United Nations

UN Seeks "Transformation" of Global Food System

June 10, 2016

In order to counter environmental damage caused by the current global food system, the UN Environment Programme's International Resource Panel has called for the development of a "resource-smart" food system that would, among other things, move away from the production of meat and processed food and educate people about healthy diets.
World Bank Seeks Climate Action in Tourism Industry

June 10, 2016

A recent World Bank event in Morocco explored how governments of countries on the Mediterranean Sea must respond to the threats of climate change to their large tourism industries.
UN Agent Scrutinizes Impacts of EU Budget Measures

June 09, 2016

UN Independent Expert on the effects of foreign debt and human rights Juan Pablo Bohoslavsky recently visited Brussels to meet with EU officials, national human rights institutions, and NGOs to assess the impacts of EU "austerity policies and economic adjustment programmes" on the fulfillment of economic and social rights in EU member states.
UN Rights Office Seeks More Funding for IACHR

June 09, 2016

The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has expressed alarm at reports of a funding crisis at the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and its potential impacts on the promotion by the IACHR of the UN's broad human rights agenda.
UN Officials Focus on Climate in African Security Situation

June 09, 2016

UN officials who recently briefed the UN Security Council on the security situation in the Sahel region of sub-Saharan Africa focused on how global warming has contributed to increased instances of terrorism, conflicts over resources, trafficking, and organized crime.
Whistleblower Resigns over UN Sex Abuse "Impunity"

June 08, 2016

Anders Kompass, a field operations director for the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights whom the UN suspended in 2014 after he sent information to French authorities on sex abuse by peacekeepers in the Central African Republic, has announced his resignation due to lack of accountability for the scandal among senior officials at the UN.
WHO Warns of Climate Change, Non-Communicable Diseases

June 07, 2016

The Director-General of the World Health Organization, Margaret Chan, warned in recent remarks at the World Health Assembly in Geneva of climate change and rising non-communicable diseases as two of the global health threats that the UN and its members must address through the UN's Sustainable Development Goals in coming years.
UN Pushes Veggies for Sustainability

June 07, 2016

The UN Food and Agriculture Organization has published a study calling on governments to promote diets based heavily on choosing vegetables over meats and "processed" foods in order to encourage nutrition and to incorporate the UN's "sustainability" agenda into national agricultural policies.
Dire UN Report Aims to Push Action on Climate Change

June 07, 2016

The UN's Global Environmental Outlook (GEO-6): Regional Assessments, published ahead of the recent UN Environmental Assembly in Nairobi, warns of various ways in which the global environment is deteriorating faster than previously expected and calls for urgent "climate-resilient" choices to counter these trends.
UNESCO Encourages "Sexuality Education" Commitments

June 06, 2016

A representative from the UN Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization recently spoke at a conference in Copenhagen on the importance of governments fulfilling their commitments to including "comprehensive sexuality education" in their schools' curricula.