United Nations

EU Leaders Seek Accelerated Climate Deal Ratification

July 11, 2016

EurActiv reports that environment ministers from EU member states are calling for their governments to accelerate the ratification of the UN climate deal agreed in Paris last year in order to permit the EU to be a party to the agreement when it comes into force.
World Bank Announces Climate Funding for Vietnam

July 11, 2016

Signaling the increased financial support of international development banks for projects that seek to counter global warming or reduce its impacts, the World Bank has announced a $90-million credit for Vietnam to support "green growth" and coastal planning with an eye to reducing the effects of climate change in the country.
NGO Criticizes Rights Abusers' Election to UN Body

July 11, 2016

The nongovernmental organization UN Watch has criticized the election of China, Russia, United Arab Emirates, and Venezuela, regimes often accused of extensive human rights violations, to the UN Economic and Social Council, which oversees a range of human rights issues and groups.
UN Agent Demands National Votes on EU Trade Deals

July 11, 2016

Alfred de Zayas, the UN Independent Expert on the promotion of a democratic and equitable international order, has asserted that the EU would violate global human rights standards if it does not grant the national parliaments of its member states a vote on any trade deals the bloc agrees with Canada and the US.
US Legislators Criticize UN for Cholera Outbreak

July 06, 2016

A letter from 158 members of the US Congress criticizes the UN for refusing to accept responsibility for a massive cholera outbreak in Haiti beginning in 2010 and calls on the US State Department to place more pressure on UN officials to implement an appropriate response to the disaster.
UNESCO Analyzes Governance of Culture

July 01, 2016

A report recently released by UNESCO at the European Parliament sets out recommendations on the governance of "cultural expressions" and analyzes how culture interacts with the UN's "sustainable development" agenda.
Group Measures Progress on "Sustainability" Education

July 01, 2016

With support from UNESCO, the International Association for the Evaluation for Educational Achievement has launched the 2019 International Civic and Citizenship Education Study to measure progress on educating students around the world about the UN's sustainable development agenda.
NGO: China Meat Policy Furthers UN Climate Agenda

June 30, 2016

The nongovernmental organization WildAid is praising a Chinese policy calling for a reduction in the country's consumption of meat products for advancing the goals of the UN climate deal agreed last year.
UN Rapporteur Backs Private Security Standards

June 30, 2016

UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, Christof Heyns, has published a report to the UN Human Rights Council outlining steps he says governments must take to abide by the global human rights agenda in hiring private contractors for security purposes.
UN Agent Warns of "Free Market Fundamentalism"

June 30, 2016

In a report on the dangers of "fundamentalism" to the rights of peaceful assembly and association, UN Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association, Maina Kiai, in particular identifies "the belief in the infallibility of free market economic policies" as an "urgent threat."