Three years after the world began its epic struggle against COVID-19, the least developed countries (LDCs) – already grappling with severe structural impediments to sustainable development and highly vulnerable to economic and environmental shocks – have found themselves stranded amid a rising tide of crisis, uncertainty, climate chaos and deep global injustice. “Systems are stretched…
The biennial panel’s theme is human rights violations relating to the use of the death penalty, in particular with respect to limiting the practice to only the most serious crimes. Promise of the Charter Volker Türk said this is ultimately about the United Nations Charter’s promise of the highest standards of protection of all human…
The UN Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights, Ilze Brands Kehris, concluding a 10-day visit to the country on Wednesday, reported a resurgence of attacks by armed groups and the devastating toll on communities alongside the need for action. “The violence must stop,” she said, encouraging authorities to redouble their efforts to counter rising hatred and…
At its resumed eleventh emergency special session, the world body adopted a new resolution calling for an end to the war, only hours before the conflict enters its second year on Friday. The results were 141 Member States in favour and seven against – Belarus, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Eritrea, Mali, Nicaragua, Russia…
“This is a challenge that we can master with ingenuity and determination,” said Csaba Kőrösi, calling for science-based solutions and solidarity, as he delivered a keynote speech at the high-level symposium on “Integrated Water Cycle Management in the post-COVID-19 era.” He said when the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were crafted, the full magnitude of…
So far, the global financial system has failed to effectively cushion the impacts of current crises impacting the Global South the most: the COVID-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine and the ongoing climate emergency. “Today’s poly-crises are compounding shocks on developing countries – in large part because of an unfair global financial system that is short-term, crisis-prone,…
“Leprosy is hidden beneath multiple layers of systemic exclusion, structural discrimination, and institutional neglect,” said UN Special Rapporteur on discrimination against persons with leprosy, Alice Cruz, following an eight-day visit to Bangladesh. Currently, people from 120 countries are affected by leprosy, known as Hansen’s disease, with more than 200,000 new cases reported worldwide yearly. The…
