inclusive and promote "sustainable development," can help prevent bullying based on ethnic discrimination in schools around the world.
UNESCO Funds Indonesian Projects on "Sustainability"

February 21, 2017

A press release from the UN Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) on projects of its "Management of Social Transformations" (MOST) School on Sustainability Science aimed at advancing the UN's environmental agenda in Indonesia demonstrates the global scope of UNESCO's funding for local programs on adapting to climate change.