United Nations

UN Presses Religious Leaders on Support for SDGs

August 08, 2018

A UN Environment Programme report examines how it and other UN agencies must engage the global religious community for support of the implementation of the UN’s comprehensive social and environmental targets contained in its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
UN, World Bank Seek National Geospatial Data Plans

August 08, 2018

A UN committee and the World Bank have produced a roadmap to guide governments on establishing “national geospatial information management” systems, using a swath of data on areas ranging from climate change impacts to education, to further “social, economic, and environmental development.”
UN Observers Point to Special Rights of Indigenous Migrants

August 08, 2018

A recent statement from UN human rights mandate holders calls on governments to protect a broad range of rights - including economic, social, and cultural rights - of indigenous peoples as they migrate from their lands in light of displacing factors such as global warming.
UN Agents Criticize Brazilian Reform of Social Programs

August 08, 2018

A group of UN human rights mandate holders has demanded that the Brazilian government halt cuts to the country’s social programs, warning that countries must only pursue “austerity” policies after performing comprehensive assessments of their impacts on the “social and economic rights” of their citizens.
Israel, US Accuse UN of Double Standard on Rights Abuse

August 08, 2018

Fox News reporter Adam Shaw writes that Israeli and US representatives at the UN are accusing the international organization of unfairly targeting Israel with allegations of unlawful killings and other human rights abuses while ignoring Hamas terror attacks resulting in widespread property destruction.
ILO Chief Praises BRICS Countries’ Embrace of “Social Dialogue”

August 08, 2018

At a summit of officials from the five BRICS countries, Director-General of the UN’s International Labour Organization (ILO) Guy Ryder praised the commitments the countries, which include authoritarian China and Russia, made to work toward “social dialogue, social protection, gender equality and youth employment.”
UN Agency Seeks to Use AI Initiative to Fulfill SDGs

August 08, 2018

The UN Development Programme has announced that it will join the Partnership on Artificial Intelligence (AI), a business and NGO-based initiative that is developing standards for the “safe, ethical, and transparent” development of AI, as the UN agency seeks to “test and scale” the use of AI to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
US Seeks to Trigger Broad Reforms at UNRWA

August 07, 2018

CNN reports on efforts by Trump Administration officials to put pressure on UN Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA) to reform its fundraising practices and make broad changes in its provision of services to Palestinian refugees, with one official asserting that UNRWA "has perpetuated and exacerbated the refugee crisis" in the region.
Palestinian Authority Warns of US “Conspiracies” to End UNRWA

August 06, 2018

The Times of Israel reports that the Palestinian Authority is labeling emails from the US Administration published by Foreign Affairs including proposals to “disrupt” the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), aimed at funding Palestinian refugees, and combine it with the larger UN refugee system as part of “conspiracies to end the Palestinian cause.”
UN, IACHR Agents: Trump’s Anti-Media Criticism Violates Rights

August 06, 2018

UN and Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) Special Rapporteurs on free expression, David Kaye and Edison Lanza, have warned that US President Donald Trump’s “attacks” on the media “run counter to the country’s obligations to respect press freedom and international human rights law.”