Category Archives: United Nations

Latin American rape survivors who were denied abortions turn to UN

Posted on by

Women from Nicaragua, Ecuador and Guatemala who suffered child rape take cases to UN human rights committee

Four women from Latin America whose lives were put at risk when they were not allowed abortions after being raped as girls are taking their cases to the UN human rights committee.

The women, from Nicaragua, Ecuador and Guatemala, filed cases against their governments on Wednesday for failing to provide appropriate healthcare and denying them abortions, even when it was their legal right to have one.

Continue reading...

Congo Ebola response must be elevated to maximum level, UN told

Posted on by

Charities call for outbreak to be put on a par with crises in Yemen, Syria and Mozambique as death toll reaches 1,287

The UN has been urged by charities to ramp up Ebola prevention work in the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the highest level of emergency response.

Only three crises – Yemen, Syria and Mozambique – are treated as the equivalent of a level-three response, activated when agencies are unable to meet needs on the ground.

Continue reading...

International community ‘lacks moral motivation to end Libyan civil war’

Posted on by

Ghassan Salamé, UN special envoy for Libya, says country is viewed as a prize

The international community lacks the moral motivation to end the Libyan civil war, and largely views the country as a prize to be captured, Ghassan Salamé, the UN special envoy for Libya, said on Wednesday.

Salamé’s complaint came as one of the belligerents in the civil war, Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar, ruled out an immediate ceasefire in talks with the French president Emmanuel Macron in Paris.

Continue reading...

UK suffers crushing defeat in UN vote on Chagos Islands

Posted on by

General assembly strongly condemns British occupation of Indian Ocean territory

The United Nations general assembly has overwhelmingly backed a motion condemning Britain’s occupation of the remote Chagos Islands in the Indian Ocean.

The 116-6 vote left the UK diplomatically isolated and was also a measure of severely diminished US clout on the world stage. Washington had campaigned vigorously at the UN and directly in talks with national capitals around the world in defence of the UK’s continued control of the archipelago, where there is a US military base at Diego Garcia.

Continue reading...

Chagos Islands: isolated UK faces thrashing in UN vote on ownership

Posted on by

General assembly expected to vote in favour of UK relinquishing control of Indian Ocean archipelago claimed by Mauritius

The UK is facing a diplomatic rout at the United Nations on Wednesday when the general assembly is expected to vote overwhelmingly to demand Britain relinquish hold of one of the last vestiges of empire in the Indian Ocean.

The US and the UK have lobbied intensely at the UN to avoid support for Britain dropping to single figures among the UN’s 193 member states on the issue of its continued possession of the Chagos Islands, known as the British Indian Ocean Territory.

Continue reading...

How a rightwing group accessed the White House to spread its anti-abortion agenda

Posted on by

The outsize influence of C-Fam in the top reaches of the Trump administration has helped turn the tide on the world stage on issues involving women’s reproductive rights

Last spring, Laurie Shestack Phipps, a diplomat at the US mission to the UN, received a set of talking points from the state department ahead of an international women’s conference, setting out clear red lines against mention of “sexual and reproductive health” care.

This had become the norm in the Trump administration, where the once uncontroversial phrase was seen as code for abortion. Use of the word “gender” was also strongly discouraged, as it was viewed as a stalking horse for LGBT rights.

Continue reading...

Tax carbon, not people: UN chief issues climate plea from Pacific ‘frontline’

Posted on by

Antonio Guterres hears from leaders at Fiji summit who warn region is facing ‘an unprecedented global catastrophe’

Governments around the world must introduce carbon taxes, halt plans for new coal plants and accelerate the closure of existing ones if damage to the Pacific from climate change is to be limited, the UN secretary general has told Pacific leaders on his first visit to the region.

Antonio Guterres met leaders of Pacific countries in Fiji, on a trip that will also see him visit Vanuatu, considered one of the countries most vulnerable to natural disasters due to climate change, and Tuvalu, which is at risk of sinking under rising waters.

Continue reading...

UN urges worldwide withdrawal of support for Myanmar military

Posted on by

World must ‘cut off money supply’ to commanders accused of war crimes and genocide against Rohingya, say investigators

The international community must cut off all support to Myanmar’s military as part of efforts to hold army commanders to account for crimes against humanity and genocide, UN investigators have said following a fact-finding mission in the country.

In a statement, the UN said there had been no progress in protecting the Rohingya minority, more than a million of whom have fled military “clearance operations” in the Rakhine region.

Continue reading...

We lost faith in joint efforts to halt wars. Result? Ask Syria…

Posted on by
Once the great powers worked together. Now nationalist strongmen dominate the agenda

Suggestions that the war in Syria is winding down must sound like a sick joke to the people of Ras al-Ain. Their village, in north-western Idlib province, was targeted in an air raid last week. Five residents were killed, including three children, and at least 20 others were injured.

A local man, Hussein al-Sheikh, described to Al Jazeera reporter Farah Najjar how a building collapsed as the children ran for cover: “I was standing near the front door watching the kids play. Suddenly we heard another explosion... It was a difficult scene to watch. I can’t express what I saw.”

Continue reading...

Nearly all countries agree to stem flow of plastic waste into poor nations

Posted on by

US reportedly opposed deal, which follows concerns that villages in Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia had ‘turned into dumpsites’

Almost all the world’s countries have agreed on a deal aimed at restricting shipments of hard-to-recycle plastic waste to poorer countries, the United Nations announced on Friday.

