World

Genocide “remains a very real threat” around the world, said the UN chief on Thursday, marking the UN International Day of Commemoration and Dignity of the Victims of the Crime of Genocide, and of the Prevention of this Crime.  “The international community has repeatedly failed to respond collaboratively, swiftly and decisively to prevent genocide and related atrocity crimes”, António […]

Stockholm, December 6, 2021 –  Sales of arms and military services by the industry’s 100 largest companies totaled $531 billion in 2020—an increase of 1.3 per cent in real terms compared with the previous year. This is according to new data released today by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). Download the SIPRI Fact […]

December 6, 2021 – The International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) has welcomed a decision by a United Nations credentials committee to postpone a decision about who will represent Afghanistan and Myanmar at the UN. The move effectively blocks the Afghan Taliban and the Myanmar military junta from representing their countries at the UN for now. […]

In response to the sentencing of Aung San Suu Kyi to four years in prison, Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director for Campaigns Ming Yu Hah said:  “The harsh sentences handed down to Aung San Suu Kyi on these bogus charges are the latest example of the military’s determination to eliminate all opposition and suffocate freedoms in Myanmar. […]

December 2, 2021 – The ITUC is calling on the Chinese authorities to immediately repeal the national security law in Hong Kong and to release prisoners detained under it as evidence grows that the law is being used to dismantle independent civil society. A recent estimate suggests that over 50 groups in Hong Kong have […]

Since the creation of the World Wide Web, we have had access to more information than ever before. However, we are also bombarded with dangerous disinformation. The UN’s Verified campaign has launched an online course to help us decide which is which, and protect vulnerable people from potential harm. It has become increasingly apparent that, for some […]

November 29, 2021 – A coalition of nurses unions representing well over 2.5 million health care workers from 28 countries around the world, coordinated by Global Nurses United (GNU) and the Progressive International (PI), have filed a complaint with the United Nations alleging human rights violations by the European Union, the United Kingdom, Norway, Switzerland, […]

GENEVA, September 29, 2021 – The UN Committee on Enforced Disappearances (CED) expressed serious concerns over the gravity of the situation of enforced disappearance in Mexico. As of 26 November 2021, the last day of CED visit to Mexico, 95,000 people were officially registered as disappeared in Mexico. Out of these, more than 100 disappearances […]

November 29, 2021 – A new international study coordinated by IIASA shows how near-term mitigation can help to prevent an overshoot in global temperatures, thereby reducing climate risks and bringing long-term economic gains. The Paris Agreement’s goal is to hold global warming to well below 2°C, and pursue efforts to limit it to 1.5°C. But […]

On 26 November 2021,WHO designated the variant B.1.1.529 a variant of concern, named Omicron, on the advice of WHO’s Technical Advisory Group on Virus Evolution (TAG-VE).  This decision was based on the evidence presented to the TAG-VE that Omicron has several mutations that may have an impact on how it behaves, for example, on how […]

November 26, 2021 – The Technical Advisory Group on SARS-CoV-2 Virus Evolution (TAG-VE) is an independent group of experts that periodically monitors and evaluates the evolution of SARS-CoV-2 and assesses if specific mutations and combinations of mutations alter the behaviour of the virus. The TAG-VE was convened on 26 November 2021 to assess the SARS-CoV-2 variant: B.1.1.529.  The B.1.1.529 variant was first reported to WHO from South Africa on 24 November 2021. The […]

The global rise in the red and processed meat trade over the past 30 years is linked to a sharp increase in diet related ill health, with the impact greatest in Northern and Eastern Europe and the island nations of the Caribbean and Oceania, finds an analysis published in the open access journal BMJ Global Health. […]

Brussels, Belgium, 22nd November 2021 – As days continue to pass and thirteen people, including a one year old child, have lost their lives at the border between Poland and Belarus, the IRC calls for unfettered humanitarian access and a firm defence of the right to asylum at border areas.  As the stalemate between the […]

Reducing marine debris by 50-90% and a globe circling, high-tech system of monitors are two essential aims among several championed today by nine distinguished international experts appointed to help the UN reach the goal of a clean ocean by 2030. The Clean Ocean International Expert Group of the UN Decade for Ocean Science for Sustainable […]

GENEVA (18 November 2021) – UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet on Thursday condemned the killing by security forces of at least 39 people in Sudan since the 25 October military coup, 15 of whom were reportedly shot dead yesterday alone during protests in Khartoum, Khartoum-Bahri and Omdurman. “Following our repeated appeals to […]

Rome –   Africa’s Great Green Wall (GGW) programme to combat desertification in the Sahel region  is not only crucial to the battle against climate change but also makes commercial sense for investors, a new study led by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and published in Nature Sustainability shows.  For every US dollar put into the massive […]

Washington, DC, November 16, 2021 – Today, the American Humanist Association (AHA) is proud to host the global launch event for the release of the 2021 Freedom of Thought Report, authored and published each year by Humanists International. This marks the 10th anniversary of the report, which tracks the rights and treatment of nonreligious people […]

As the climate summit draws to a close, the COP26 Plenary Room ‘Pen Y Fan’ was filled to capacity by the UN constituencies representing civil society groups and climate justice movements from across the globe to stand firm on the just and urgent outcome needed at COP26. They delivered the People’s Declaration for Climate Justice to the […]

Glasgow, November 13, 2021 Tasneem Essop, Executive Director, Climate Action Network:The latest draft text from COP26 is a clear betrayal by rich nations- the US, the EU and the UK- of vulnerable communities in poor countries. By blocking the AOSIS and G77+ China proposal, representing 6 billion people, on the creation of a Glasgow Loss […]

ATLANTA/GENEVA, 10 November 2021 — While reported measles cases have fallen compared to previous years, progress toward measles elimination continues to decline and the risk of outbreaks is mounting, according to a new report from the World Health Organization (WHO) and U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).  During 2020, more than 22 million infants […]