United Nations

UN Committee Supports Nuclear Weapons Ban

November 01, 2016

The New York Times reports that, over the objection of nuclear-armed powers, the UN General Assembly's disarmament and international security committee has adopted a resolution, which will now go to the full General Assembly, seeking negotiation of a "legally binding instrument to prohibit nuclear weapons, leading towards their total elimination."
UN Conference Results in "New Urban Agenda"

November 01, 2016

The UN "Habitat III" Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development produced a document called the New Urban Agenda under which participating governments committed to advancing the UN's social and environmental agenda in cities around the world, including through renewable energy, "greener" public transport, migrant rights, and "an end to discrimination."
UN Observer Criticizes US for UN Cholera Silence

November 01, 2016

In a report to the UN General Assembly, UN Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, Philip Alston, blamed the US government for playing a role in the UN Office of Legal Affairs' refusal to admit responsibility for peacekeepers' introduction of cholera in Haiti in 2010.
UN Agent Stresses Action on "Right to Health" in SDGs

November 01, 2016

The UN Special Rapporteur on the right to health, Dainius Pūras, has called on governments to adopt measures conducive to the human right to health, including by establishing systems of universal health coverage, as part of their implementation of the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
UN Agent Takes Broad View on Data Privacy Rights

October 31, 2016

In a report to the UN General Assembly, the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to privacy, Joseph Cannataci, warned of expanded attempts by governments to resort to "permanent mass surveillance" and indicated his opposition to the access by law enforcement to the data on one's personal smartphone data, even with a judicial warrant.
Contact Group Discusses Citizenship Education Efforts

October 31, 2016

At the annual meeting of the International Contact Group on Citizenship and Human Rights Education, held in Budapest, the participants - including the UN Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization - described their recent progress in advancing the "Global Citizenship Education" agenda and called for a broader membership to promote their goals.
UN Observers Seek Bolstered Migration Rights

October 31, 2016

Two UN human rights mandate holders have characterized upcoming negotiations on an international compact for the global governance of migration as an opportunity to establish an "Agenda 2033 for Facilitating Human Mobility," which would provide for expanded access of migrants around the world to safe "mobility channels."
UN Agent Pushes "Right to Adequate Housing"

October 31, 2016

Following the UN "Habitat III" Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development, the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to adequate housing, Leilani Farha, describes her efforts to integrate the global human rights agenda into urban planning and to persuade officials to recognize as "rights claimants" those in cities who do not have access to adequate housing.
WHO Works on Standards Supporting "Right to Reproduce"

October 28, 2016

According to The Telegraph, critics argue that new global standards to which the UN's World Health Organization has contributed, expanding the definition of "infertility" to include anyone who wishes to have children but cannot, threaten the WHO's credibility and merely seek to support an international human right to reproduce.
UN Agent Seeks Global Interrogation Standards

October 28, 2016

UN Special Rapporteur on torture, Juan E. Méndez, has released a statement calling for the development of universal standards promoting "non-coercive interview methods," going beyond torture prevention to limit "risks of intimidation, coercion, and mistreatment" when questioning both suspects and witnesses.