New UN websites & publications
TOPIC OF THE MONTH: Summit of the Future Outcome
Summit of the Future Outcome Document
https://www.un.org/sites/un2.un.org/files/sotf-pact_for_the_future_adopted.pdf
World leaders adopted the Pact for the Future that includes the Global Digital Compact and the Declaration on Future Generations. The Pact covers a broad range of themes including peace and security, sustainable development, climate change, digital cooperation, human rights, gender, youth and future generations, and the transformation of global governance.
Pact for the Future: What it delivers
(Summit Overview, two pager)
https://www.un.org/sites/un2.un.org/files/our-common-agenda-summit-of-the-future-what-would-it-deliver.pdf
see also: https://www.un.org/en/summit-of-the-future
A/RES/79/1: The Pact for the Future – Resolution adopted by the General Assembly on 22 September 2024
Includes Annex I “Global Digital Compact” and Annex II “Declaration on Future Generations”
English, French & Spanish: https://undocs.org/A/RES/79/1
UN News Centre Story
World leaders adopt pivotal UN Pact for the Future (22 September 2024)
English: https://news.un.org/en/story/2024/09/1154581
French: https://news.un.org/fr/story/2024/09/1149006
Spanish: https://news.un.org/es/story/2024/09/1533016
Portuguese: https://news.un.org/pt/story/2024/09/1837971
Press Release
United Nations adopts Ground-Breaking Pact for the Future to Transform Global Governance (GA/12641, 2 October 2024)
English: https://press.un.org/en/2024/ga12641.doc.htm
French: https://press.un.org/fr/2024/ag12642.doc.htm
UN in General
Resolve: Report of the Secretary-General on the Work of the Organization 2024
English: https://www.un.org/en/annualreport
French: https://www.un.org/fr/annualreport
Spanish: https://www.un.org/es/annualreport
German: https://www.un.org/Depts/german/gs/A79-1.pdf
The 2024 edition of the Report of the Secretary-General on the Work of the Organization is available in various formats. The report covers the achievements of the UN family in 2023 and shows that, despite the difficulties, progress is possible, and change is achievable. Divided into one introduction by the Secretary-General and nine chapters, the report illustrates the “resolve [of the UN staff] to achieve results for the people of the world and to deliver the help and the hope that every person deserves – and that the human family needs today, more than ever”.
Governing AI for Humanity
https://www.un.org/sites/un2.un.org/files/governing_ai_for_humanity_final_report_en.pdf
The United Nations Secretary-General’s High-level Advisory Body on Artificial Intelligence (HLAB-AI) released its final report “Governing AI for Humanity” on 19 September 2024. It builds on months of extensive global consultations and the publication of an interim report in December 2023. The uniquely diverse Advisory Body is the world’s first and most representative expert group capable of reflecting humanity’s aspirations for AI. This groundbreaking report outlines a blueprint for addressing AI-related risks and sharing its transformative potential globally.
Resourcing the Energy Transition: Principles to Guide Critical Energy Transition Minerals towards Equity and Justice
https://tinyurl.com/2j3nzbec
A “how-to guide to help generate prosperity and equality alongside clean power,” the Panel’s report, released on 11 September 2024, outlines seven Guiding Principles and five Actionable Recommendations to embed equity and justice in the race to net-zero emissions.
see also:
- The UN Secretary-General’s Panel on Critical Energy Transition Minerals: https://www.un.org/en/climatechange/critical-minerals
- New how-to guide speeds global race for renewable energy (UN News, 11 September 2024): https://news.un.org/en/story/2024/09/1154191
- ‘Without renewables, there can be no future’: 5 ways to power the energy transition
(UN News, 7 September 2024): https://news.un.org/en/story/2023/09/1140357
Strategic Response Framework for Tackling Crimes Linked to Critical Minerals (UNICRI)
https://unicri.it/sites/default/files/2024-09/Strategic-Response-Framework-Tackling-Crimes-Critical-Minerals.pdf
This comprehensive framework – developed by the United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute (UNICRI) and released on 24 September – outlines a coordinated approach to mitigating the various crimes associated with critical minerals. By empowering national stakeholders, enhancing legal and regulatory frameworks, and promoting international collaboration, UNICRI seeks to address these pressing issues.
Handover Report from His Excellency Mr. Dennis Francis, President of the General Assembly for its seventy-eighth session, to his successor His Excellency Mr. Philemon Yang, President of the General Assembly for its seventy-ninth session
https://www.un.org/pga/wp-content/uploads/sites/108/2024/09/PGA78-Handover-Report-compressed.pdf
The Handover Report is a contribution to the strengthening of the institutional memory of the Office of the President of the General Assembly and supports a smooth transition from the seventy-eighth to the seventy-ninth session of the General Assembly.
