United Nations

Article Questions WHO Leadership in Wake of Ebola Response

May 11, 2016

Yanzhong Huang of the Council on Foreign Relations pinpoints both financial and structural reasons for the World Health Organization's failures in its response to the ebola outbreak in West Africa in 2014, including lack of strong leadership and reallocation of resources from pandemic responses to prevention of noncommunicable diseases.
UN Bodies Criticize Limited Protection of Breastfeeding

May 10, 2016

The UN's World Health Organization and UN Children's Fund have issued a report calling on governments to ramp up efforts to promote breastfeeding by outlawing "biased" advertising for breast-milk substitutes and spotlighting their creation of a monitoring network to counter such advertising.
UN Committee Calls for Consultation over UK Nuclear Plant

May 09, 2016

The UN Economic and Social Council has issued a report stating that the UK is not in compliance with its international obligations to consult with its European neighbors on potential cross-border impacts of its plans to build a nuclear power plant in England.
UN Body Blames Israel for "Deteriorating" Human Rights Landscape

May 09, 2016

A UN Special Committee has issued an evaluation of Israeli practices in the "occupied" Palestinian territories, based on testimony from NGOs, UN agents, and Palestinian representatives, that criticizes Israel for the impacts of heightened security measures a "faulty justice system" on the human rights of Palestinians.
UN Pushes Climate Measures Through "Action Coalitions"

May 06, 2016

At a "Climate Action Summit" in Washington, DC, the UN is seeking to forge "action coalitions" of representatives from governments, businesses, nongovernmental organizations, and academia to assist with taking the implementation of the UN's worldwide climate agreement signed in April to the "next level."
UN Pursues Economic Transformation Through Sustainability

May 06, 2016

At a recent panel at UN headquarters in New York, UN Environment Programme Executive Director Achim Steiner and representatives from governments, nongovernmental organizations, and businesses discussed how to transform the global economy through a shift to "sustainable consumption and production" patterns to achieve the UN's sustainability agenda.
UN Calls for Further Steps Toward "Sustainable Finance" in India

May 06, 2016

The UN Environment Programme has co-authored a report with the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry calling for further steps in India to align the banking and financial industries with the UN's sustainability agenda, including through new financial regulation and boosting access to finance for climate-friendly projects.
UN Appointees Seek Engagement to Advance Climate Agenda

May 05, 2016

The Washington Post reports that appointees by the UN Secretary-General to head the UN Environment Programme and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change will seek to advance the UN's agenda on climate change and to strengthen global biodiversity protection through better engagement with the average person and the private sector.
UN "Interfaith Dialogue" Pushes Environmental Agenda in Iran

May 05, 2016

At an "interfaith dialogue" in Iran organized by the UN Environment Programme ("UNEP"), the UN Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization ("UNESCO"), and the Iranian government, UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner sought to leverage religion and culture in the country to support "environmentally sustainable practices" and the UN's sustainability agenda.
Academic Calls for UN Ocean Biodiversity Treaty

May 05, 2016

Jessica Green of New York University writes that ocean biodiversity preservation requires that countries agree to a wide-ranging, binding UN treaty creating marine protected areas and requiring environmental impact assessments for commercial activity on the high seas, and potentially requiring the sharing of benefits of "marine genetic resources" among all countries.