Category Archives: News

United Nations Secretary-General Statement On The Attack At Two Mosques In New Zealand

The Secretary-General is shocked and appalled at the terrorist attack at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand. He extends his deepest condolences to the families of the victims and to the Government and people of New Zealand.

The Secretary General recalls the sanctity of mosques and all places of worship. He calls upon all people on this holy day for Muslims to show signs of solidarity with the bereaved Islamic community.

The Secretary-General reiterates the urgency of working better together globally to counter Islamophobia and eliminate intolerance and violent extremism in all its forms.

Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesman for the Secretary-General
New York, 15 March 2019

Statement: Ethiopian Airlines Crash

The Secretary-General was deeply saddened at the tragic loss of lives in the airplane crash today near Addis Ababa. He conveys his heartfelt sympathies and solidarity to the victims’ families and loved ones, including those of United Nations staff members, as well as sincere condolences to the Government and people of Ethiopia.

The United Nations is in contact with the Ethiopian authorities and working closely with them to establish the details of United Nations personnel who lost their lives in this tragedy.

Stephane Dujarric
Spokesman for the Secretary-General

New York
10 March 2019

Sexual and Gender-based Violence in Conflict – Press Conference (25 Feb 2019)

(Geneva, 25 February 2019) Sexual violence in conflict and the stigma that victims often face must be addressed urgently, UN chief António Guterres said on Monday, in a joint appeal with the head of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Peter Maurer.

Describing how he was “frequently horrified” by the first-hand accounts of survivors in his previous role as head of the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, Guterres said that only last year, Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh spoke of gang-rape of women and girls in their homes before they fled Myanamar.

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WMO Confirms Past 4 years Were Warmest On Record

Geneva, 6 February 2019: In a clear sign of continuing long-term climate change associated with record atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018 have been confirmed as the four warmest years on record.

A consolidated analysis by the World Meteorological Organization of five leading international datasets showed that the global average surface temperature in 2018 was approximately 1.0° Celsius (with a margin of error of ±0.13°C) above the pre-industrial baseline (1850-1900). It ranks as the fourth warmest year on record.

WMO confirms past 4 years were warmest on record

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UN Briefing to Rotary Canberra On the Sustainable Development Goals

The UNIC Director was invited to speak at a Canberra Rotary Club meeting to talk about the United Nations and the Sustainable Development Goals.  The talk was well received judging from the engaging questions that followed.

The presentation gave a broad outline of the structure and role of the Organization and then looked more deeply at the Sustainable Development Goals.  The message given was that while Governments had a key role to play in implementing the Goals it was up to each of us individually, or through civil society organizations, such as Rotary, to play our part by living sustainably and advocating for strong leadership on the issue.

UN lauds special chemistry of the periodic table, kicking off 150th anniversary celebrations

On Tuesday, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) launched the International Year of the Periodic Table of Chemical Elements at its headquarters in Paris, kicking off a series of events and activities to be held throughout the year, as the world celebrates the 150th anniversary since its creation by Russian scientist Dmitri Mendeleev. More.

 

Independent human rights expert to visit Turkey to launch international inquiry into Khashoggi case

GENEVA (25 January 2019) – The UN human rights expert Agnès Callamard is to head an international inquiry into the killing of Saudi journalist Mr. Jamal Khashoggi, starting with a visit to Turkey from 28 January to 3 February 2019.

This inquiry, established under the authority of the mandate of the UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary killings, and upon her request, will review and evaluate, from a human rights perspective, the circumstances surrounding the killing of Kashoggi. Callamard will be accompanied by Baroness Helena Kennedy, QC, and Professor Duarte Nuno Vieira from the University of Coimbra.

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MEDIA ADVISORY

New Zealand’s human rights record to be reviewed by Universal Periodic Review

GENEVA (16 January 2019) – New Zealand’s human rights record will be examined by the UN Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR) Working Group for the third time on Monday, 21 January 2019 in a meeting that will be webcast live.

New Zealand is one of the 14 States to be reviewed by the UPR Working Group during its upcoming session taking place from 21 January to 1 February. New Zealand’s first and second UPR reviews took place in May 2009 and January 2014, respectively.

The documents on which the reviews are based are: 1) national report – information provided by the State under review; 2) information contained in the reports of independent human rights experts and groups, known as the Special Procedures, human rights treaty bodies, and other UN entities; 3) information provided by other stakeholders including national human rights institutions, regional organizations and civil society groups.

The three reports serving as the basis for the review of New Zealand on 21 January can be found here.

Location: Room 20, Palais des Nations, Geneva
Time and date: 09.00 – 12.30, Monday, 21 January (Geneva time, GMT +1 hour)

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INTERVIEW: Advancing human rights, a ‘never ending process’ says new UN rights chief

As the UN’s top human rights official, the High Commissioner is mandated to promote and protect the enjoyment and full realization, by all people, of all rights established in the Charter of the United Nations and under international human rights laws and treaties.

The mandate also includes preventing human rights violations, promoting international cooperation to protect human rights, being the coordinator of action across the UN, and strengthening and streamlining the whole UN system in the field of human rights.