United Nations Handbook 2024-25
https://www.mfat.govt.nz/en/peace-rights-and-security/our-work-with-the-un/un-handbook
The UN Handbook is a valuable reference guide that helps everyone working with or within the United Nations navigate the UN system effectively. New Zealand has demonstrated its long-standing commitment and practical support for the United Nations by producing the UN Handbook since 1961.
European Council – Library guide on EU-UN relations
https://consilium-europa.libguides.com/euunrelations
Over the years the EU has established a strong relationship with the UN. Cooperation takes place on a broad range of areas covered by the different UN bodies and organisations. To help readers gain a deeper understanding of this relationship, the Council Library has compiled a library guide containing a wide variety of useful resources.
Economic Growth and Sustainable Development
Activity Book – Right to foods (FAO)
English: https://openknowledge.fao.org/handle/20.500.14283/cd1197en
French: https://openknowledge.fao.org/handle/20.500.14283/cd1197fr
Spanish: https://openknowledge.fao.org/handle/20.500.14283/cd1197es
The right to foods states that we should all have access to nutritious food in order to grow and live an active life. Some food choices depend on preferences, culture, time available or culinary skills; However, there are two very important factors that help many people decide what to eat: cost and easy availability. Read this year’s World Food Day Activity Book to discover the importance of food as a fundamental human right, healthy diets, the global challenges impacting our food systems and the solutions that depend on our actions. Regardless of our age, we can all learn how our choices can benefit a world where everyone has enough nutritious and safe food, leaving no one behind.
Business Ready 2024 (World Bank)
https://www.worldbank.org/en/businessready
Economies do better at enacting regulations to improve the national business climate than they do in providing the public services needed to secure actual progress, according to the World Bank Group’s new Business Ready report, released on 3 October 2024. The inaugural 2024 report, which assesses the business climate in 50 economies, provides an extensive dataset – 1200 indicators per economy – to identify specific areas where there is room for improvement and motivate reforms. Coverage will increase over the next three years to reach about 180 economies in 2026, providing a full global benchmark.
Challenges and priorities for improving housing affordability in the region of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe
https://tinyurl.com/mrya3dr2
Many low- and middle income households across Europe continue to be burdened by an affordable housing crisis, warns the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) in this new report. Housing stress is experienced by over one third of households in Europe belonging to the lower 40% of income distribution, the report reveals.
Clean Air, Healthy Children: An Agenda for Action – Protecting children from seven deadly sources of air pollution (UNICEF Policy Brief)
https://www.unicef.org/reports/clean-air-healthy-children-agenda-action
Every child has the right to clean air. But every day, hundreds of millions of children, mainly in low-and middle-income countries, have no choice but to breathe air laced with dangerous pollutants. Because children are uniquely vulnerable to the damaging health effects of air pollution, many die, get ill or bear lifelong consequences from exposure.
Climate mobility and childhood: Examining the risks, closing the data and evidence gaps for children on the move (September 12, 2024)
Report: https://data.unicef.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Climate-mobility-and-childhood_report.pdf
Executive Summary: https://data.unicef.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Executive-summary-Climatemobility-and-childhood.pdf
As hazards such as storms, floods, wildfires, droughts and heatwaves intensify around the globe, many of the places children live are becoming uninhabitable. In tandem, new coping mechanisms and adaptation strategies are emerging: For many children and their families, the choice of whether or not to leave home in order to navigate the impacts of climate change – and whether they have the ability to move – will become a central question of childhood. This report by the International Data Alliance for Children on the Move (IDAC) examines the impacts of these choices, asking how climate mobility is likely to influence the well-being of children.
Developments in the economy of the Occupied Palestinian Territory (UNCTAD)
English, French & Spanish: https://unctad.org/publication/report-unctad-assistance-palestinian-people-0
UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD) has released a comprehensive report detailing the profound economic destruction that has gripped the Occupied Palestinian Territory in the aftermath of the Israeli military operation in Gaza that followed the 7 October 2023 attacks by Hamas. The report highlights the staggering scale of economic devastation and unprecedented decline in economic activity, far surpassing the impact of all previous military confrontations in 2008, 2012, 2014 and 2021. Inflationary pressures combined with soaring unemployment and collapsing incomes, have severely impoverished Palestinian households.
