Human Rights

• July 19, 2022

LONDON — A new United Nations high commissioner for human rights needs to be found, appointed by the General Assembly and be ready to begin work on Sept. 1. Anyone who meets the criteria set out in the UN’s official job description can apply for this role — the deadline is July 27. The …

General Assembly, Human Rights, Secretary-General, WORLDVIEWS

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THIS WEEK @UN

Trending UN News: Week Ending July 15

Damilola Banjo

• July 15, 2022

This week, we focus on the rising number of armed children in conflicts in Africa’s Sahel region and how fake news, misinformation and disinformation are hurting peacekeeping worldwide. You are reading This Week @UN, summarizing the most pressing issues before the organization. The information is gathered from UN press briefings, PassBlue reporting and other …

Africa, Human Rights, Human Trafficking, Humanitarian Aid, Latin America, Peace and Security, Secretary-General, Security Council, This Week @UN

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Ukraine Boosts Its Campaign to Find Children That Russia Has Abducted

Barbara Crossette

• July 14, 2022

Amid mounting reports of Ukrainian children being forcibly deported to Russia during Moscow’s brutal war against the country and its culture, savvy Ukrainian technocrats are launching a tool to fight back in cyberspace. An interactive public website will soon go live to assist expert search teams that are tracking missing children, according to President …

Human Rights, Human Trafficking, Peace and Security

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Under the Radar: Surviving Wars With a Disability

Kelechukwu Ogu

• July 11, 2022

LAGOS, Nigeria — Mauot Louis and his family ran out of their home in Sudan one day in the early 1990s, leaving their puppy behind. They were forced out by Nuer fighters, rebels from the second-largest ethnic group in South Sudan, who were angry with the control of John Garang, the leader of the …

Disabilities, Human Rights

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Britain Sets a Precedent That Worries the UN Refugee Agency

Damilola Banjo

• June 27, 2022

Britain’s new five-year asylum partnership arrangement with Rwanda is showing the rest of Europe how countries can possibly lock refugees out of their borders. And Filippo Grandi, the United Nations high commissioner for refugees, is worried about this precedent. In the wake of the refugee crisis caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, in which …

Africa, Human Rights, Migration, Refugees

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TOPIC: WOMEN

Invisible in Afghanistan and Forgotten by the International Community?

Asila Wardak

• June 13, 2022

Over the last 20 years, the United States and other global powers pumped money and military aid into Afghanistan, only to see it disappear when militarism proved untenable and ineffective. Now, as Afghanistan endures a state of emergency, those same global powers offer sympathy for the people of our country without taking responsibility for …

Asia, Gender Violence, Human Rights, Secretary-General, Security Council, Women

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SECURITY COUNCIL PRESIDENCY

Albania, Chairing the Security Council, Seeks Global Justice for Past and Present Atrocities Everywhere

Damilola Banjo

• June 2, 2022

The lack of accountability on a range of human-rights abuses and atrocities committed by countries and others across the world will be highlighted during Albania’s first open debate as rotating president of the United Nations Security Council this month. Prime Minister Edi Rama will be chairing the June 2 meeting at UN headquarters in …

Gender Violence, Human Rights, International Justice, Security Council, Security Council Presidency

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THIS WEEK @UN

Trending UN News: Week Ending May 27

Damilola Banjo

• May 27, 2022

This week, UN peacekeepers are commemorated, an ex-UN staff member is convicted for assault and lying to the FBI and the war in Ukraine enters its third month. You are reading This Week @UN, summarizing the most pressing issues before the organization. The information is gathered from UN press briefings, PassBlue reporting and other …

Africa, Asia, Human Rights, Journalists, Secretary-General, Security Council, This Week @UN

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THIS WEEK @UN

Trending UN News: Week Ending May 13

Damilola Banjo

• May 13, 2022

This week, we focus on how the UN is further rallying support to combat the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine and the widespread condemnation against the killing of Al Jazeera’s reporter in Palestine. You are reading This Week @UN, summarizing the most pressing issues before the organization. The information is gathered from UN press briefings, …

General Assembly, Human Rights, Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Secretary-General, Security Council, This Week @UN

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Russia Has Used Its UN Seat to Hide Atrocities Committed in the Central African Republic, Experts Say

Anastasiia Carrier

• May 9, 2022

The presence of the Russian state-linked Wagner Group mercenaries in the diamond-rich Central African Republic has been bloody. Now it seems that Russia has used its power in the United Nations Security Council to protect its exploits and geostrategic interests in the African country, a nation hanging on by a thread. Given international outcry …

Africa, Human Rights, Security Council

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How’s Guterres Doing? B-, Says One Report Card From a Feminist Group

Emma Beilouny

• April 25, 2022

The Washington-based Feminist UN Campaign has been grading the performance of United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres since 2017. And he’s not exactly excelling. The group’s 2021 report card gave him a big B-. In 2020, he at least earned a solid but boring B. Guterres’s performance declined in four areas, the campaign said: development …

Human Rights, LGBT, SDGs, Secretary-General

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The UN Human-Rights Team in Ukraine, Recording the ‘Hardship That People Are Going Through’

Catherine Morrison

• April 21, 2022

Two months since Russia’s current invasion of Ukraine, the United Nations Human Rights Monitoring Mission in the country has recorded at least 2,224 civilian deaths and 2,897 injuries, as of April 19. The numbers, however, are likely to be much higher. In an email interview conducted on April 15, Matilda Bogner, the head of …

Human Rights, Peace and Security

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Trending UN News: Week Ending April 8

Damilola Banjo

• April 8, 2022

This week, we see how all the crises around the world have huge consequences on civilians, but we are also reminded of the resilient power of people who choose peace after a long, brutal war. You are reading This Week @UN, summarizing the most pressing issues before the organization. The information is gathered from …

Africa, Human Rights, Peace and Security, Secretary-General, Security Council

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The UN General Assembly Suspends Russia From the Human Rights Council, Effective Immediately

Michelle Langrand

• April 7, 2022

United Nations members voted on Thursday to strip Russia from its seat at the Human Rights Council, over alleged civilian killings in the region around Kyiv, Ukraine. The proposal, presented at a General Assembly emergency special session in New York City, was backed by 93 countries. Russia, China, Belarus, Syria and Iran were among …

Human Rights, Peace and Security

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WORLDVIEWS

Follow-Up to UN Probe on Myanmar Isn’t Making a Big Difference for the People There

Damian Lilly

• March 17, 2022

In 2019, the independent inquiry into the United Nations’ response to the Rohingya crisis, which drove 750,000 refugees from Myanmar’s Rakhine state into Bangladesh in 2017, found “systemic and structural failures.” UN Secretary-General António Guterres accepted all the findings of the inquiry and will present a report on the progress that has been made …