Page 14 - United Nations

Iran increasingly electronically surveils for headscarf violations: UN

Iran increasingly relies on electronic surveillance and the public to inform on women refusing to wear the country's mandatory headscarf in public, even as hard-liners push for harsher penalties for those protesting the law, a United Nations report released on Friday found. The findings of the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on the Islamic Republic of Iran come after it determined last year that the country's theocracy was responsible for the physical violence that led to the death of Mahsa Amini. Her death led to nationwide protests against the country's mandatory hijab laws and the public disobedience against them that continues even today, despite the threat of violent arrest and imprisonment. Two and a half years after the protests began in September 2022, women and girls in Iran continue to face systematic discrimination, in law and in practice, that permeates all aspects of their lives, particularly with respect to the enforcement of the mandatory hijab, the ...

UN accuses Israel of sexual violence, Netanyahu alleges anti-Israel bias

United Nations-backed human rights experts on Thursday accused Israel of "the systematic use of sexual, reproductive and other gender-based violence" in its war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The allegations came in one of the most extensive reports of its kind on the issue since Hamas' October 7, 2023 attack on southern Israel ignited the war. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu lashed out at the Human Rights Council, a UN-backed body that commissioned the team of independent experts, as an "anti-Israel circus" that "has long been exposed as an antisemitic, rotten, terrorist-supporting, and irrelevant body". His statement did not address the findings themselves. The findings by the Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, which seeks to document in minute detail the allegations and evidence of crimes to bolster accountability for perpetrators, could be used by prosecutors at the International Criminal Court or in other jurisdictions to try to bring justice

UN chief announces 'UN80 Initiative' to boost efficiencies amid uncertainty

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has announced a new initiative aimed at improving efficiencies at the 80-year-old world organisation and making it more cost-effective, as he voiced concern over shrinking resources and liquidity crisis amid an environment of "uncertainty and unpredictability". The UN80 Initiative' will come up with proposals in areas of rapidly identifying efficiencies and improvements in the way the UN works; thoroughly reviewing implementation of all mandates given to the UN by member states, which have significantly increased in recent years and a strategic review of deeper, more structural changes and programme realignment in the UN system. Our world is facing challenges on every front. Since the United Nations reflects that world in all its aspects, we feel it in all our work. These are times of intense uncertainty and unpredictability, Guterres said here on Wednesday in his remarks to announce the initiative. Guterres has appointed a dedicated internal ta

UN chief condemns Pakistan train hijacking, calls for release of hostages

UN Secretary-General Antonio has strongly condemned the hijacking of a train in Pakistan's Balochistan province and voiced concern about persons taken hostage, calling for their immediate release. The UN Chief stressed that attacks against civilians are unacceptable. The Secretary-General strongly condemns the hijacking of a train in Pakistan's Balochistan province, a statement issued by his spokesman Stphane Dujarric said. Guterres is deeply concerned about the persons taken hostage and calls for their immediate release, the statement added. Suspected Baloch gunmen opened fire at a passenger train in Pakistan's restive Balochistan on Tuesday. Jaffar Express, with around 500 passengers on board in nine coaches, was on its way from Quetta to Peshawar in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa when it was fired upon between Gudalaar and Piru Koneri, according to officials. The Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) claimed it seized control of the train by derailing it. The group said it had killed six secu

India reaffirms commitment to gender equality at UNCSW session in New York

A delegation from the Government of India, led by Union Minister for Women and Child Development (WCD) Annpurna Devi, participated in discussions at the global forum

Obama supported the UN global goals in 2015, Trump just rejected them

In 2015, then-President Barack Obama committed the United States to achieving newly adopted UN global goals by 2030, including ending poverty, achieving gender equality and urgently tackling climate change. The Trump administration now says it rejects and denounces the goals. The US renunciation was one of the first if not the first by any country of the 17 goals that were adopted unanimously by all 193 UN member nations, with the aim of eliminating global hunger, protecting the planet, ensuring prosperity for all people, and promoting peace. The Sustainable Development Goals, or SDGs, also include providing clean water and sanitation for all people and quality education for every child, while promoting good health and decent work and economic growth for everyone. The Trump administration's announcement was buried in remarks on a General Assembly resolution on the International Day of Peaceful Coexistence this week by Edward Heartney, a minister-counselor at the US mission to the