Domestic revenues, debt relief and development aid: Transformative pathways for ending AIDS by 2030 (UNAIDS)
Eastern and Southern Africa: https://www.unaids.org/sites/default/files/media_asset/domestic-revenues-debt-relief-development-aid-esa_en.pdf
Western and Central Africa: https://www.unaids.org/sites/default/files/media_asset/domestic-revenues-debt-relief-development-aid-wca_en.pdf
Growing public debt is choking sub-Saharan African countries, leaving them with little fiscal room to finance health and critical HIV services. This new report by UNAIDS, Domestic revenues, debt relief and development aid: Transformative pathways for ending AIDS by 2030 Eastern and Southern Africa | Western and Central Africa, shows that the debt crisis is putting in jeopardy progress made towards ending AIDS. Sub-Saharan Africa accounts for the largest number of people living with HIV, with more than 25.9 million people of the 39.9 million living with HIV globally. The region’s success in having reduced new HIV infections by 56% since 2010 will not be sustained if fiscal space is constrained. The report, released ahead of the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, shows that the combination of growing public debt payments and spending cuts set out in International Monetary Fund agreements in the next three to five years will, if unaddressed, leave countries dangerously under resourced to fund their HIV responses.
Energy Compacts Annual Progress Report 2024
https://www.un.org/sites/un2.un.org/files/energycompacts-annual-progress-report2024-007_compressed.pdf
The third edition of the Energy Compacts Annual Progress Report was launched on 25 September at the opening of the EnergyNow SDG7 Action Forum in New York. The report shows that new commitments to boost renewable energy and increase access to electricity and clean cooking technologies by 2030, in support of SDG7, have brought the finance and investment pledged through the Energy Compacts to US$ 1.4 trillion. The report was prepared by UN-Energy, with data compiled and analysed by Sustainable Energy for All (SEforAll).
A focus on adolescent social media use and gaming in Europe, central Asia and Canada: Health Behaviour in School-aged Children international report from the 2021/2022 survey (WHO/Europe)
https://iris.who.int/handle/10665/378982
New data from the WHO Regional Office for Europe reveals a sharp rise in problematic social media use among adolescents, with rates increasing from 7% in 2018 to 11% in 2022. This, coupled with findings that 12% of adolescents are at risk of problematic gaming, raises urgent concerns about the impact of digital technology on the mental health and well-being of young people. These findings come from the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) study, which surveyed almost 280 000 young people aged 11, 13 and 15 across 44 countries and regions in Europe, central Asia and Canada in 2022.
Generation Equality Accountability Report 2024
https://www.unwomen.org/en/digital-library/publications/2024/09/generation-equality-accountability-report-2024
UN Women launched on 19 September 2024 the “Generation Equality accountability report 2024”, which uncovers significant progress on the commitments made by this multi-stakeholder initiative since its inception in 2021. The report launches as world leaders explore solutions to intertwined global challenges at the Summit of the Future in New York, and presents concrete ideas of what works to advance gender equality.
Global Assessment of Responsible Artificial Intelligence in Cities: Research and recommendations to leverage AI for people-centred smart cities (UNU-EGOV / UN-Habitat / IDRC)
https://collections.unu.edu/view/UNU:9789
The publication by the United Nations University Operating Unit on Policy-Driven Electronic Governance (UNU-EGOV), commissioned by UN-Habitat and funded by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), provides an in-depth overview of the AI landscape in urban settings. It identifies governance practices, capacity gaps, and recommends inclusive AI applications for cities worldwide, especially in Latin America, Africa, and Asia.
Going digital for noncommunicable diseases: the case for action (ITU / WHO)
https://iris.who.int/handle/10665/378478
An investment today of an additional US$0.24 per patient per year in digital health interventions, such as telemedicine, mobile messaging and chatbots, can help save more than 2 million lives from noncommunicable diseases over the next decade, says this new report released jointly by the World Health Organization (WHO) and ITU (International Telecommunication Union) on 23 September 2024. This investment could also avert approximately 7 million acute events and hospitalizations, significantly reducing the strain on healthcare systems around the world.
Greening Digital Companies 2024 (ITU / WBA)
https://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Environment/Pages/Publications/GDC-24.aspx
The carbon footprint and energy consumption of the digital technology sector is growing with global demand for hardware, network services, data storage and emerging technologies, according to this report co-authored by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and the World Benchmarking Alliance (WBA). Alongside commitments expressed across industry to embrace both digital growth and environmental sustainability, the report reveals an overall decline in progress towards climate goals. Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and energy consumption in the global tech sector have increased, while transparency and accountability remain a challenge. Greening Digital Companies 2024 offers insights and best practices to help tech companies worldwide accelerate their emissions reductions, achieve low-carbon operations, and improve climate reporting.
