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Posts (9)
Our Common Agenda: Multilateralism for Whom?
This new infographic shows how Our Common Agenda (OCA) has fallen prey to corporate actors and fails to deliver an inclusive agenda that centers people and the planet.
Tags: FINANCING FOR DEVELOPMENT, OCA, un
Urban Grassroots Engagement in Global Climate Debates
In cities, people living in slums, ghettos, informal settlements, townships, or camps are among the most vulnerable to climate change and more likely to experience loss of life, livelihoods, home, and territory. However, their ability to reduce vulnerabilities and adapt to a changing climate is limited compared to better-off groups. Further more, these vulnerable groups lack representation in international decision-making processes that affect them locally, including those regarding the global governance of climate change. This study provides a comprehensive overview of issues relating to the participation of marginalized urban communities in international climate policy decision-making and implementation.
Tags: ADVOCACY, climate justice, Global Governance, GRASSROOTS, un
On Standby
Report on the sixth session of the open-ended intergovernmental working group on a binding instrument on transnational corporations and other business enterprises with respect to human rights (“treaty”) From October 26 to 30, 2020, the Open-ended Intergovernmental Working Group on Transnational Corporations and Other Business Enterprises with Respect to Human Rights (OEIGWG) met for the […]
Tags: human rights council, un
On the Precipice: A Progressive Agenda in the Biden Era
On the eve of the inauguration of Joe Biden, we at Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung – New York commissioned a series of reports on key political issues. We wanted to hear how experts feel the Biden administration might address these issues and better understand how receptive the incoming administration is to a progressive agenda, and know on what issues progressives will have to continue to put pressure. You can read the complete series below.
Tags: biden, china, covid-19, education, housing, labor, military spending, mmt, nuclear, progressive, russia, un
Options for a UN Treaty on Business and Human Rights
In 2014, Ecuador and South Africa initiated a resolution to create a human rights treaty to regulate the activities of transnational corporations (TNCs) and other business enterprises. Since 2015, the open-ended intergovernmental working group on transnational corporations and other business enterprises (OEIGWG) has met three times to discuss the scope and content of the prospective […]
Tags: human rights, un
The UN Foundation
Backed by the failure of Member States to adequately finance UN development activities, the UNF has acted as a consistent advocate and facilitator for the United Nations to open up to private sector engagement. However, this type of engagement has not been accompanied by a rigorous assessment of effectiveness and has worked without addressing issues of reporting and coherence with UN mandates.
Tags: un
Of Foxes and Chickens
Security Council reform is long overdue, and calls for this reform have been on the table for decades. Most commonly, these calls have taken the form of large and powerful nations seeking a permanent seat on the council.
Tags: un, un security council
“We the Peoples”?: The United Nations on Its Seventieth Anniversary
Seventy years ago, on October 24, 1945, the United Nations Charter came into force. The Charter’s framers, powerfully speaking as “We the Peoples of the United Nations,” announced their determination “to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war,” “to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights,” to advance justice and “respect for the obligations arising […]
Tags: un
Contracting Insecurity: Private Military and Security Companies and the Future of the United Nations
The UN’s use of private military and security companies (PMSCs) is not a technical issue – it is a deeply political one. Although the UN has taken some steps to improve the selection and oversight of these companies and to make its practices more transparent, these efforts have tended to focus merely on technical issues, […]
Tags: pmsc, privatization, un