‘We Need Competitive Elections so Only Truly Committed States Are Elected to the UN Human Rights Council’

 
CIVICUS discusses the upcoming election of new members of the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council with Madeleine Sinclair, New York Office Director and Legal Counsel at the International Service for Human Rights (ISHR).

Cultivating a Culture of Peace

As global peace hits its lowest point since the Second World War, the International Day of Peace on September 21 offered a critical moment to reflect on and strengthen our peacebuilding efforts.

Tripling Renewables Powered by State-Owned Power Companies and Utilities

The climate community, meeting this week once again on the margins of the UN General Assembly, is continuing to explore ways to triple the world’s installed renewable generation capacity by 2030, a target agreed at last year’s COP 28 international climate negotiations. Much of this discussion has been about mobilizing finance and otherwise getting the private sector, with its massive resources and competence, to step up to the challenge … and what government policies and incentives are needed to spur more investment.

The Crucial Connection Between Climate Change and Mental Health

“Young people today are growing up with enormous uncertainty about their future. Climate change is a major driver of that uncertainty, but we weren’t talking enough about how the climate crisis impacts mental health,” researcher Dr. Emma Lawrance told IPS from her family home in Australia.

The UN Needs a Summit for the Present

The Summit of the Future has now ended, but the real and present world is still on fire. As the General Assembly, an annual ritual where dozens of heads of state descend on New York, kicks off, key questions about the role and future of the United Nations, a body that was created to maintain international peace and security almost 80 years ago, remain unanswered.

UN Charter: the Final Hurdle for Reform of the Security Council

When the "founding fathers" –regrettably, no "founding mothers"—created the United Nations 79 years ago, one of the biggest anomalies was bestowing the power of the veto to the five permanent members (P5) of the UN Security Council (UNSC): the US, UK, France, Russia and the Republic of China (later the People’s Republic of China).

Carbon Emissions from AI and Crypto are Surging– and Tax Policy Can Help

What do crypto assets and artificial intelligence have in common? Both are power hungry. Because of the electricity used by high-powered equipment to “mine” crypto assets, one Bitcoin transaction requires roughly the same amount of electricity as the average person in Ghana or Pakistan consumes in three years. ChatGPT queries require 10 times more electricity than a Google search, due to the electricity consumed by AI data centers.

Net Zero by 2050 Delays Needed Urgent Climate Action

Net zero emissions by 2050 prioritise mitigation for climate stabilisation. Pledges to achieve this still distant target have grown but inadvertently delay urgently needed climate action in the near term.

Summit of the Future: Youth Driven Action Needed to Tackle Nuclear and Climate Crises

Driving the Summit of the Future’s core messages of international solidarity and decisive action are young people who are determined to address the intersecting issues that the world contends with today.

It Is Time to Save The Deep Sea

This week’s United Nations General Assembly marks nearly 20 years since the body first resolved to restrict bottom trawling on the world’s seamounts, submarine mountains that rise thousands of feet above the sea floor and comprise some of the most biologically rich marine ecosystems on the planet.

Cultivating a Culture of Peace

The longing for peace transcends time, geography and religion. Based on justice, human rights and universal values outlined in the UN Charter, a culture of peace brings us all together in our common agenda for humanity. We can only co-exist by aligning ourselves with such a world order.

Summit of the Future: On the Need for Civil Society to Make Its Voice Count at the UN

In a context of shrinking civic space that threatens civil society participation in an increasing number of countries and all the way to some UN processes, world leaders will gather to discuss the “multilateralism we want” at the Summit of the Future at the United Nations headquarters in New York.

Multilateral Systems in Urgent Need of Reform, Says UN Secretary General

As the United Nations gears up to host the international community for the high-level meeting week, the UN chief appeals to world leaders to commit to universal agreements to work towards solutions.

Amid Great Challenges, Hope Reigns As More Children Reached with Education Support

Amid unprecedented global challenges and a growing list of countries in crisis, there is an existential threat to decades of development gains—with the global community marked by intensified armed conflict, forced displacements, and the debilitating effects of climate crises.

UN’s Summit of the Future to Forge a New Path for Humanity

A major event at UN Headquarters – Summit of the Future scheduled for September 22-23-- is being billed as a once in a generation opportunity for the international community to grapple with important questions, and forge a new path, for the benefit of all.

UN’s Five Major Leaders Skip Key Summit

The United Nations, over the last year, has been relentlessly promoting the upcoming Summit of the Future – scheduled for September 22-23—as a landmark event. And rightly so. But, surprisingly, the provisional list of speakers, released early this week, reflects notable absentees for a high-level summit-- the five permanent members (P5) of the Security Council -- whose representatives do not include any head of state (HS) or head of government (HG).

Governments Using Billions of Public Funds to Subsidize Climate-Destructive Industries—Report

A report examining corporate capture of public finance is accusing industries fueling the climate crisis, including fossil fuel ones, of draining public funds in the Global South, singling them out for squeezing out of governments USD 700 billion in public subsidies each year.

Where Has Poverty Gone?

Political polarization, the climate emergency, organized crime, migration, and low economic growth currently dominate the public debate in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), and rightly so. However, there is a significant structural challenge to human development and democracy itself that, along with inequalities, lies at the root of these crises: poverty.

ECW Delivers Holistic Education Against All Odds, But More Funding Needed

Education Cannot Wait (ECW) has delivered quality education to children in crisis "against all odds," ECW Executive Director Yasmine Sherif said at the United Nations today. "And you can imagine the odds. We are seeing more armed conflict, a growth of climate-induced disasters and the biggest refugee movement since World War 2." 

Are the World’s Ongoing Conflicts in Danger of Going Nuclear?

The constant drumbeat of nuclear threats seems never ending—emanating primarily from the Russians, Israeli right-wing politicians and North Koreans. The threats also prompt one lingering question: Can there be a World War III without the use of nuclear weapons?

Odious Debts: What Can Bangladesh Learn from Ecuador?

Bangladesh’s White Paper committee will review foreign loan deals signed by the fallen kleptocratic regime. We recommend that it identifies and declares the loans or portions of loans that did not benefit the nation as unpayable, because they were siphoned off the country by corrupt politically powerful elites, or worse used to buy deadly weapons and surveillance equipment to oppress people. Such loans are “odious” – they stink and are detestable.