Guidelines for contributing to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (ISO / UNDP)
https://www.undp.org/publications/guidelines-contributing-united-nations-sustainable-development-goals
The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Guidelines for contributing to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) offer a practical guidance on how organizations and businesses can manage and enhance their contributions to the SDGs. The guidelines draw on global expertise and best practices, complementing existing sustainability standards for aligning organizational strategies and operations with the SDGs as a whole. While other standards may address specific aspects of sustainable development, these guidelines emphasize a holistic approach and provide practical tools to enhance business performance, while at the same time optimizing the impact of all organizational activities on both people and the planet.
Guidelines for the Application of Environmental Indicators – 2023 Edition (UNECE)
https://unece.org/environment-policy/publications/guidelines-application-environmental-indicators-2023-edition
The present Guidelines provide a revised list of environmental indicators, as approved at the nineteenth session of the Joint Task Force on Environmental Statistics and Indicators, with the aim to better inform recent global policies. During the revision process the guidelines were also restructured to better align them with statistical frameworks, in particular the Framework for the Development of Environment Statistics. The revised list of indicators will be promoted and applied throughout the pan-European region in the future. Each indicator responds to a specific purpose and helps describe causes and effects of environmental conditions. This new edition also emphasizes the importance of data disaggregation which provides an invaluable contribution to the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals.
Implementation toolkit for accessible telehealth services (ITU / WHO)
https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240094161
This toolkit provides practical guidance to support governments, industry partners, health service providers and civil society groups in the use and implementation of the WHO-ITU Global standard for accessibility of telehealth services. The toolkit is the result of a collaboration between the World Health Organization and the International Telecommunication Union, and was developed in response to the growing challenges that persons with disabilities and other marginalized populations experience when accessing and using telehealth platforms around the world.
Manifesto for Global Industrial Safety
https://www.industrialsafetyinitiative.com/storage/GIFISManifesto2024.pdf
The Global Initiative for Industrial Safety (GIFIS) announced on 10 September 2024 the launch of a first-of-its-kind Manifesto for Global Industrial Safety to pioneer a safer world through technology adoption. Developed in collaboration with the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), Lloyd’s Register Foundation, the Global Manufacturing and Industrialization Summit (GMIS), and the Cambridge Industrial Innovation Policy (CIIP), the Manifesto marks a significant step towards addressing emerging and long-standing safety risks affecting workers across the world.
Marine geospatial information management 2024
English, French & Spanish: https://www.un.org/Depts/los/doalos_publicationsdoalos_publications.htm
#MarineGeospatialInformationManagement
A General Assembly-mandated publication on marine geospatial information management has been released by the Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea of the Office of Legal Affairs.This publication has been prepared by the Division on the basis of contributions by a Group of Experts nominated by Member States and intergovernmental organizations. Responding to a request contained in General Assembly resolution 77/248 of 30 December 2022 on oceans and the law of the sea, the publication raises awareness and promotes a better understanding of the role that well-structured infrastructure and systems for integrated marine geospatial information management can play towards sustainable oceans for people and the planet.
Migration into the EU: Stocktaking of Recent Developments and Macroeconomic Implications (IMF Working Paper)
https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/WP/Issues/2024/09/27/Migration-into-the-EU-Stocktaking-of-Recent-Developments-and-Macroeconomic-Implications-555578
Against the backdrop of the war in Ukraine, immigration into the European Union (EU) reached a historical high in 2022 and stayed significantly above pre-pandemic levels in 2023. The recent migration has helped accommodate strong labor demand, with around two-thirds of jobs created between 2019 and 2023 filled by non-EU citizens, while unemployment of EU citizens remained at historical lows. Ukrainian refugees also appear to have been absorbed into the labor market faster than previous waves of refugees in many countries. The stronger-than-expected net migration over 2020-23 into the euro area (of around 2 million workers) is estimated to push up potential output by around 0.5 percent by 2030—slightly less than half the euro area’s annual potential GDP growth at that time—even if immigrants are assumed to be 20 percent less productive than natives. This highlights the important role immigration can play in attenuating the effects of the Europe’s challenging demographic outlook. On the flipside, the large inflow had initial fiscal costs and likely led to some congestion of local public services such as schooling. Policy efforts should thus seek to continue to integrate migrants into the labor force while making sure that the supply of public services and amenities (including at the local level) keeps up with the population increase.
Observatory on AI and Work in the Digital Economy
https://www.ilo.org/artificial-intelligence-and-work-digital-economy
Launched by the International Labour Organization (ILO), this online resource was created in recognition of the importance of the effects of AI on the world of work. It aims to be the world’s leading international knowledge hub on the world-of-work aspects of AI and the digital economy.
