United Nations

US Delivers $500 Million to UN Climate Fund

January 25, 2017

The Washington Post reports that, three days prior to President Donald Trump's inauguration last week, the Obama Administration delivered $500 million of its $3 billion commitment to the UN Green Climate Fund, which finances projects in poor countries aimed at reducing the impacts of global warming.
UNESCO Takes on Worldwide School Bullying

January 24, 2017

The UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has published a "global status report" analyzing data on school bullying in countries around the world and calling on governments to take action on the issue to ensure respect for the "fundamental right to education."
NGO Spotlights Roles of Repressive Regimes at UN

January 23, 2017

The nongovernmental organization UN Watch has published a 2017 update highlighting major human rights and other positions at the UN held by governments widely considered by experts to be human rights abusers, including Iran, China, Syria, Sudan, Cuba, Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela.
Op-ed Outlines UN's Plans for Israel, Palestine

January 23, 2017

An opinion piece by Uri Savir on news website Al-Monitor outlines the views of a UN source on how the organization's new Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will propose to develop a diplomatic plan for a two-state Israel-Palestine solution with or without the support of Israel and labels Israel's moves to withdraw from such efforts "fundamentally mistaken."
Stern Calls for US Break with UNRWA

January 23, 2017

Sol Stern of City Journal calls on the Trump Administration to defund the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), which he says serves as a platform through which anti-Israel organizations teach Palestinian refugees to praise acts of extremism and to expect an unrealistic "right of return" to Israel.
Gennarini Outlines Potential Trump UN Reform

January 19, 2017

Stefano Gennarini of the nongovernmental organization C-FAM has published a five-point agenda on priorities for the Trump Administration at the UN, including rolling back "egregious" sexual and reproductive health policies - often interpreted to include abortion - and pushing back on the expanding jurisdiction of UN human rights treaty bodies.
Haley Questions Benefits of US Funding for UN

January 18, 2017

The Telegraph reports that, in testimony before a congressional select committee, South Carolina Governor and the prospective nominee for US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley expressed her skepticism of the benefits the US receives from funding the UN and criticized the UN Security Council's recent resolution condemning Israeli settlements.
McCarthy Calls for US Withdrawal from UN

January 18, 2017

Labeling the international organization a "coup for the bad guys," former US Department of Justice official Andrew McCarthy writes that a US law defunding the UN would not be sufficient to change its "corrupt" and anti-American practices and calls instead for the US to completely withdraw from the group.
UN Group Calls for Review of US History Textbooks

January 18, 2017

Applauding a school district in the US state of Connecticut for removing what it says is incorrect information about slavery practices in the state, the UN Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent has called on other US school districts "to review textbooks and educational materials" to ensure they accurately portray the treatment of slaves.
Berkowitz: UNSC "Poisoned" Israel-Palestine Peace Process

January 18, 2017

Peter Berkowitz of the Hoover Institution writes that the recent UN Security Council (UNSC) resolution condemning Israeli settlements diverges from previous UNSC resolutions by identifying "every last inch of the West Bank" as Palestinian land and calls for the US Congress to pass a law stating that the resolution is "an offense against the law of nations."