Week in Review

Just ahead of Human Rights Day on Saturday 10 December, the UN’s High Commissioner for Human Rights insisted that despite so many seemingly “intractable” crises around the world, solutions can still be found.

The UN’s key biodiversity conference, COP15, began on Tuesday in Montreal, Canada, where negotiators will set new targets and goals aimed at arresting the alarming destruction of nature, due by human activity.

What exactly is hate speech, how does it undermine human rights, and who is responsible for tackling it? UNiting Against Hate, a new series from UN Podcasts, discusses these issues with people who have directly experienced hate speech; and the activists and experts around the world who are working to counter it.

Some 20 million jobs could be created by investing in policies that support nature and address climate change, disaster risk, food insecurity, and other major challenges, according to a UN report published on Friday. 

Meet Carmen DeLeon, the Miami-based singer-songwriter from Venezuela, who is exploding on the scene as an artist and songwriter.

Initially, the family’s hopes were based around her brother, a promising tennis player, but success on a TV talent show in Spain put the spotlight on her talents.

In this episode of amplifyHER, Carmen opens up to us about her mental health issues, and her struggles to be respected in the music industry.

Like and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts, to ensure you don’t miss an episode!

_{Original music that appears in amplifyHER is included with the kind permission of the artists. All rights reserved.}

As cholera continues to spread in Haiti, a $145 million appeal to support the response is only 16 per cent funded, the top UN aid official there reported on Thursday. 

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has been described as a crisis for women and girls, with cases of conflict-related sexual violence on the rise. Hrystyna Kit, co-founder of JurFem, the Ukrainian Women Lawyers Association, has found herself pushing forward against a rising tide of gender-based violence.

More than a dozen UN-appointed independent human rights experts on Thursday condemned the execution of a 23-year-old Iranian artist convicted for taking part in protests, and raised general alarm over any charges that are made which carry the death penalty. 

The adoption by most nations of the world of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea 40 years ago, was a “vital step to bring governance and order” to the vast collective treasure that is the ocean, said the UN chief António Guterres on Thursday.

The torment being unleashed by Russia’s “senseless war”, on the people of Ukraine and beyond, is “colossal”, the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator told the Security Council on Tuesday. 

Despite the continued impact of COVID-19, malaria cases and deaths remained stable throughout last year, according to new data released on Thursday by the World Health Organization (WHO).  

What is believed to be the first public execution in Afghanistan since the Taliban seized power last year, drew criticism from the UN human rights office, OHCHR on Wednesday. Spokesperson Jeremy Laurence described it as a “deeply disturbing” development. 

The signing of a political framework agreement in Sudan could signal a way out of the uncertainty and insecurity sparked by the October 2021 coup, the head of the UN mission in the country, UNITAMS, told the Security Council on Wednesday. 

The suffering being experienced by millions of civilians across Ukraine must not become the new normal, the UN human rights chief said on Wednesday.

More than one in five people employed – almost 23 per cent – have experienced violence and harassment in the workplace, whether physical, psychological or sexual, according to the first ever joint analysis of data worldwide carried out by the UN International Labour Organization (ILO), the independent global charity Lloyd’s Register Foundation (LRF) and analytics and polling company, Gallup.

Marking this year’s International Day of Persons with Disabilities, which falls on Saturday, António Guterres, the UN Secretary-General, called for transformative, innovative solutions, in a world confronted by crises which disproportionally affect persons with disabilities.