Progress on the Sustainable Development Goals: The Gender Snapshot 2024
https://www.unwomen.org/en/digital-library/publications/2024/09/progress-on-the-sustainable-development-goals-the-gender-snapshot-2024
The latest edition of this progress report, launched on 16 September 2024 by UN Women and the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, reveals that progress has been made worldwide on gender equality and women’s and girls’ empowerment. Women hold one in every four parliamentary seats, a significant rise from a decade ago. The share of women and girls living in extreme poverty has finally dipped below 10 per cent following steep increases during the COVID-19 pandemic years. Up to 56 legal reforms have been enacted worldwide that seek to close the gender gap since the first Gender Snapshot. However, the data presented in the report shows that none of the indicators and sub-indicators of Sustainable Development Goal 5—the goal for gender equality—are being met.
Progress on transboundary water cooperation: mid-term status of SDG indicator 6.5.2, with a special focus on climate change (UNESCO / UNECE)
https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000391407
Today, 153 countries rely on transboundary waters flowing across or into other countries. Yet according to this new report by UNESCO and UNECE, only 28% of these countries have effective agreements to co-manage most of these vital resources. The report also warns that, if current trends persist, barely one-third of these countries will have effective co-management arrangements in place by 2030.
The State of Global Water Resources 2023 (WMO)
https://wmo.int/publication-series/state-of-global-water-resources-2023
The report highlights severe stress on global water supplies, with five consecutive years of below-normal river flows and reservoir inflows. This shortage is affecting communities, agriculture, and ecosystems. In addition, glaciers experienced their largest mass loss in the last 50 years, with 2023 marking the second year of widespread ice loss globally.
UN E-Government Survey 2024: Accelerating Digital Transformation for Sustainable Development; with the addendum on Artificial Intelligence
https://publicadministration.un.org/egovkb/en-us/
This thirteenth edition of the United Nations E-Government Survey, released in 2024, provides a comprehensive assessment of the digital government landscape across all 193 Member States. The 2024 Survey highlights a significant upward trend in the development of digital government worldwide, with increased investment in resilient infrastructure and cutting-edge technologies.
see also: Digital government: Delivering services and the SDGs (2 October 2024): https://www.un.org/en/desa/digital-government-delivering-services-and-sdgs
UNECE support for climate action (September 2024)
https://unece.org/info/publications/pub/394482
The UNECE region is a major source of greenhouse gas emissions, responsible for 34% of the world’s CO2 emissions from fossil fuel combustion. The people of the region are increasingly feeling the impacts of climate change – from wildfires to flooding, heatwaves and drought. Through its norms, standards, conventions and policy assistance, UNECE provides practical tools to support countries in their climate change mitigation and adaptation efforts, to leverage financing, and to strengthen collaboration. Explore UNECE’s support for climate action in this brochure.
United in Science 2024: A multi-organization high-level compilation of the latest weather, climate, water and related environmental and social sciences for the future
https://wmo.int/publication-series/united-science-2024
The science is clear. We are far off track from achieving vital climate goals. The impacts of climate change and hazardous weather are reversing development gains and threatening the well-being of people and the planet, according to this new multi-agency report coordinated by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and released on 18 September 2024.
Greenhouse gas concentrations are at record levels, fuelling temperature increase into the future. The emissions gap between aspiration and reality remains high. Under current policies, there is a two thirds likelihood of global warming of 3 °C this century, says the United in Science report.
Unlocking the Power of Healthy Longevity: Demographic Change, Non-communicable Diseases, and Human Capital
Report in English, Executive Summary in English & French: http://hdl.handle.net/10986/42141
The World Bank has a long history of engaging in population issues, ranging from childhood illness, nutrition, fertility, and safe motherhood to the aging process. It supports countries in addressing the implications of the demographic process through analytical work, technical advice, and financing to expand health coverage, redesign pension systems and social security, and undertake actions that support their economies. This report follows that tradition and analyzes the steps to promote healthy longevity and enhance the quantity and quality of human capital through attention to the burgeoning problem of Non-communicable diseases (NCDs). Research began before COVID and concluded after, drawing upon lessons from the pandemic. The report is intended to inform policy and action at the country level.
Use of generative AI in statistical organizations: CES survey results (UNECE)
https://unece.org/sites/default/files/2024-08/AI%20Survey%20results.pdf
Results of an international survey conducted by the UNECE Conference of European Statisticians (CES) to explore the use of generative AI within statistical organizations reveal the profound impacts that AI is having on the field of official statistics. The survey, carried out in June 2024, gathered insights from 41 national and international statistical bodies, shedding light on the current applications, policies, and challenges related to generative AI in statistics.
