World

The richest 1 percent grabbed nearly two-thirds of all new wealth worth $42 trillion created since 2020, almost twice as much money as the bottom 99 percent of the world’s population, reveals a new Oxfam report. During the past decade, the richest 1 percent had captured around half of all new wealth.  “Survival of the […]

Responding to the decision by the Court of Tax Appeals to acquit Maria Ressa of four counts of tax evasion, Butch Olano, Amnesty International Philippines Section Director, said:  “Amnesty International welcomes the decision to drop charges of tax evasion against prominent journalist and Nobel laureate Maria Ressa. We call on authorities to now drop cyber […]

GENEVA, January 12, 2023 – The past eight years were the warmest on record globally, fueled by ever-rising greenhouse gas concentrations and accumulated heat, according to six leading international temperature datasets consolidated by the World Meteorological Organization. The average global temperature in 2022 was about 1.15 [1.02 to 1.27] °C above the pre-industrial (1850-1900) levels. […]

January 8, 2023 –  The acts of violence and vandalism that took place in Brasilia on January 8, 2023, constitute an abhorrent attack on Brazil’s democratic institutions by people who are seeking to deny the right of Brazilians to vote for and elect the leaders of their choice, including by urging military intervention, Human Rights […]

January 5, 2023 – In one of the first administrative measures of his administration, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva repealed a series of executive orders dismantling human rights and socio-environmental policies instituted by his predecessor, Jair Bolsonaro. And prior to his January 1st inauguration, Lula nominated Marina Silva to lead Brazil’s Ministry of Environment […]

GENEVA (27 December 2022) – UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk has called on the de facto authorities in Afghanistan to revoke immediately a raft of policies that target the rights of women and girls, noting both the “terrible, cascading effects” on their lives and the destabilizing risks such policies pose to Afghan […]

GENEVA (21 December 2022) — UN experts* today condemned in the strongest terms the latest decision of the Taliban that excludes women and girls from universities, a further violation of their human rights and the application of multiple irrational restrictions that may amount to gender persecution, a crime against humanity. Their statement is as follows: […]

Montreal, December 19, 2022 – At the UN Biodiversity Conference (COP15), 23 countries and organizations, led by Colombia and supported by Germany, launched a partnership to accelerate country-led implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, adopted at the meeting. The countries and organizations signed a declaration launching the Accelerator Partnership to help countries fast track and upscale the […]

Claire Burchett, King’s College London Police have arrested 25 people accused of planning to overthrow the German government in a series of raids across the country. The group is accused of trying to instate Heinrich XIII – a descendant of German royalty – as their leader. Among those arrested were members of the Reichsbürger (which […]

December 8, 2022 – Racism, xenophobia, and discrimination are fundamental influences on health globally, but have so far been overlooked by health researchers, policymakers, and practitioners, according to a new four-paper Series published in The Lancet. Lead author, Professor Delan Devakumar, UCL, says “Racism and xenophobia exist in every modern society and have profound effects on […]

The size of the appeal – 25 per cent higher than this year’s – reflects the fact that the total number in need is 65 million more than in 2022, the UN and partner organizations noted. In a video message, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said that during a “year of extremes”, it was essential to fund lifesaving operations next […]

The agreement reached at COP27 in Egypt shows that solidarity and co-operation between nations on the world’s most pressing issues is possible through negotiation and compromise, even in testing times. But the world needs urgent actions, not just carefully crafted words, to avoid climate catastrophe. We welcome governments’ reaffirmation of the need to limit the […]

Sharm El-Sheikh, November 16, 2022 – As negotiations move to the ministerial level at COP27 Climate Summit in Egypt, the Global Climate and Health Alliance today reiterated its call for a governments to commit to establishing a Loss and Damage fund under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).  Outside COP27’s negotiating halls, protesters […]

Nairobi, Kenya, November 7, 2022 – Global solidarity is urgently needed to help vulnerable communities in the Horn of Africa survive a rapidly unfolding humanitarian catastrophe, driven by the longest and most severe drought in recent history that is expected to continue well into 2023. Humanitarian and development actors must urgently prepare for the continuation […]

New York, November 1, 2022 – In the decade since the United Nations launched a Plan of Action on the Safety of Journalists and the Issue of Impunity, no one has been brought to justice in nearly 80% of the 263 cases of journalists murdered in retaliation for their work worldwide, according to the Committee to […]

Strasbourg, 27.10.2022 – The Council of Europe’s Group of Experts on Action Against Human Trafficking (GRETA) has published today its second evaluation report on the implementation of the Council of Europe Anti-trafficking Convention by Belarus. The report assesses progress in the implementation of the Convention since the publication of the first evaluation report by GRETA […]

Nairobi, 27 October 2022 – As intensifying climate impacts across the globe hammer home the message that greenhouse gas emissions must fall rapidly, a new UN Environment Programme (UNEP) report finds that the international community is still falling far short of the Paris goals, with no credible pathway to 1.5°C in place. However, the Emissions […]

Geneva/New York, 26 October (WMO) – In yet another ominous climate change warning, atmospheric levels of the three main greenhouse gases – carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide all reached new record highs in 2021, according to a new report from the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). WMO’s Greenhouse Gas Bulletin reported the biggest year-on-year jump in […]

NEW YORK (26 October 2022) — A UN expert today called for the prompt establishment of an independent investigative mechanism into all human rights violations leading up to and since the death of Jina Mahsa Amini, who died in hospital after being arrested by the morality police. The UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of […]

Washington, D.C. October 11, 2022 1. We, the leaders of the Group of Seven (G7), convened today with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Our meeting took place against the backdrop of the most recent missile attacks against civilian infrastructure and cities across Ukraine, leading to the death of innocent civilians. We condemn these attacks in the […]