United Nations

UN Initiative Calls for Global Sharing Network for School Data

February 15, 2018

A blog published by UNESCO calls for the establishment of a Global Sharing Network that relies on Country Data Hubs to share national education data and publish it in one place to enable international organizations and others to develop strategies to help countries achieve education targets contained in the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
UNESCO, Consultants Seek Global Data on Schools

February 15, 2018

Representatives of the International Development Group and of the UNESCO Institute for Statistics describe the need for low-income countries to spend millions of dollars each year to produce data to use in collaboration with international organizations to reform their schools in line with the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
World Bank Supports Kazakh Climate-Reporting Program

February 14, 2018

The World Bank's announcement of support for a new platform launched by the government of Kazakhstan to monitor and report greenhouse gas emissions shows how the global finance institution is embracing the international agenda on combating climate change as part of its efforts to spur development in poor countries.
World Bank Commits to Urban Efforts to Stem Global Warming

February 14, 2018

In a recent press release, the World Bank describes its recent efforts, since the One Planet Summit hosted by the French government last year, to align its financing commitments for urban areas with the global agenda on climate change, including by ramping up support for the Global Platform for Sustainable Cities and the City Resilience Program.
World Bank Provides Global Guidance on Financial Regulation

February 13, 2018

As part of its global guidance for national regulators focused on the financial industry, the World Bank has produced two reports providing "a comprehensive collection of good practices and benchmarking for financial consumer protection and financial inclusion around the world."
World Bank Touts Funding of "New Urban Agenda"

February 13, 2018

An article published by the World Bank illustrates the development organization's embrace of the "New Urban Agenda" agreed by participants in the UN Habitat III conference in 2016, highlighting its drive for trillions in funding to make urban areas "inclusive, resilient, productive, and sustainable for all," as well as resistant to the future, catastrophic impacts of global warming.
World Bank Wealth Report Tracks "Sustainability"

February 13, 2018

Using a new measure of wealth that promotes the UN "sustainable development" agenda by tracking countries' "economic progress and sustainability," including figures on "natural" and "human" capital, a report from the World Bank warns of "substantial" wealth inequality that is leaving behind poor countries.
Governments Resist Reforms of UN Development System

February 13, 2018

Stefano Gennarini of the Center for Family & Human Rights reports on the resistance by some countries to UN Secretary-General António Guterres's plan providing for a "reinvigorated" system of UN "resident coordinators" in each country empowered to influence national policy priorities within the UN's framework on "sustainable development."
UN Agent Calls on US to Reverse National Monument Order

February 12, 2018

UN Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples Victoria Tauli-Corpuz has warned that US President Donald Trump's "outrageous" proclamation opening most of Bears Ears National Monument in Utah to natural-resources projects undermines international legal obligations to obtain the consent of indigenous peoples when implementing measures affecting them.
HRW Criticizes Praise for China from UN, Governments

February 08, 2018

Sophie Richardson of Human Rights Watch criticizes international organizations like the UN Human Rights Council, Western governments, and businesses for engaging with, and even praising, the authoritarian, single-party regime of China without taking a principled stand on the country's broad lack of recognition of democratic values and individual rights.