World Social Protection Report 2024-26: Universal social protection for climate action and a just transition (ILO)
https://www.ilo.org/publications/flagship-reports/world-social-protection-report-2024-26-universal-social-protection-climate
The World Social Protection Report 2024-26 focuses on the climate crisis and the need to transition to a more sustainable world, and provides a global overview of progress made around the world since 2015 in extending social protection. The report identifies protection gaps and sets out key policy recommendations, including those for achieving the targets of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
International Peace and Security
Boko Haram: Mapping an Evolving Armed Constellation
https://unidir.org/publication/boko-haram-mapping-an-evolving-armed-constellation/
This report provides an in-depth analysis of Boko Haram in the North East of Nigeria, mapping the two main factions—JASDJ and ISWAP—their geographical deployment, organisational structure, governance and leadership. Based on recent interviews with former associates, the report offers insights into the group’s evolving dynamics since its emergence in 2009. It details the factional split in 2016 and the differing operational approaches of both factions, aiming to address significant knowledge gaps and inform policymakers engaged in conflict resolution and peacebuilding efforts in the region.
Children trafficking and armed conflict
https://childrenandarmedconflict.un.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/
Child-trafficking-and-armed-conflict-web.pdf
The proliferation of armed conflicts around the world puts children at an increased risk of grave violations while the risk of being trafficked similarly increases during armed conflict and transitional periods. Hence, this new study, published on 3 October 2024, suggests using a trafficking framework to prevent, categorize, and respond to violations against children in armed conflict, including the six grave violations, in an effort to increase synergy in prevention, protection, and accountability strategies. The study, the first to shed light on the linkages between child trafficking and the six grave violations against children in armed conflict, was produced by the Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General (SRSG) for Children and Armed Conflict in close collaboration with Siobhán Mullally, the Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially women and children.
Global Cybersecurity Index 2024, 5th Edition (ITU)
https://www.itu.int/dms_pub/itu-d/opb/hdb/d-hdb-gci.01-2024-pdf-e.pdf
Countries around the globe are improving cybersecurity efforts, but stronger actions are needed to meet evolving cyberthreats, according to the Global Cybersecurity Index 2024, released on 12 September 2024 by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). On average, countries have taken more cybersecurity-related actions and improved their cybersecurity commitments since the last index was released in 2021. Worrisome threats highlighted in the report include ransomware attacks targeting government services and other sectors, cyber breaches affecting core industries, costly system outages, and breaches of privacy for individuals and organizations.
Concept note for the Security Council high-level open debate on the theme “Leadership for peace: united in respect of the Charter of the United Nations, in search of a secure future”
English, French & Spanish: https://undocs.org/S/2024/662
Slovenia, in its capacity as President of the Security Council for the month of September 2024, held a high-level open debate on 25 September 2024 on the theme “Leadership for peace: united in respect of the Charter of the United Nations, in search of a secure future”, in connection with the item entitled “Maintenance of international peace and security”. In order to guide the discussions on this topic, Slovenia has prepared a concept note.
Podcast ‘The Insider: Stories of Building Peace’
https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/undp-insider-mediation
This podcast, developed by the EU and UNDP, celebrates the unsung heroes who, through insider mediation, contribute to building peace and stability from within their communities.
see also: A ground-breaking approach to conflict resolution: UNDP-EU podcast spotlights stories of building peace through insider mediation (12 September 2024): https://www.undp.org/stories/ground-breaking-approach-conflict-resolution
Human Rights
A Comprehensive Methodology for Monitoring Social Media to Address and Counter Online Hate Speech (Office on Genocide Prevention and the Responsibility to Protect, September 2024)
https://www.un.org/sites/un2.un.org/files/comprehensive_methodology_monitoring_social_media.pdf
This report introduces a standardized methodology for monitoring online hate speech, to identify, assess, and mitigate risks, including when it constitutes risks of genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity. This methodology is based on an extensive review of existing methodologies used for this purpose across academia, technology companies, governments, the United Nations, and NGOs, and synthesizes those approaches into a standard set of practices that best fit the use cases relevant to the UN and its partners.
Documenting reproductive violence: Unveiling opportunities, challenges, and legal pathways for UN investigative mechanisms (UN Women)
https://tinyurl.com/4rvya7tk
This paper analyses the documentation of reproductive violence to date by UN-mandated fact-finding and other investigative mechanisms. To enhance documentation going forward, the paper also provides guidance on the international law governing reproductive harms. The guidance explains how international criminal, humanitarian, and human rights laws prohibit reproductive violence—including forced pregnancy, enforced sterilization, forced abortion, forced contraceptive use, restricting access to reproductive care, destroying essential reproductive healthcare infrastructure, and other forms of reproductive violence.
