United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today highlighted the challenges people with disabilities face despite progress made since the adoption of a global treaty to promote their rights a decade ago. “In the past decade, we have seen much progress. But, persons with disabilities continue to face grave disadvantages,” Mr. Ban told a high-level meeting on […]
Global partnership is needed to end discrimination and violence against the worldwide lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community, a United Nations human rights expert has told an international conference in Bangkok, Thailand, outlining five key steps that should be taken. “Resolute action is required to stop the violence and discrimination affecting not only LGBT […]
Underlining that violence against women and girls is not only a human rights violation but also a serious obstacle to sustainable development, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called for “meaningful” action to prevent and respond to such violence. “Violence against women and girls imposes large-scale costs on families, communities and economies,” Secretary-General Ban said in […]
10 November 2016 – An international protocol on forced labour has entered into force, a major milestone in the fight to end the practice, which the United Nations labour agency estimates victimizes 21 million people worldwide. The International Labour Organization Forced Labour Protocol “requires countries to take effective measures to prevent and eliminate forced labour, […]
Amid the intensification of the military campaign against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL/Da’esh) in northern Iraq and its impact on civilians, a senior United Nations humanitarian official in the country has raised alarm their safety and called on all sides to ensure that they are protected. “We are deeply disturbed by […]
Warning that impunity for crimes against journalists is rampant, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today called for immediate action to secure justice in cases here journalists have been attacked or killed and for concrete steps from all countries to ensure that media professionals are guaranteed space to operate free from harassment and intimidation. Today, 2 […]