World

New York, March 15, 2020 – In light of dozens of incidents in which journalists and those close to them have been targeted with spyware, the Committee to Protect Journalists today launched a campaign calling on governments to stop the use of spyware and to take steps to prevent states with bad press freedom records from getting […]

GENEVA, March 15, 2021 – Social media have become platforms for the spread of hate, prejudice and incitement to violence and atrocities against minorities, a UN expert told the Human Rights Council today, calling for an international treaty to address the growing scourge of hate speech against minorities.  “Today’s digital context means minorities are too […]

March 12, 2021 – Despite increases in the number of women at the highest levels of political power, widespread gender inequalities persist, according to the 2021 edition of the IPU–UN Women “Women in politics map”. The IPU-UN Women map presents new data for women in executive, government, and parliamentary positions as of 1 January 2021. The […]

March 12, 2021 – The actions of pharmaceutical companies and rich countries mean that billions of people at risk of COVID-19 are unlikely to receive a single dose of the life-saving vaccines this year, Amnesty International said as it launched a new global campaign calling for universal access to vaccines. The campaign – A Fair […]

March 10, 2021 – One year on from the declaration of the COVID-19 pandemic, the People’s Vaccine Alliance is warning that developing countries are facing critical shortages of oxygen and medical supplies to cope with COVID-19 cases yet the majority have been unable to administer a single dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. In contrast rich […]

GENEVA/NEW YORK, March 9, 2021 – Violence against women remains devastatingly pervasive and starts alarmingly young, shows new data from WHO and partners. Across their lifetime, 1 in 3 women, around 736 million, are subjected to physical or sexual violence by an intimate partner or sexual violence from a non-partner – a number that has […]

GENEVA (8 March 2021) – A UN expert said today governments worldwide lacked credible commitment to the absolute and universal prohibition of torture and ill-treatment and most are defensive, dismissive or evasive over allegations of such abuse. “While the reactions of governments to allegations and requests transmitted to them range from complete silence to aggressive […]

March 8, 2021 – With three out of four newly emerging infectious human diseases originating in animals*, there is an urgent need to monitor the legal trade in wildlife, according to new research by Vincent Nijman, Professor in Anthropology at Oxford Brookes University. Professor Nijman, who has been involved in monitoring and regulating the legal […]

GENEVA (5 March 2021) – UN expert Mary Lawlor* said today hundreds of human rights defenders are killed for their peaceful work every year, and States must find the political will to protect them and prevent the killings. “It is shocking that between 2015 and 2019, at least 1,323 defenders were killed in 64 countries,” […]

Today, I confirm the initiation by the Office of the Prosecutor (”Office”) of the International Criminal Court (”ICC” or the ”Court”) of an investigation respecting the Situation in Palestine. The investigation will cover crimes within the jurisdiction of the Court that are alleged to have been committed in the Situation since 13 June 2014, the […]

Nairobi/Paris, 4 March 2021 – An estimated 931 million tonnes of food, or 17% of total food available to consumers in 2019, went into the waste bins of households, retailers, restaurants and other food services, according to new UN research conducted to support global efforts to halve food waste by 2030. The weight roughly equals that […]

GENEVA (4 March 2021) – The UN’s human rights expert on Myanmar said in a report published today the military junta in the country is illegal, illegitimate and responsible for widespread and systematic human rights violations against nonviolent, peaceful protesters, and should be held accountable. In the report to the Human Rights Council, the UN […]

March 3, 2021 – Under increasing threat from the  unsustainable use of forest resources and wildlife trafficking, the UN chief called on Wednesday for people and governments everywhere to step up efforts to protect forests and support forest communities.  “In so doing, we will contribute to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for people, planet and prosperity”, Secretary-General […]

GENEVA (3 March 2021) – A UN human rights expert today called for urgent reforms to the international debt architecture, saying the ‘big three’ credit rating agencies had excessive influence over lending decisions, and conditions and interest rates of sovereign debts. In her first report to the Human Rights Council, the UN Independent Expert on […]

March 2, 2021 – The anti-inflammatory drug hydroxychloroquine should not be used to prevent infection in people who do not have covid-19, say a WHO Guideline Development Group (GDG) panel of international experts in The BMJ today. Their strong recommendation is based on high certainty evidence from six randomised controlled trials involving over 6,000 participants with and […]

GENEVA (2 March 2021) — UN human rights experts have called on the Government of Israel to immediately end its efforts to demolish the Palestinian village of Humsa – Al Bqai’a in the northern Jordan Valley, and allow the residents to live undisturbed on their lands and homes. “The ongoing destruction by the Israeli military […]

GENEVA (1 March 2021) – UN experts said today billions of people, especially in the Global South, risk being excluded from the benefits of COVID-19 immunisation until 2024 and urged rich States to end short-sighted vaccine nationalism that is fuelling a vaccine-divide and undermining worldwide recovery. “Recovery from the pandemic is impossible unless it ends […]

February 26, 2021 – Members of Climate Action Network react to the interim Synthesis Report published today that analysis the collective ambition of all nationally determined contributions submitted so far. Tasneem Essop, Executive Director, Climate Action Network:     “The interim Synthesis Report published today shows in stark numbers how governments are failing to stop the climate crisis. With […]

February 26, 2021 – Eminent scientists warn that key ecosystems around Australia and Antarctica are collapsing, and propose a three-step framework to combat irreversible global damage. Their report, authored by 38 Australian, UK and US scientists from universities and government agencies, is published today in the international journal Global Change Biology.  Researchers say it heralds a […]