United Nations

UN Agent: WTO Must Be Subordinated to Rights Agenda

January 06, 2016

Arguing that the World Trade Organization's ("WTO") current policies in support of global trade benefit rich countries at the expense of the "right to development" of poor countries, UN Independent Expert Alfred de Zayas has called on the UN system to subjugate the WTO and all international trade agreements to the human-rights provisions of the UN Charter.
Abrams Calls on US Congress Not to Fund UNESCO

January 06, 2016

Elliott Abrams writes in The Weekly Standard that the US Congress must show resolve in upholding US policy not to fund any UN organization that admits Palestine as a member by denying the Obama Administration's request for a waiver permitting the President to "re-fund" the UN Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization ("UNESCO").
UN Agents Seek Scale-up of EU Refugee Program

January 06, 2016

UN agents have increased pressure on EU authorities to increase drastically the number of refugees it is resettling in Europe, with the head of the UN refugee agency Antonio Guterres calling the current effort "not enough" and the UN's special envoy for migration Peter Sutherland labeling the EU's inability to deal with the "manageable number" of migrants "absurd."
Panel Cites UN Failures in Sex-Abuse Cases

January 06, 2016

An independent panel established to investigate the UN response to allegations of the sexual abuse of children by French peacekeepers in the Central African Republic has found that "gross institutional failure" at UN agencies prevented a meaningful response to the allegations and led to further abuse.
UN Resolution Supports "Sustainable Development" Education

January 06, 2016

A recent resolution adopted by the UN General Assembly seeks to solidify the role of the UN Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization ("UNESCO") in promoting "Education for Sustainable Development" to advance the UN's agenda on sustainable development in educational institutions around the world.
UN-NGO Deal Promotes "Citizenship Education" in Asia

January 06, 2016

An agreement between the UN Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization ("UNESCO") and the nonprofit Asia Society will seek to further the integration of "Global Citizenship Education," which includes lessons on the UN's "sustainable development" and human-rights agendas, in Asian education systems.
UNESCO Lauds Education Provision in Climate Agreement

January 06, 2016

A press release from the UN Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization ("UNESCO") spotlights a provision agreed in the draft Paris climate deal calling for countries to "enhance climate change education" and pushes policies that integrate the UN's "sustainable development" agenda in national education systems around the world.
UN Hub Seeks "Sustainable" Trade Policies

January 06, 2016

The UN Environment Programme has launched an Environment and Trade Hub that will seek to merge global trade policies, including bilateral and multilateral trade agreements, and the UN agendas on "sustainable development" and environmental protection.
UN Report Pushes Link Between Human Rights, Global Warming

January 06, 2016

The efforts by UN agencies and human-rights activists to use the economic, social, and cultural human rights agenda as a vehicle to advance policies countering climate change has culminated in a "comprehensive study" from the UN Environment Programme that calls for world leaders to explicitly recognize human-rights concerns in climate-related legislation and policy.
UN, NGO Produce Guide on "Green Bonds"

January 05, 2016

The UN Environment Programme and the nonprofit Climate Bonds Initiative have released a report guiding countries with "emerging economies" to establish markets in the public sector for "green bonds" that fund projects furthering the UN's sustainable development and climate-change agendas.