United Nations

UN Develops Action Plan on "Sustainability" in Higher Education

April 13, 2016

As its leaders seek to "promote the formation of citizens with a global conscience," the UN Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization ("UNESCO") recently held a conference at which it developed a four-year strategy for a Global Action Programme on Education for Sustainable Development in higher education institutions around the world.
UN Reflects on Progress of Information Access Guidelines

April 13, 2016

The UN recently hosted a conference for the Bureau of the Intergovernmental Council for the Information for All Programme ("IFAP") at which officials reflected on IFAP's progress in pushing guidelines for the development of national information policy and strategy frameworks, which the UN is using in part to advance its sustainable development agenda.
UN Touts Latin American Deal Ahead of Environment Summit

April 12, 2016

The UN Environment Programme is praising Latin American countries for agreeing to accelerate cooperation on environmental issues, including climate change, renewable energy, and implementation of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, at a summit just ahead of the UN Environmental Assembly in Kenya in May.
US, China Agree to Immediate Signature of UN Climate Deal

April 12, 2016

The New York Times reports that, despite an ongoing US court battle casting doubt on the unilateral executive implementation of a UN deal seeking to limit global greenhouse gas emissions, the Presidents of the US and China have agreed to sign the UN climate change agreement later this month, on the first day it is open to signatures.
Thailand Joins World Bank Climate Change Group

April 11, 2016

The World Bank Group has announced that Thailand will join its Partnership for Market Readiness, an initiative with over 30 national members that seeks to push countries to lower their greenhouse gas emissions and energy consumption to contribute to the implementation of the UN's agenda on global warming.
UN Agent Calls for Sanctions on "For-Profit" Education

April 11, 2016

UN Special Rapporteur on the right to education Kishore Singh has called for Chile to follow up its efforts to dismantle its private, "for-profit" education system by establishing a legal framework to "devote maximum resources to education on a sustainable basis" and to "bring to justice" those treating education as a commodity.
NGO Criticizes UN for Continuing Reports of Sexual Abuse

April 11, 2016

George Russell writes that the nongovernmental organization AIDS-Free World is blaming bureaucracy and collective inaction at the UN for new cases of sexual abuse by members of a UN peacekeeping force in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
ILO Calls for Legislation on Domestic Workers' "Right to Rest"

April 08, 2016

The UN's International Labour Organization ("ILO") has called for countries, through legislation or regulation, to reduce the working time of domestic workers to provide for their "essential human right" to rest.
UN Audit Reveals Lapses in Bribery Case

April 08, 2016

Reuters reports that a confidential document from the UN Office of Internal Oversight Services, generated as part of the office's investigation of a bribery scheme implicating former UN General Assembly President John Ashe, has indicated a number of lapses in the UN's links with the nongovernmental organizations at the center of the scandal.
UN Meeting Promotes Agenda of Economic Redistribution

April 07, 2016

Calling for a "fair global society," UN officials at a recent "special meeting on inequality" asserted that national leaders must address growing economic inequality between countries and within countries, blaming the former on "illicit financial flows" and other unethical international activity, while blaming the latter on lack of "political will."