-
UN Rights Chief: Restrict UNSC Veto on Syria
October 17, 2016
In response to the expanding humanitarian crisis in Aleppo, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein has called upon the UN Security Council to restrict the use of the veto by its permanent members under certain circumstances in order to permit the referral of the Syrian conflict to the International Criminal Court.
-
UN Links Global Warming with Inequality Agenda
October 17, 2016
Asserting that poorer populations are at greater risk from the future catastrophic effects of climate change, a new report from the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs calls on countries to link their actions combating global warming with the reduction of economic inequality within their territories.
-
UN Agents Seek Permissive Abortion Laws
October 17, 2016
Marking the Global Day of Action for Access to Safe and Legal Abortion, a group of UN human rights mandate holders identified the failure to provide abortion services for unwanted pregnancies as a human rights violation and called for countries to remove restrictions for abortions "on request" during the first trimester of pregnancy.
-
UN Migrant Deal Challenges Notions of Sovereignty
October 14, 2016
Pamela Falk writes that, while several nongovernmental organizations objected to the recent New York Declaration for failing to establish a UN-based migrant resettlement mechanism, the deal broke new ground in challenging traditional notions of sovereignty in the area of migration, particularly in provisions on "internally displaced persons."
-
UNESCO Video Pushes for Sexuality Education
October 14, 2016
The UN Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization has released a video calling for national governments to adopt "comprehensive sexuality education" programs as part of UNESCO's work to "expand access to sexual and reproductive health services for adolescents across Africa."