1 crew member killed, 2 injured after UN helicopter attacked in South Sudan

A crew member was killed and two others were injured when a United Nations helicopter on an evacuation mission in a remote part of South Sudan was attacked on Friday, the UN mission in South Sudan said, as violence escalated in fighting that threatens a fragile peace deal between the country's top two leaders. The attack took place in the Nasir area of South Sudan's Upper Nile state, according to UNMISS, which said in a statement that the helicopter came under fire" as it attempted to evacuate government troops from the area. Several soldiers and their commanding officer in Nasir, Gen. Majur Dak, were among those killed in the attack, President Salva Kiir said in a statement late Friday. I am appealing to you to remain calm, his statement said. The government which I lead will handle this crisis and we will remain steadfast in the path of peace." Nasir has seen violence in recent days as government troops clashed with an armed group, known as the White Army, that some believe is ..

Brazil COP to push for Global Ethical Stocktake, transition policies

Brazilian Minister of Environment and Climate Change, Marina Silva, said COP30 will also come up with roadmap to transition away from fossil fuels, triple renewable energy and double energy efficiency

Women's rights under threat 30 years after equality plan adopted, says UN

Thirty years after world leaders adopted a historic blueprint to achieve gender equality, a new United Nations report says women's and girls' rights are under attack and gender discrimination remains deeply embedded in economies and societies. The report released Thursday by the UN agency focused on women's rights and gender equality found that nearly one-quarter of governments worldwide reported a backlash to women's rights last year. Despite some progress, including on girls' education and access to family planning, UN Women said a woman or girl is killed every 10 minutes by a partner or family member and that cases of conflict-related sexual violence have increased by 50% since 2022. The report, released ahead of International Women's Day on Saturday, also noted that only 87 countries have ever been led by a woman. Globally, women's human rights are under attack, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a statement. Instead of mainstreaming equal rights, we're seeing the ...

Regulating an uncertain climate: Who controls geoengineering fixes?

UNEP has estimated that if current trends and policies continue, warming by the end of the century is likely to be somewhere between 1.9 and 3.1 degrees Celsius

Bangladesh experienced 'paroxysm of violence' last year: UN rights chief

The anti-government protests, led by students, ended Hasina's over 15-year-old rule in August last year. Hasina fled to India following her ouster

UN rights chief concerned over 'fundamental shift' in US under Trump

Turk's speech to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva are his strongest remarks so far on the impact of the new US administration's policies

Japan won't join UN meeting on nuclear weapons ban, backs US' deterrence

Japan will not attend a UN conference on the treaty banning nuclear weapons, a top government official in Tokyo said Monday, noting US nuclear deterrence is crucial to the country's security and that its participation would send the wrong message". Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said Japan's national security is the primary reason it will not participate as an observer at the conference, which starts Monday in New York. Under the severe security environment, nuclear deterrence is indispensable to defend the people's lives and assets, as well as Japan's sovereignty and peace, Hayashi told reporters. Japan's participation as an observer at the conference would send a wrong message about the Japanese policy (supporting) nuclear deterrence and interfere with our effort in security, peace and safety. The UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons was approved in 2017 and went into force in 2021 following a decades-long campaign aimed at preventing a repeat of the US atom

India hosts first 'Global South' meet on women in UN peacekeeping

Deployed women comprise 0.8 per cent of India's troops for UN peacekeeping, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institution

