United Nations

UN Agent: Detention of Illegal Migrants Can Amount to "Torture"

March 28, 2018

In testimony before the UN Human Rights Council, UN Special Rapporteur on torture Nils Melzer warned that deterrence and obstruction of illegal migration, including through "arbitrary" detention practices, could amount to "torture or ill-treatment" in violation of international human rights law and called for an "individualized risk assessment" before any migrant deportation.
Legislators Review US Funding for WHO Carcinogen Body

March 27, 2018

Fox News has published an op-ed describing an investigation by a committee of the US House of Representatives regarding the process through which the World Health Organization’s (WHO) International Agency for Research on Cancer used US funding to determine that an array of products in widespread use across the globe are carcinogenic.
UN Contributors Threaten Funding Cut-off over Sex Abuse

March 27, 2018

George Russell writes that countries that are major contributors to the UN are threatening the withdrawal of funding to UN organizations that fail to respond more effectively to reports of sexual abuse by peacekeepers and humanitarian aid workers, including by spelling out policies safeguarding vulnerable women and children in poor countries.
UN Launches Pacific Strategy for SDGs

March 26, 2018

The UN has published a "Pacific Strategy," a five-year framework aimed at implementing the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the Asia-Pacific region from 2018 to 2022, as part of a "human rights based approach" to development in poor countries in that region.
Former Staffer Warns of Ongoing Sex Abuse in UN System

March 26, 2018

The Express reports that former UN staffer Miranda Brown recently published a letter asserting that the UN fired her due to her exposure of a sex-abuse scandal in the international organization's peacekeeping system and warning that the UK is currently contributing to the salaries of UN staff involved in an exchange of aid for sexual favors.
UN Partners on Roadmap for SDGs in Africa

March 26, 2018

A group of 24 UN organizations and international development institutions has launched a roadmap on the implementation of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Africa to improve their coordination on meeting the comprehensive social and economic targets contained in the SDGs.
UN System Approves Funding for Enhanced "Climate Resilience"

March 23, 2018

Highlighting the growing embrace by UN agencies of the climate agenda in development funding, the UN Development Programme's Green Climate Fund has approved over $80 million for "climate change adaptation projects" in Bangladesh, Georgia, and Zambia, focused on improving the population's "climate resilience" in the face of increasingly catastrophic weather events.
UN Report Documents Sex Abuse in Syrian Refugee Camps

March 23, 2018

The Telegraph reports that, in the latest development in a line of sex scandals involving UN operations around the world, the UN Population Fund has published an account documenting the widespread exchange of UN humanitarian assistance for sexual acts in Syrian refugee camps.
UN Agent Publishes Roadmap to "International Order"

March 21, 2018

The final thematic report of UN Independent Expert on the promotion of a democratic and equitable international order Alfred de Zayas establishes "23 principles of international order" as a path to global peace based on an expansive interpretation of the international human rights obligations of UN member states.
UN "Call to Action" Seeks Gender Equality at Work

March 21, 2018

At the conclusion of an event hosted by the Government of Chile and the UN Development Programme, representatives of business, government, and international and nongovernmental organizations issued a Call to Action of Chile committing them to policies promoting gender equality in employment as a path toward fulfilling the UN Sustainable Development Goals.