World

Kirchberg, Luxembourg, July 26, 2019 –  Today the European Investment Bank published a draft policy that, if accepted by EU finance ministers in September, will end the bank’s financing of fossil fuel production and infrastructure. Following years of civil society pressure from across Europe, the European Investment Bank (EIB) has signalled its willingness to help […]

GENEVA July 26, 2019 – Two UN human rights experts have condemned Israel’s demolition of 10 buildings comprising approximately 70 housing units in Sur Baher, a Palestinian neighbourhood of East Jerusalem. “We are following the developments in this matter very closely,” said Leilani Farha, the Special Rapporteur for the right to housing, and Michael Lynk, […]

GENEVA July 26, 2019 – The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet rang the alarm Friday at the apparent international indifference to the rising civilian death toll caused by a succession of airstrikes in Idlib and other parts of north-western Syria. “Despite repeated calls by the United Nations to respect the principle of […]

July 25, 2019 – The German government has frozen funding to WWF following a series of investigations by Buzzfeed revealing that the charity funds, equips, and works directly with forces that have tortured, raped and killed people. WWF has repeatedly suppressed accusations of violence and abuse. Earlier this month, BuzzFeed revealed that WWF had kept evidence of gang rape and torture at its German- and US- […]

New York, NY, July 25, 2019 — In accessing paid, decent work, refugee women face restrictive labor market laws, increased threat of violence, discrimination, as well as regulatory and administrative barriers. According to a new analysis conducted by the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security (GIWPS), in collaboration with the International Rescue Committee (IRC), […]

Tunis, July 25, 2019 — A shipwreck off the coast of Libya has claimed the lives of 150 refugees and migrants, the most recent incident in a line of tragedies in the Mediterranean Sea. This is a stark reminder of the humanitarian crisis emerging out of the country, and of the urgent need for search and […]

GENEVA / MOGADISHU July 25, 2019 – The international community must continue to help Somalia strengthen its institutions and the justice and security sector ahead of the next elections, says UN Independent Expert Bahame Tom Nyanduga. “Somalia has made considerable progress in the political, economic, social and human rights situation over the past six years, […]

July 24, 2019 – European Parliament’s newly constituted Brexit Steering Group chaired by Guy Verhofstadt met with EU negotiator on 24 July following the change of Prime Minister in the UK. It reiterates the EP’s position in the following statement: “The Brexit Steering Group (BSG) wishes Mr Johnson, the new UK Prime Minister, well and […]

July 23, 2019: One year after the devastating collapse of saddle dam D of the Xe Pian-Xe Namnoy hydropower project in southern Laos, none of the entities backing and profiting from the project have been held accountable, according to a joint report released today by International Rivers and Inclusive Development International. “Reckless Endangerment: Assessing Responsibility […]

GENEVA, July 18, 2019 – UN human rights experts* have expressed grave concern over the detention and criminal proceedings in Italy against the German captain of the migrant rescue vessel Sea-Watch 3, and stated that the threats to the judge who ruled her release were unlawful. “Rescuing migrants in distress at sea is not a […]

July 17, 2019 – Start-up companies are driving a speculative rush for seabed minerals in an unholy alliance with the very UN body charged with regulating them, the International Seabed Authority (ISA). A hard hitting report released today exposes blatant corporate capture of the ISA and the manipulation of Pacific regional decision-making processes by deep sea mining […]

July 16, 2019 – UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is deeply concerned about the new rule barring from asylum the majority of people crossing the southern U.S. land border. This will endanger vulnerable people in need of international protection from violence or persecution. “We understand that the U.S. asylum system is under significant strain. And […]

Seattle, WA. July 15, 2019 – The US is the sole member of the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) — the group of 36 developed nations, that has chosen to object to the adoption of recently agreed Basel Convention trade controls to ensure that plastic wastes that are dirty and mixed and thus […]

NEW YORK/GENEVA, 15 July 2019 – 20 million children worldwide – more than 1 in 10 – missed out on lifesaving vaccines such as measles, diphtheria and tetanus in 2018, according to new data from WHO and UNICEF. Globally, since 2010, vaccination coverage with three doses of diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis (DTP3) and one dose […]

AMMAN, July 12, 2019 – One of the UN’s independent experts has voiced concern about lack of human rights accountability in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, pointing to the actions of “an occupying power seemingly bent on further territorial annexation”. Michael Lynk, the UN Special Rapporteur for the situation of human rights in the Palestinian Territory […]

Beirut, July 9, 2019 – The United States-led coalition against the Islamic State (also known as ISIS) should address the harm to civilians during military operations in Syria, Human Rights Watch said today. Independent investigators have reported that coalition airstrikes killed at least 7,000 civilians in military operations in Iraq and Syria since September 2014. […]

July 8, 2019 – Conditions in which migrants and refugees are being held in the United States are appalling, said the UN human rights chief on Monday, underscoring that children should never be held in immigration detention, or separated from their families. “As a pediatrician, but also as a mother and a former head of […]

Irvine, Calif., July 1, 2019 – The nations that have signed agreements to stabilize the global mean temperature by 2050 will fail to meet their goals unless existing fossil fuel-burning infrastructure around the world is retired early, according to a study – published today in Nature – by researchers at the University of California, Irvine […]