United Nations

UN Agents Express Concerns on UK Surveillance Bill

January 13, 2016

UN human rights mandate holders have called for a review of UK legislation providing unified standards for British agencies engaging in surveillance for potential violations of international human rights law, including by preventing those under monitoring "from ever knowing they are subject to surveillance."
UN Report Monitors National Education Policies

January 13, 2016

The UN Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization ("UNESCO") has announced that a re-tooled report, called the "Global Education Monitoring Report," will serve as a centralized monitor of national and international education and other policy commitments to which countries agreed as part of the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
World Bank Uses Initiative to Push Climate Adaptation

January 13, 2016

The World Bank has published an article describing how its Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery is financing mitigation and adaptation projects to deal with what it sees as the rising risks of climate change-related weather disasters around the world.
UN Agent Investigates Development and Rights in Morocco

January 13, 2016

UN Independent Expert on human rights and international solidarity Virginia Dandan has announced an upcoming visit to Morocco during which she will investigate whether national and international development efforts within the country are contributing to the fulfillment of nontraditional economic, social, and cultural human rights.
UN, OSCE Officials Reissue Call for Closure of Guantanamo Facility

January 12, 2016

UN human-rights mandate holders and an official from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe ("OSCE") have called for the US to close its terror-suspect detention facility in Guantanamo Bay, to permit detainees to seek redress, and to "end impunity" for officials "at the highest level" who ordered certain counterterrorism actions following the 9/11 attacks.
Professor Provides Initial Examination of UN Climate Pact

January 11, 2016

Professor Jorge Vinuales of the University of Cambridge has produced an initial analysis of the various implementation and compliance provisions of the UN climate deal recently agreed in Paris, calling the pact a "realistic instrument" that will work more effectively to counter climate change than the previous agreement signed in Kyoto.
UN Faces Sex-Abuse Allegations Against Peacekeepers

January 08, 2016

In the wake of an independent report charging the UN with "institutional failure" in its response to sex-abuse allegations against French troops operating under UN Security Council authorization in the Central African Republic, the UN has announced that it is investigating new, similar allegations against its peacekeepers in the country.
UN's Comprehensive SDGs Take Effect

January 08, 2016

Noting the mixed success of its previous, more-limited development agenda, the UN has issued a press release celebrating the official launch of its Sustainable Development Goals ("SDGs"), which it describes as "an ambitious set of goals to banish a whole host of social ills" in the coming 15 years.
UN Hosts Events on Climate-Focused Redesign of Finance

January 08, 2016

The UN Environment Programme has announced that it will hold events in London and Washington, DC, focused on the agency's policy proposals for countries to reform the design of their financial systems in order to provide for funding of climate-related projects.
Saudi Arabia Wields Influence on UNHRC Panel

January 08, 2016

Highlighting the fact that a recent mass execution in Saudi Arabia occurred as the country sits on a panel of the UN Human Rights Council ("UNHRC") that selects human-rights observers, journalist Charlotte Alfred writes that Saudi Arabia has already wielded influence on the panel by suppressing a proposal for an inquiry into alleged rights violations in the country's war in Yemen.