11 months ago
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UN peacekeeping chief outlines reforms needed to keep operations fit-for-purpose
14 September 2020
Over the next 10 years, the world could well be transformed by potentially lethal new technologies, climate disruptions and disruption caused by expanding cities, the UN peacekeeping chief told the Security Council on Monday, outlining the adaptations required to keep the Organization’s flagship enterprise fit-for-purpose as it confronts daunting new security threats.
“We…
11 months ago
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Iran: ‘Secret execution’ of champion wrestler ‘deeply disturbing’ – UN rights experts
14 September 2020
A group of five independent UN human rights experts have strongly condemned the summary execution in Iran on Saturday of a former champion wrestler convicted of murdering a security guard during anti-government protests in 2018.
The Special Rapporteurs raised the alarm on Monday that Navid Afkari’s execution marks the latest in a series of death penalty sentences handed…
11 months ago
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Countries must ‘get their hands dirty’ to stem COVID and prevent future pandemics
14 September 2020
The COVID-19 pandemic has upended a world embroiled in chaos, unleashing catastrophic health, social and economic consequences along with irreparable harm to humanity, according to UN-backed report published on Monday.
A World in Disorder, issued by the Global Preparedness Monitoring Board (GPMB), an independent monitoring and accountability body which prepares for global…
11 months ago
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Rise to the occasion to tackle injustice, Bachelet urges Human Rights Council
14 September 2020
UN Member States gathered in person in Geneva on Monday for a new session of the Human Rights Council, where UN rights chief Michelle Bachelet urged countries to “rise to the occasion” to tackle injustice everywhere.
Addressing the Council on the opening day of the session, Ms. Bachelet also appealed for global solidarity to confront COVID-19, just as the World Health…
11 months ago
HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL HOLDS INTERACTIVE DIALOGUE WITH THE INDEPENDENT INVESTIGATIVE MECHANISM FOR MYANMAR
14 September 2020
Meeting Summaries
Begins Enhanced Interactive Dialogue with the High Commissioner for Human Rights on the Human Rights Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic
The Human Rights Council this afternoon held an interactive dialogue on the report of the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar following a presentation by its Head, Nicholas Koumjian.
Speaking during the interactive discussion were the European Union, Pakistan, Jordan, Liechtenstein, Canada, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Austria, Switzerland, Venezuela, Malaysia, Australia…
11 months ago
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Journalism under fire: UNESCO raises alarm over surge of attacks on media workers covering protests
14 September 2020
Clampdowns on the media have increased sharply in 2020, the UN cultural agency said on Monday, highlighting 21 protests around the world this year in which State security forces have violated journalists’ rights.
In its new report, Safety of Journalists Covering Protests – Preserving Freedom of the Press During Times of Civil Unrest, the UN Educational,…
11 months ago
HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL OPENS FORTY-FIFTH REGULAR SESSION, DECIDES TO HOLD AN URGENT DEBATE ON BELARUS
14 September 2020
Meeting Summaries
Hears High Commissioner’s Global Human Rights Update and Holds Enhanced Interactive Dialogue on Myanmar
The Human Rights Council this morning opened its forty-fifth regular session, hearing a global human rights update from Michelle Bachelet, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, as well as separate updates on the human rights situations in Nicaragua and Venezuela.
The Council approved by a vote Germany’s request on behalf of the European Union to hold an urgent debate on the “situation of human…
11 months ago
COMMITTEE ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD OPENS ONLINE LIMITED EIGHTY-FIFTH SESSION
14 September 2020
Meeting Summaries
The Committee on the Rights of the Child today opened its online limited eighty-fifth session.
Luis Ernesto Pedernera Reyna, Chairperson of the Committee, emphasised the exceptional nature of this limited online session due to the extraordinary circumstances of COVID-19, which had impacted all lives. There was also the financial crisis that all treaty bodies were experiencing and that had made it very difficult for them to fulfil their mandates. Despite the crisis, the Committee had continued to work, including 24 work days spent discussing the general…
11 months ago
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INTERVIEW: the top diplomat shepherding the General Assembly through its 75th year
14 September 2020
The Turkish diplomat elected to be the president of the 75th session of the UN General Assembly, Volkan Bozkir, is taking on the role as the Organization grapples with an unprecedented pandemic, and questions surrounding the future direction it should take.
Mr. Bozkir, a highly experienced public servant, and recently Minister for European Affairs, with almost 50 years of…
11 months ago
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Lebanon: Working on the ground to meet basic needs of Beirut’s women and girls
13 September 2020
A month after the Beirut Port explosion, life remains uncertain for thousands of women and girls. Among the displaced are an estimated 84,000 women and girls of reproductive age.
UNFPA, the agency specializing in reproductive and maternal health worldwide, is working with 12 partners on the ground to distribute dignity kits, which contain sanitary pads, soap, toothbrushes,…