Equality of Opportunity for Sexual and Gender Minorities 2024 (World Bank)
Report in English, Executive Summary in English & French: https://hdl.handle.net/10986/42099
By assessing discrimination in laws, regulations, and policies, the Equality of Opportunity for Sexual and Gender Minorities (EQOSOGI) initiative examines institutionalized challenges encountered by sexual and gender minorities. This second edition of the EQOSOGI report expands its coverage from 16 to 64 countries representing different geographic areas, income levels, legal traditions, and inclusiveness of sexual and gender minorities, ensuring a diverse and holistic representation of the issues.
The ISIL Attack on Sinjar in August 2014 and Subsequent Acts Committed Against the Yazidi Community in Iraq (UNITAD)
https://iraq.un.org/en/278383-unitad-publishes-detailed-findings-international-crimes-including-genocide-committed-isil-da
As part of the completion of its activities prior to its closure, the UN Investigative Team to Promote Accountability for Crimes Committed by Da’esh/ISIL (UNITAD) has published this report on 11 September 2024 that details the international crimes committed by ISIL (Da’esh) against the Yazidi community, ten years after the brutal attack in Sinjar. The report concludes that UNITAD has reasonable grounds to believe that war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide were committed.
Summary of Factual and Legal Assessment of ISIL (Da’esh) Crimes against the Christian Community in Iraq (around June 2014 – July 2017) (UNITAD)
https://iraq.un.org/en/278770-summary-factual-and-legal-assessment-isil-da%E2%80%99esh-crimes-against-christian-community-iraq
As part of the completion of its activities prior to its closure on 17 September 2024, UNITAD delivered, among others, this report on crimes committed by ISIL (Da’esh) against the Christian community of Iraq to the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) on 26 August 2024. The report, which focuses on Christians located in or around Mosul and the Nineveh Plains, concludes that there are reasonable grounds to believe that international crimes were committed against members of this community between 2014 and 2017.
Additional UNITAD reports: https://iraq.un.org/en/resources/publications
Online Tool: Monitoring and Impact Assessment of Negative Impact of Unilateral Coercive Measures on the Enjoyment of Human Rights
https://ucmmonitoring.ohchr.org/
On 20 September 2024, the Special Rapporteur on unilateral coercive measures and human rights, Alena Douhan, launched a tool for monitoring and assessing the humanitarian impact of unilateral coercive measures. The online tool was presented during a side event at the 57th session of the UN Human Rights Council. It offers the possibility to observe how humanitarian indicators have been changing yearly, comparative with the data before unilateral sanctions were imposed, with special attention to years when sanctions pressure has been increased or decreased.
No Identity, No Protection: How Lack of Documentation Drives Modern Slavery (UNU-CPR / The Freedom Fund)
https://www.freedomfund.org/app/uploads/2024/09/noidentitynoprotection-2024-09.pdf
To understand and tackle the systemic barriers that underpin modern slavery, the United Nations University Centre for Policy Research (UNU-CPR) and The Freedom Fund, launched on 9 September 2024 this new report examining the pivotal role that access to official documentation plays in perpetuating modern slavery. By exploring the nexus between the lack of official documents and vulnerability to exploitation, the report illuminates the challenges and dangers faced by those on the margins of society.
Secondary sanctions, civil and criminal penalties for circumvention of sanctions regimes and overcompliance with sanctions – Report of the Special Rapporteur on the negative impact of unilateral coercive measures on the enjoyment of human rights, Alena F. Douhan (A/HRC/51/33, 15 July 2024)
English, French, Spanish: https://undocs.org/A/HRC/51/33
Poster – Breaking the Chains: Understanding the Impact of Secondary Sanctions and Overcompliance with Sanctions: https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/documents/issues/ucm/Summary-poster-secondary-sanctions-HRC.pdf
Poster – Unmasking Sanctions “Shadow on Health”: https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/documents/issues/ucm/Summary-poster-the-right-to-health.pdf
Poster – Cyber Sanctions: What’s the Big Deal?: https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/documents/issues/ucm/Summary-poster-cyber-sanctions.pdf
In the present report, the Special Rapporteur, Alena F. Douhan, provides an overview and assessment of secondary sanctions as a means of enforcing unilateral sanctions extraterritorially. She addresses how secondary sanctions, domestic enforcement measures and other factors have led to widespread overcompliance with unilateral sanctions, thus greatly expanding the scope of those sanctions and the related negative impact on people’s human rights, from individuals to entire populations who are not directly targeted by the initial sanctions. She discusses the nature of these practices, their questionable legality and the various rights affected and makes recommendations to alleviate the resulting human rights violations.
