Category: Human Rights

Inequality risks splitting society apart ‘on scale not seen since industrial revolution’ A new generation of inequalities risks splitting communities around the world on a scale not seen since the industrial revolution. That’s the message from the 2019 Human Development Report, produced by the UN Development Programme, UNDP. The report suggests that, although people worldwide have seen some… Read More

“Corruption affects people in their daily lives”, said Yury Fedotov, Executive Director of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), in his statement for International Anti-Corruption Day, which is commemorated annually on 9 December. Mr. Fedotov maintained that corruption prevents accessing resources and opportunities, while eroding trust in public institutions and compromising the social contract. In doing so, “corruption… Read More

UN evaluates progress in improving peacekeeping performance The international community on Friday took stock of action to improve UN peacekeeping in line with a Security Council resolution aimed at enhancing performance at all levels, both at Headquarters in New York and in the field.  The UN welcomes opportunities to review its effectiveness, Secretary-General António Guterres told the meeting on Resolution 2436, adopted in September 2018. The UN chief recalled that his Action for Peacekeeping initiative renews collective… Read More

The decision by Brazil’s National Committee for Refugees (CONARE) on Thursday to accept asylum-seekers on a “prima facie basis”, gave immediate relief to around 21,000 Venezuelans, waiting for applications to be processed. From now on, they will no longer need to wait for an interview.  “This move constitutes a milestone in refugee protection in the region” said UNHCR, and it… Read More

She highlighted a continuing lack of transparency concerning casualties, the alleged mistreatment of thousands of detainees and continued arrests reported throughout Iran, after weeks of protests which began over major increases in petrol prices. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet said that at least 7,000 people have reportedly been arrested in 28 of Iran’s 31 provinces since mass… Read More

Briefing from Baghdad, Special Envoy Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert said that “out of love for their homeland”, thousands of Iraqis have taken to the streets, asking for their country to reach its “full potential for the benefit of all Iraqis”. “However”, she lamented “they are paying an unimaginable price for their voices to be heard”, pointing out that since 1 October, over… Read More

Ms. Bachelet also said that after reviewing the information she has received from a UN Office of Human Rights (OHCHR) mission dispatched to the from 21 October to 8 November, there was a need for an independent, impartial and transparent investigations into allegations of human rights violations and abuses committed during the protests from 3 to 13 October.  OHCHR mission to Ecuador  On… Read More

Violence in DR Congo Ebola hotspot leaves people ‘caught in crossfire’ Attacks on communities in an Ebola outbreak hotspot in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) have sparked a humanitarian crisis and threatened aid distribution, the UN said on Friday, amid reports of serious civil unrest. Tensions in eastern Beni territory in DRC’s North Kivu province have been rising since the launch of… Read More

Senior officials joined ambassadors and other representatives from the international community in New York on Wednesday to commemorate the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, officially observed each year on 29 November. Established in 1977, it marks the day in 1947 when the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution partitioning Palestine into an Arab State and a Jewish… Read More

Karim Asad Ahmad Khan, told the Security Council that the “experiences and needs of the survivors of ISIL crimes, and the families of its victims”, were firmly at the centre of UNITAD’s mission. “All communities, whether Shabak, Kaka’i, Shia, Sunni, Christian, Turkmen or Yazidi have suffered from the brutality and debased acts of ISIL and all their voices must be… Read More