United Nations

UN Declaration Advances Global Governance of Migration

September 21, 2016

Government officials convening at a recent UN Summit for Refugees and Migrants adopted the New York Declaration, through which they committed to work toward a "global compact for safe, orderly and regular migration" by the year 2018 and to assist with the resettlement of all refugees as identified by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.
Schaefer: UN Reduced Credibility in Bypassing US Congress

September 21, 2016

Summarizing US President Barack Obama's parting UN address and the policies he advanced at the UN during his time in office, Brett Schaefer of the Heritage Foundation asserts that the UN has placed itself in a vulnerable position for the future by serving as the Obama Administration's vehicle to unilaterally advance initiatives unpopular in the US Congress.
UNESCO Report Examines Remedies for Inequality

September 21, 2016

A report published in partnership with the UN Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization calls for the creation of "fairer societies" by understanding, through social science research, and remedying problems caused by "economic, political, social, cultural, environmental, spatial and knowledge-based" inequality caused by "neoliberal" policies of the 1980s and 1990s.
UNICEF Calls for Comprehensive Data on Children

September 21, 2016

The UN Children's Fund is calling for countries to collect and maintain comprehensive data on children living within their territories in order to help the UN measure its progress toward fulfilling its wide-ranging Sustainable Development Goals.
EU Seeks "Fast-Track" Ratification of Climate Deal

September 21, 2016

Bloomberg reports that representatives of EU member states have expressed "no strong opposition" to a plan for the supranational bloc to ratify the UN climate deal negotiated in Paris last year in a fast-track procedure that would take place before the individual legislatures of EU members have an opportunity to consider the agreement.
US Lawmakers Warn Against UNSC Resolution on Israel

September 21, 2016

Responding to reports of a potential UN Security Council resolution setting parameters for a "two-state solution" for Israelis and Palestinians, 88 US Senators have signed a letter calling for President Barack Obama to veto any such resolution that bypasses the process of direct negotiation.
Kontorovich Points out Dangers of UN Focus on Israel

September 21, 2016

Law professor Eugene Kontorovich explains how the disproportionate use by UN institutions of harsh terms to describe Israel's presence in Palestinian territories, as opposed to the terms it uses regarding other instances of "occupation and settlement" throughout the world, blinds the UN to the need to spotlight occupations and human rights abuses in a global context.
UN Agent: Representative Democracy Denies Public Participation

September 21, 2016

Asserting that "parliamentary despotism" and the influence of special interests on the political process deny the general public its right to participate in policy decisions, UN human rights mandate holder Alfred de Zayas has called for more public initiatives and referenda around the world to secure "a more just world order."
UNHCR Pushes European Countries on Refugees

September 19, 2016

The Office of the UN High Commissioner on Refugees has criticized European countries for not following through on commitments made in 2015 to resettle approximately 160,000 asylum seekers from the Middle East and North Africa and has called on the countries to "lower the threshold for relocation candidates" seeking to relocate within the EU.
UN Agent Pushes Human Rights Focus in Trade Deals

September 16, 2016

Denying that international trade deals negotiated in secret and not subjected to national referendums have "any democratic legitimacy," UN Independent Expert Alfred de Zayas has called for NGO participation in trade negotiations and for the "mainstreaming" of global human rights obligations in every trade deal.