United Nations

UN Rights Observer Warns Ghana on "Social Protection"

June 06, 2018

Illustrating the embrace by the UN human rights apparatus of the economic, social, and cultural rights agenda, UN Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights Philip Alston has warned Ghana that, without prioritizing "social protection" and reducing wealth inequality, it will fail to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
UN Agent Seeks Rights Standards for Online Companies

June 06, 2018

Lawyer Evelyn Douek analyzes a report of UN Special Rapporteur on the freedom of expression David Kaye promoting global human rights standards as a "common vocabulary" for social-media companies to use in their exchanges with governments that wish to restrict the views expressed on their platforms.
UN Rights Chief: World Bank Must "Marry" Rights, Economics

June 05, 2018

Human Rights Watch has published an article applauding UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein for demanding at a meeting of World Bank economists that they "marry human rights and economics" by coordinating with UN human rights observers and prioritizing the global rights agenda in the institution's project financing.
ILO Meeting Produces Emergency-Service Work Guidelines

June 05, 2018

An expert meeting at the UN's International Labour Organization (ILO) recently proposed global guidelines on how public emergency-service providers should protect their employees in light of hazards including illness, injury, and disasters brought on by climate change, and promoting the collective bargaining of such employees to ensure "decent" working conditions.
US Opposes Sexual-Rights Language in UN Report

June 04, 2018

Elyssa Koren of ADF International observes how the US and a group of African countries prevented the adoption of an outcome document by the UN Commission on Population and Development over the insistence by other countries that it include language promoting "sexual and reproductive health rights."
UN Refugee Chief Launches Action Plan on Internally Displaced

June 01, 2018

UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi has announced a three-year global action plan pushing governments to expand their legislative frameworks addressing "displaced" people within their territory and providing for better reporting on their conditions.
ECOSOC Overturns Committee's Rejection of Rights NGOs

May 31, 2018

AP reports that the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), under pressure from the US and Canadian governments, recently overturned the decision by the UN's NGO Committee to reject the accreditation of two organizations focused on the promotion of civil and political rights in North Korea and Iran.
UN Forum Pushes "Collective Rights" of Indigenous Peoples

May 31, 2018

At the annual meeting of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, speakers called for the employment of "collective rights" of indigenous peoples to protect their interests in the land, limit the impacts of climate change, and further the social and environmental goals of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
UN Launches Fund Aimed at Road-Safety Measures

May 31, 2018

The UN has launched a Road Safety Trust Fund to help achieve road-safety targets contained in the comprehensive UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), focusing on encouraging on a global basis a number of traffic-related policies including "improved behaviour of road users."
US Eyes Funding Cuts for UN Bodies over PA Membership

May 30, 2018

AFP reports that the Palestinian Authority's (PA) accession to membership in two UN agencies and a chemical weapons watchdog has prompted US officials to consider eliminating funding for these organizations in line with US legal restrictions on funding for international bodies that accept Palestine as a member.