The UN will move toward a legal treaty that penalizes transnational corporations which violate human rights, after a vote at the 26th UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) session last week. Key language included in the resolution includes a decision to “establish an open-ended intergovernmental working group on a legally binding instrument on transnational corporations and other business enterprises with respect to human rights, the mandate of which shall be to elaborate an international legally binding instrument to regulate, in international human rights law, the activities of transnational corporations and other business enterprises.” The vote was split. Twenty states voted in favor,
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UN to Legislate Against Transnational Corporations Which Violate Human Rights – US and EU Oppose Resolution
South Sudan Crisis Could Not Have Been Predicted, Says UN Envoy, Preparing Step Down From Leadership in South Sudan
The speed, the scale and the scope of what has unfolded in South Sudan during the last six months could not have been predicted, said Hilde Johnson, the UN head in the world’s youngest nation, who spoke at a press conference in New York Monday about her upcoming withdrawal from the leadership of the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS). At the press conference, Johnson referred to the situation in South Sudan as “bleak” and stressed the need to put the welfare of South Sudanese above all other concerns, as well as to bring to justice those responsible for crimes committed
Caste-Based Rape Addressed at UN
Answering a global outcry for urgently desired action against caste-based rape and violence against women, the UN Human Rights Council held a side-event Tuesday dedicated to the issue. Many human rights organizations, policy makers and India’s UN representative had asked rights groups to address the problem after it received attention following the gang-rape and hanging of two girls in India May 27. The event, “Caste-based Violence against Women: The role of the UN in combating caste-based violence and discrimination,” was co-sponsored by Human Rights Watch, the International Movement Against All Forms of Discrimination and Racism (IMADR), Minority Rights Group, Franciscan
Russia Moves Tanks Across Border, Pro-Russian Forces Shoot Down Second Ukrainian Carrier, EU Invites Russia to EU-Ukraine Trade Agreement Talks
One day after Russian tanks crossed the Russia-Ukraine border, the EU invited Russia to participate in EU-Ukraine trade agreement talks. The EU continues to include Russia in efforts toward peace in Ukraine, despite the continued violence of pro-Russian fighters in Ukraine, who, according to the Ukrainian government, the US government, NATO, the EU and others, are aided by Russia–allegations which, although supported by proof, Russia continues to deny. EU president Herman Van Rompuy made strong statements Saturday on Russia’s involvement in Ukraine. On Saturday, Van Rompuy said, “There is … no doubt that the armed fighters that are terrorizing and
UNESCO Issues Call for Ethics Teacher Applicants
UNESCO’s The Division of Ethics, Youth and Sport has issued a call for Ethics teachers. The teachers will attend an Ethics Teacher Training Course (ETTC) in Amman, Jordan, between October 19 and 23 of this year. The course is a part of a collaborative effort between UNESCO, the Jordanian National Committee on Ethics of Science and Technology (NCEST), Hashemite University, and the Jordanian National Commission for UNESCO to improve the teaching of ethics worldwide. The course will be taught by a team of international experts in ethics teaching. UNESCO has specified that applicants should submit a registration form to their Bioethics Section
Education Aid Down 10 Percent Since 2010
Global education aid has fallen significantly. It fell six percent between 2010 and 2011, and another 3 percent in 2012. The drop has brought funding levels back to par with 2008 funding. The figures were released recently by UNESCO’s Education For All (EFA) Global Monitoring Report. This is the first time aid funding for education has fallen since 2002. The report was published in anticipation of UNESCO’s Global Partnership for Education’s Replenishment Pledging Conference, which will take place June 25-26 in Brussels. Donors are being faced with a request to raise $3.5 billion to educate the world’s poorest. Over 50
Warning to World’s Governments to Draw Up Plans for Upcoming Mass Migrations Due to Climate Change to Avoid Conflict: UNU
As more inhabitable land is swallowed by rising water due to climate change, the United Nations University (UNU) and Nansen Initiave have published a report warning governments to integrate considerations of people and populations displaced by climate change into national policy, or face conflict and insecurity. The report, “Integrating Human Mobility Issues within National Adaptation Plans,” was completed by the United Nations Univeristy Institute for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS) and the Nansen Initiative, a project that studies how internationally displaced people can be helped, and that was formed in 2012 by the Norwegian and Swiss governments. The Pacific, Central
UN Security Council and UN General Assembly Now Led by Two Countries Condemned Strongly by UN for Passing Strict Anti-Gay Laws, Threatening Human Rights, With Elections of Kutesa and Churkin
Russia took over the chairmanship of the UN Security Council (UNSC) June 1, and Ugandan Minister of Foreign Affairs Sam Kutesa took over the Presidency of the UN General Assembly (UNGA) June 11. One of these nations is currently at the top of world headlines for aggression in Ukraine, and both have recently made headlines for passing strict anti-gay legislation–in contravention of and threatening the guarantees of the UN Charter of Rights and Freedoms, according to top UN representatives. When Russia passed anti-gay laws before the 2014 Olympics in Sochi, the UN took several measures to condemn the laws. “The United Nations