Human rights suffocated by autocrats, warmongers, says UN chief Guterres

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres says human rights are being suffocated around the world, lashing out at voices of division and anger who see them as a barrier to their quest for power and profit. In a speech to the Human Rights Council, Guterres decried Russia's full-scale war in Ukraine that marked its third anniversary Monday, appealed for a permanent cease-fire between Palestinian militants and Israel, and urged respect for Congo's territorial integrity, among other things. While reiterating many of his concerns about conflict and climate change, the U.N. chief said he would propose new ideas to the Security Council aimed to bring greater stability and security for the people of Haiti, where a multinational security support mission has been deployed. Guterres depicted a world where human rights were on the ropes and being pummeled hard" by warmongers, a morally bankrupt global financial system" that favors profits over planet protections, those who might exploit artificial

Mandaviya, ILO DG Houngbo discuss collaboration to enhance labour welfare

Mandaviya expressed India's commitment to workforce resilience aligning with Viksit Bharat 2047 and G20 priorities

UN vote to demand Russian troops leave Ukraine, US seeks softer approach

On the third anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the UN General Assembly is expected to vote Monday on duelling resolutions Ukraine's European-backed proposal demanding an immediate withdrawal of Russian forces from the country and a US call for a swift end to the war that never mentions Moscow's aggression. The United States pressured the Ukrainians to withdraw their nonbinding resolution in favour of its proposal, a US official and a European diplomat said Sunday. But Ukraine refused, and it will be put to a vote in the 193-nation assembly, two European diplomats said. All spoke on condition of anonymity because the talks were private. It's a reflection of the tensions that have emerged between the US and Ukraine after President Donald Trump suddenly opened negotiations with Russia in a bid to quickly resolve the conflict. It also underscores the strain in the transatlantic alliance with Europe over the Trump administration's extraordinary turnaround on engagement with ..

US pressures Ukraine to drop UN resolution for Russian troop withdrawal

The US has pressured Ukraine to withdraw its European-backed UN resolution demanding an immediate withdrawal of Russian forces from Ukraine in favour of an American proposal that does not mention Moscow's invasion, a US official and a European diplomat said Sunday. But Ukraine refused to pull its draft resolution, and the UN General Assembly will vote on it Monday, the third anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, two European diplomats said. The 193-nation General Assembly then is expected to vote on the U.S. draft resolution, according to the diplomats and the US official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because private negotiations are still ongoing. The Trump administration is also seeking a vote on its proposal in the more powerful UN Security Council. The 15-nation council will meet Monday afternoon on Ukraine, and late Sunday it scheduled the vote immediately afterward, but the European diplomats said it could be pushed to Tuesday at Russia's request. The duelling .

India key to UN peacekeeping, its women peacekeepers vital: Chief Lacroix

India remains a cornerstone of UN peacekeeping and its women peacekeepers have demonstrated that missions with greater female representation improve operational outcomes and contribute to lasting peace, the United Nations peacekeeping chief has said. UN Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix will visit New Delhi this week to attend the conference Enhancing the Role of Women in Peacekeeping: A Global South Experience' being organised by India on February 24-25. India remains a cornerstone of UN peacekeeping and Indian women peacekeepers are redefining peacekeeping itself," Lacroix told PTI in an exclusive interview here. Noting that it's a privilege" to attend the conference in India, Lacroix said the gathering would bring together women officials from about 50 countries in the Global South to discuss the evolving challenges in peacekeeping and the critical role women play in advancing peace and security. More women in peacekeeping means a more effective ..

US offers UN resolution on Ukraine war that falls short of EU statement

The United States has proposed a draft UN resolution that stops far short of a competing European-backed statement demanding an immediate withdrawal of all of Moscow's forces from Ukraine. Both are timed to the third anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which falls on Monday, when the UN General Assembly will vote on the nonbinding resolutions. It sets up a clash between the United States and Europe as the strength of the transatlantic alliance has been called into question over the Trump administration's extraordinary turnaround on Russia, opening negotiations with Moscow after years of isolation as the US looks to broker a rapid end to the war. European leaders were dismayed that their officials and those from Ukraine weren't invited to preliminary US-Russia talks last week in Saudi Arabia. The very short US draft resolution offers mourning for "the tragic loss of life throughout the Russia-Ukraine conflict" and "implores a swift end to the conflict and further urges a ...