United Nations

US Lawmakers Call on UN Rights Chief to Clarify Zika Comments

March 10, 2016

Over fifty US Members of Congress have signed a letter calling for UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein to clarify a statement he made which they say appears to push countries affected by the Zika virus, which is linked to birth defects, to loosen restrictions on access to abortion and "exploits a genuine public health crisis to advance a political agenda."
EU Members Seek Higher Targets Under UN Deal

March 10, 2016

According to the website Climate Home, a group of EU member states has criticized the European Commission for keeping in place greenhouse gas emissions targets it agreed in 2014 for the year 2030 following a far-reaching UN climate deal in December 2015 and has called for the EU to meet its commitments under the new deal by raising its ambition on climate targets.
UN Rights Chief Warns FBI on Unlocking Terrorist's iPhone

March 09, 2016

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein warns that the US Federal Bureau of Investigation ("FBI") risks opening a Pandora's Box in government surveillance by ordering Apple to assist with unlocking the iPhone of Syed Rizwan Farook, one of the terrorists killed following his participation in the 2015 San Bernardino shootings.
UNHRC Hosts Panel on Human Rights and Climate Change

March 09, 2016

The UN Human Rights Council ("UNHRC") recently hosted a panel discussion during which speakers called on governments to act to counter climate change to prevent violations of human rights, particularly of nontraditional economic, social, and cultural rights.
UN Signals Bureaucratic Obstacles to Justice for Sex Abuse

March 09, 2016

George Russell writes that civil society observers are criticizing a new report from UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon publicizing more allegations of sex abuse made against UN-affiliated peacekeepers and indicating that bureaucratic obstacles at the UN and in member states are slowing justice for victims of this abuse.
UN Observers Seek Rights-focused Response to Flint Water Crisis

March 09, 2016

A group of UN human rights mandate holders have called on the US to respond to lead contamination in the water supply in Flint, Michigan, by focusing on the human rights aspects of the situation and by ratifying more UN rights treaties, such as the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.
UN Agent: Homelessness Is a Human Rights Violation

March 09, 2016

Blaming homelessness on factors including "persistent inequality" and the "unfair distribution of land and property," UN Special Rapporteur on the right to housing Leilani Farha has called on countries to stop treating housing as a "commodity" and instead to treat it as a human right.
UN Rights Chief Calls on States to Reduce Economic Inequality

March 04, 2016

Calling the provisions of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights an "International Bill of Rights," UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein called for wider implementation of these instruments to reduce "deepening" economic inequality.
UN Sets up Migrant "Hubs" in Europe

March 04, 2016

The UN High Commissioner on Refugees and the UN Children's Fund are cooperating to open approximately twenty Child and Family Support Hubs in Croatia, the Republic of Macedonia, Greece, Serbia, and Slovenia to identify and support "vulnerable families" and children making the journey to Western Europe.
UN Meeting Seeks Sustainability Through "Ocean Governance"

March 04, 2016

At a meeting in Flanders organized by the UN Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization ("UNESCO"), government and other representatives discussed how governance of coastal and marine areas could contribute to the advancement of the UN's sustainability agenda.