Exporting countries – including the US – now will have to obtain consent from countries receiving contaminated, mixed or unrecyclable plastic waste. Currently, the US and other countries can send lower-quality plastic waste to private entities in developing countries without getting approval from their governments.

Continue reading...

Iran nuclear deal: what has Tehran said and what happens next?

Posted on by

Hassan Rouhani’s move to alter commitments amid crippling US sanctions outlined

Iran has suspended commitments it made under the terms of the 2015 nuclear deal, which lifted sanctions on the country in exchange for limits on Tehran’s nuclear programme. The deal was reached after years of negotiations.

Continue reading...

Mali gives top job to UN executive accused of ‘tolerating harassment’

Posted on by

Michel Sidibé faced pressure to stand down following criticism of his handling of sexual assault allegations in his team

A senior UN official accused of “tolerating harassment and abuse of authority” has been appointed health minister in Mali.

Michel Sidibé faced pressure to stand down from his position as head of UNAids following criticism over his handling of a sexual assault allegation made against one of his deputies.

Continue reading...

Human society under urgent threat from loss of Earth’s natural life

Posted on by

Scientists reveal 1 million species at risk of extinction in damning UN report

Human society is in jeopardy from the accelerating decline of the Earth’s natural life-support systems, the world’s leading scientists have warned, as they announced the results of the most thorough planetary health check ever undertaken.

From coral reefs flickering out beneath the oceans to rainforests desiccating into savannahs, nature is being destroyed at a rate tens to hundreds of times higher than the average over the past 10m years, according to the UN global assessment report.

Continue reading...

Climate crisis is about to put humanity at risk, UN scientists warn

Posted on by

‘We are in trouble if we don’t act,’ say experts, with up to 1m species at risk of annihilation

The world’s leading scientists will warn the planet’s life-support systems are approaching a danger zone for humanity when they release the results of the most comprehensive study of life on Earth ever undertaken.

Up to 1m species are at risk of annihilation, many within decades, according to a leaked draft of the global assessment report, which has been compiled over three years by the UN’s leading research body on nature.

Continue reading...

UN calls for Julian Assange’s release from UK high-security jail

Posted on by

UN experts say British government is breaching WikiLeaks publisher’s human rights

UN experts have called for Julian Assange to be released from prison and criticised the British government for breaching his human rights.

The WikiLeaks publisher was jailed for 50 weeks on Wednesday for breaking bail conditions imposed seven years earlier by seeking asylum in the Ecuadorian embassy in London.

Continue reading...

Trump UN human rights snub will buoy repressive regimes, top Democrat warns

Posted on by
  • Bob Menendez condemns administration in letter to Pompeo
  • State department has not responded to UN’s official complaints

The Trump administration’s refusal to engage with UN human rights monitors risks undermining standards around the world and will embolden repressive regimes such as China and Russia, the top Democrat on the Senate foreign relations committee has charged.

Related: Trump withdraws from UN arms treaty as NRA crowd cheers in delight

Continue reading...

Libyan strongman Khalifa Haftar is no democrat – UN envoy

Posted on by

Ghassan Salamé makes strongest attack yet on military leader hoping to seize power

The UN envoy for Libya has made his strongest attack yet on the military strongman Khalifa Haftar as his forces intensify their assault on the capital, Tripoli.

In comments in Paris, where the French president, Emmanuel Macron, is seen as Europe’s biggest supporter of Haftar’s attempt to control Libya after eight years of chaos that followed the toppling of Muammar Gaddafi, Ghassan Salamé said Haftar was no democrat and had little support in Tripoli.

Continue reading...

Trump withdraws from UN arms treaty as NRA crowd cheers in delight

Posted on by
  • Democrats condemn Trump’s ‘myopic’ decision to withdraw
  • President at NRA summit vows to defend second amendment

Donald Trump has announced that the US will withdraw its support for a United Nations treaty regulating the multibillion-dollar global arms trade.

Addressing the National Rifle Association (NRA) in Indianapolis, the president said he would revoke America’s status as a signatory of the arms trade treaty regulating conventional weapons including small arms, battle tanks, combat aircraft and warships.

Continue reading...

‘Outrage is justified’: David Attenborough backs school climate strikers

Posted on by

Exclusive: broadcaster says older generations have done terrible things and should listen to young

The outrage of the students striking from school over climate change inaction is “certainly justified”, according to Sir David Attenborough, who said older generations had done terrible damage to the planet.

In an interview with the former UN climate chief Christiana Figueres, the broadcaster and naturalist dismissed critics of the widely praised global movement of school strikes as cynics.

Continue reading...

Nearly 170m under-10s unvaccinated against measles worldwide

Posted on by

Figure includes half a million in UK, as Unicef warns the disease could ‘spread like wildfire’

Nearly 170 million children in the world under the age of 10, including half a million in the UK and 2.5 million in the US, are unprotected from measles in the face of growing outbreaks of the disease, Unicef is warning.

More than 21 million children a year are not vaccinated against one of the most infectious organisms in existence, says the UN body. Between 2010 and 2017, an estimated 169 million children missed the first of the recommended two-dose regime.

Continue reading...