Category: Human Rights

“Libya’s future is at stake and I call on all Libyans to continue to work towards a lasting ceasefire,” the UN Secretary-General said, at the summit being held on the sidelines of the 75th UN General Assembly, co-hosted with Germany.  “I implore all of you to encourage and support the Libyan peace efforts facilitated by the United Nations – not… Read More

In a joint appeal on Friday, the seven experts also called on Baghdad to ensure that it was safe for everyone who stood up for people’s rights in the country. The development follows the deadly shooting in August of Dr. Riham Yaqoub and the attempted assassination of Lodya Remon Albarti, in Basra. Both rights defenders had led women’s marches within… Read More

‘Left to die’ Citing reports of ill-treatment and torture “every single day in detention camps”, the UN Committee on Migrant Workers raised the alarm over facilities in Gulf countries, including Saudi Arabia and Yemen, and in North African countries, including Libya. “Migrants, mostly from African and South Asian countries, are regularly scapegoated for the spread of the coronavirus”, the panel said in… Read More

“Older people must be a priority in our efforts to overcome COVID 19”, Secretary-General António Guterres said in his message for the 30th anniversary of the International Day of Older Persons, celebrated annually on 1 October. He shone a light on the need to examine how the pandemic might change how we address age and ageing in our societies, stressing… Read More

“Millions of women are living in fear, with long-term consequences for families and communities, and for all our efforts for peace and security, human rights and sustainable development”, Secretary-General António Guterres said in a video message to a virtual high-level GBV event in the context of COVID-19.  Against the backdrop of his global call for a ceasefire and an end to all violence – from war zones to people’s homes – he acknowledged that some 146 Member States… Read More

And women have often become victims of domestic violence “locked down with their abusers, as unpaid caregivers in families and communities, and as workers in jobs that lack social protection”, adds the Executive Director of UN Women, Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka. New data released by gender agency and the UN Development Programme (UNDP) taken from the COVID-19 Global Gender Response Tracker, reveal… Read More

In an appeal for Member States to help, they said that financing their work adequately had been a concern for several years, and that the COVID-19 crisis had made their work even more difficult. Today, Member States have only paid about 60 per cent of their commitments to the United Nations regular budget. As a result, some experts are unable… Read More

Delegates from the Yemen Government and the Ansar Allah, formally known as Houthi rebels, signed an agreement on Sunday to liberate 1,081 conflict-related individuals, in accordance with the lists of agreed-upon names. “Today is an important day for over a thousand families who can expect to welcome back their loved ones hopefully very soon,” said the UN Special Envoy for… Read More

Speaking at the end of the annual high level week, Secretary-General António Guterres warned that such crises are an “enormous governance challenge” for all nations, and overcoming them requires approaches driven by unity, solidarity and compassion.  “For that, we need governance models and structures that work for the common good, with an intergenerational perspective. We need to prioritize the rebuilding… Read More

The bleak news from ILO Director-General Guy Ryder coincided with an updated mid-year forecast from the UN body.  Lower and middle-income countries have suffered most, with an estimated 23.3 per cent drop in working hours – equivalent to 240 million jobs – in the second quarter.  Previously, the ILO had suggested a 14 per cent average drop in global working time, equivalent to the loss of 400 million jobs, relative to the fourth quarter of 2019.  Incomes cut by 15… Read More