Tag: rights
World News in Brief: Food aid relief for Rohingya, 5 new Security Council members, jailing of Russian poets draws rebuke from rights expert
“The entire Rohingya population” from Myanmar will benefit, according to the UN agency, which increased the value of its monthly food voucher from $8 to $10 per person on 1 January. Until early last year vouchers were worth $12 but WFP was forced to reduce their value in March to $10 because of funding gaps.…
Read MoreWorld News in Brief: UN rights chief condemns attacks in Nigeria, WFP supplies looted in Sudan, non-discrimination protections in the US
Volker Türk, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights called on the authorities to conduct prompt, thorough and independent investigations into the attacks that took place on Christmas Eve and to hold those responsible to account in fair trials. The violence occurred in the Plateau state, an ethnically and religiously diverse region, where inter-communal conflict has…
Read MoreEthiopia: Prioritize victims amidst legacy of rights abuses, UN office urges
A joint report by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission emphasized the need to implement all components of transitional justice equally. These include criminal accountability, truth-seeking, reparations, and guarantees of non-recurrence, involving effective remedies for victims, legal reforms, and reconciliation. One of the recommendations…
Read MoreUN rights chief warns of ‘dehumanization’ of Palestinians amid West Bank violence as Gaza crisis deepens
Commenting on a new report on the West Bank released by his office, OHCHR, Mr. Türk expressed concern at the use of military means and weapons by law enforcement, movement restrictions affecting Palestinians and a sharp rise in settler violence resulting in the displacement of herding communities. “The dehumanization of Palestinians that characterizes many of the…
Read MoreGaza crisis: Starvation must never be allowed to happen, says UN rights chief
“Starvation must never be a means or result of warfare,” UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Türk said, responding to an alarming food security report released on Thursday that confirmed repeated warnings of catastrophic hunger levels in the besieged enclave amid ongoing fighting. In a tweet, Mr. Türk urged Israel to act immediately to ensure that all…
Read MoreStories from the UN Archive: Audrey Hepburn on children’s rights
Soon after becoming a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador in 1988, she went on a mission to Ethiopia, where years of drought and civil strife had caused terrible famine. After visiting UNICEF emergency operations, she talked about the projects to media in the United States, Canada and Europe over several weeks, giving as many as 15 interviews…
Read MoreDraw inspiration from human rights advocates worldwide, urges Guterres
Speaking at the awards ceremony of the UN Prize in the Field of Human Rights for 2023, Mr. Guterres stressed that rights defenders themselves were in need of greater protection. “The world needs leaders of countries, corporations, political parties, religious and civil organizations and beyond, to speak out against antisemitism, anti-Muslim bigotry, attacks on minority…
Read MoreExplainer: How Darfur became a ‘humanitarian calamity and catastrophic human rights crisis’
Close to nine million people need humanitarian assistance and reports suggest that some 4,000 people have been targeted and killed because of their ethnicity. There are now concerns that Darfur is returning to the years of brutal fighting and increasing atrocities last witnessed two decades ago that left some 300,000 people dead and millions of…
Read More‘Rebuild a foundation of hope’ for global human rights: Türk
“This is a pivotal day. We are here to rebuild a foundation of hope – hope that we need now, perhaps more than ever, at this sombre moment in history,” Volker Türk, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said, addressing participants which included leaders from Poland, Slovenia, Estonia, Greece Senegal, Colombia and the Maldives, taking to…
Read MoreStories from the UN Archive: Human rights must come ‘in hearts of people’
Eleanor Roosevelt played a key role as a member of the US delegation to the United Nations in the two-year-long process that led to the adoption in 1948 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. She famously said that the “real change which must give to people throughout the world their human rights must come about…
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