La Estrategia y Plan de Acción de la ONU contra el discurso de odio: combatiendo a la discriminación, la hostilidad y la violencia

by Rodrigo Saad, former Universal Rights Group - NYC Thematic human rights issues

“El discurso de odio es un desafío a que ningún país está inmune”, afirmó Adama Dieng, Asesor Especial para la Prevención del Genocidio, en el evento de lanzamiento de la Estrategia y Plan de Acción de la ONU sobre el Discurso de Odio . La estrategia para el sistema ONU fue lanzada en un contexto de niveles crecientes de xenofobia, racismo e intolerancia de manera general en todo el mundo. Esta tendencia ha sido amplificada por …

Human rights and the 2030 Agenda: key messages from the high level political forum on sustainable development

by Rodrigo Saad, former Universal Rights Group - NYC Agenda 2030, Human rights institutions and mechanisms

As UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed stated during her address to the Council last March , ‘Human rights are an intrinsic part of sustainable development—and sustainable development is a powerful vehicle for the realisation of all human rights.’ The adoption of the 2030 Agenda in 2015 signalled a fundamental shift in the UN’s development paradigm—from one traditionally based on a flawed orthodoxy overemphasising economic growth to a broader understanding of development, which takes into account …

Monitoring the SDGs? Find out how Human Rights Measurement Initiative data can help

by Susan Randolph, Co-Founder & Economic and Social Rights Metrics Lead, Human Rights Measurement Initiative (HRMI) and Anne-Marie Brook, Co-founder and Development Lead, Human Rights Measurement Initiative (HRMI) By invitation, Human rights institutions and mechanisms, Thematic human rights issues

There are strong connections between human rights monitoring and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Indeed, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development ‘seeks to realise the human rights of all.’ So it should not come as a surprise to learn that the Human Rights Measurement Initiative (HRMI)’s metrics tracking country performance on the provisions of the core human rights treaties [1] are …

UN Development System reforms: an update

by URG-NYC Team Agenda 2030, Human rights institutions and mechanisms

On 31 May 2018, the United Nations General Assembly adopted resolution 72/279 , accepting measures for change along the lines of the Secretary General’s recommendations and setting in motion one of the most comprehensive reforms of the UN Development System (UNDS) to date. This post provides an update on these reforms and is the first in a series of blogs produced …

The Gender Parity Strategy and UN reforms

by Jane Murray Gender equality, Thematic human rights issues

The United Nations System-wide Gender Parity Strategy sets targets for equal representation of men and women in the United Nations, and also advises on recruitment and retention practices. All secretariat units have developed their own implementation plans for the strategy, setting objectives for themselves to achieve parity at all levels. This strategy is being implemented alongside wider UN reforms that deal with the UN’s management system, and reconstituting …

The history of the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders: its genesis, drafting and adoption

by Petter Wille, Special Adviser to the National Human Rights Institution of the Kingdom of Norway and JANIKA SPANNAGEL, RESEARCH ASSOCIATE, GLOBAL PUBLIC POLICY INSTITUTE By invitation, Human rights institutions and mechanisms, Thematic human rights issues

Introduction Human rights defenders have been on the agenda of the United Nations (UN) for several decades. After more than 13 years of negotiations, the UN General Assembly adopted the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders in 1998 . This was a historic achievement. It was the first UN instrument to particularly recognise the importance and legitimacy of the work of human rights defenders, as well as their …

The Arc of the Covenant: The unfinished business of UN efforts to combat religious intolerance

by Ben Greenacre, Universal Rights Group Human rights institutions and mechanisms, Thematic human rights issues

A ‘Lost Covenant’ The combating of religious discrimination is one of the oldest thematic topics of discussion within the UN human rights system. Originally bound closely with discussions on racial discrimination, particularly in the context of resurgent anti-Semitism in the aftermath of World War 2, it harks back to the mandate first handed the Commission on Human Rights by the …

Does the UN already have the tools to prevent violent extremism? The newly discovered role of social exclusion and discrimination in violent extremism

by Samuel Gordon, URG Thematic human rights issues

When the United Nations was established in 1945 one of its fundamental ambitions was to create a world that wasn’t plagued by religious and racial persecution and discrimination. In the aftermath of WW2, the mantra of never again, was continuously used to represent the new commitment to the protection of religious and minority rights. This immediately began to manifest itself …

Ethiopia secures important advances for human rights, including women’s rights

by Yibza Aynekullu Tesfaye, Minister-Counsellor of the Permanent Mission of Ethiopia to the UN & Other Organizations in Geneva By invitation, Gender equality, Human rights institutions and mechanisms, Thematic human rights issues

“…Our government’s stand on the rights of women and their equality is not out of favour to them but rather for our common good” Abiy Ahmed, Prime Minister of Ethiopia There is a growing public sense, promoted by the Western press and NGOs, that human rights are in retreat around the world. It is true that in some countries, including …