Unlocking Rights: Towards Ending Immigration Detention for Asylum-Seekers and Refugees (UNHCR)
https://www.refworld.org/policy/polrec/unhcr/2024/en/148655
Concerned by the arbitrary detention of asylum-seekers by some States, UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is calling for urgent reforms to halt this detrimental practice. Releasing its latest advocacy brief on 18 September 2024, UNHCR warns that across the world asylum-seekers and refugees are often arrested and detained, unable to challenge their situation or exercise their right to international protection. This is despite their fundamental human right to seek asylum.
Humanitarian Affairs
GAR Special Report 2024: Forensic Insights for Future Resilience: Learning from Past Disasters (UNDRR)
https://www.undrr.org/gar/gar2024-special-report
Forensic investigations of “disaster DNA” yield insights for the prevention of disasters, according to this new report. It was released by the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) on 17 September 2024 ahead of the UN-convened Summit of the Future, as a special edition of the UN’s flagship Global Assessment Report (GAR). As countries face larger and more frequent disasters, many driven by the climate crisis, the GAR 2024 report calls on countries to adopt a forensic approach to studying disasters to inform preventative actions that can reduce impacts and build resilience.
Gender alert: Gaza: A war on women’s health (UN Women)
https://www.unwomen.org/en/digital-library/publications/2024/09/gender-alert-gaza-a-war-on-womens-health-hq
This gender alert provides a comprehensive analysis of the health crisis women face during this conflict. It draws on interviews and surveys conducted across Gaza to highlight the intersection of gender, health, and conflict. The report is part of UN Women’s ongoing efforts to document the gendered impacts of war and support advocacy for women’s health and rights.
Monitoring progress towards solutions to internal displacement: A development-oriented indicator framework (UNDP)
https://www.undp.org/publications/monitoring-progress-towards-solutions-internal-displacement-development-oriented-indicator-framework
With support from the German Federal Ministry for Economic Development (BMZ), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Joint Internal Displacement Profiling Service (JIPS) have jointly developed this framework to monitor progress in implementing solutions to internal displacement from a development perspective. The paper is based on an in-depth desk review and a series of workshops and consultations involving over 200 individuals from 70+ organizations concerned with internal displacement at the global level and through a series of workshops in Colombia, Iraq and Somalia. This work supports governments and practitioners in gaining a comprehensive understanding of what solutions to internal displacement entail at all levels, highlighting the many areas and avenues for action.
UNHCR Education Report 2024 – Refugee education: Five years on from the launch of the 2030 refugee education strategy
https://www.unhcr.org/media/unhcr-education-report-2024-refugee-education-five-years-launch-2030-refugee-education
Five years on from the launch of UNHCR’s Refugee Education Strategy 2030, this year’s refugee education report reveals that while remarkable progress has been achieved in global refugee education and enrolment, significant challenges remain, with nearly half of the world’s 14.8 million school-aged refugee children still out of school. Data from 65 refugee hosting countries analysed in the report shows that approximately 7.2 million refugee children are missing out on education due to a host of factors, including insecurity, a lack of inclusive education policies, capacity constraints, and language barriers, risking young people’s future prosperity and denying them the chance to fulfil their potential.
Justice and International Law
Women in justice in Africa: A comparative study of women judges in 14 countries (UNDP / UN Women)
https://www.undp.org/sites/g/files/zskgke326/files/2024-09/undp-unwomen-women-in-justice-in-africa.pdf
As part of the UNDP and UN Women Gender Justice Platform, this study is designed to promote the empowerment of women and advancement of gender equality in crisis and development contexts through specific action points. It chronicles evidence that women judges are less susceptible to corruption, and their effective representation in the judiciary increases public trust in the system.
Nuclear, Chemical and Conventional Weapons Disarmament
The United Nations Disarmament Yearbook: Volume 48: 2023
https://yearbook.unoda.org/en-us/2023/
The full edition of the 2023 United Nations Disarmament Yearbook, now in its forty-eighth volume, provides a comprehensive and authoritative overview of recent developments and trends in the field of disarmament, non-proliferation and arms control, including the relevant activities and achievements of the United Nations and other actors. The early-release preview edition, published last July, aimed to share key findings from the Yearbook at an earlier stage and provide a concise exploration of disarmament-related developments and trends from 2023.
Drug Control, Crime Prevention and Counter-terrorism
Generative AI: A New Threat for Online Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse
https://unicri.it/News-Generative-AI-Threat-Child-Sexual-Exploitation-Abuse
The UNICRI Centre for AI and Robotics together with the Bracket Foundation and Value for Good, produced this new study. While AI provides enormous benefits to us all, including to law enforcement agencies in dealing with the online exploitation and abuse of children, the same technology – particularly generative AI – creates an unprecedented challenge in combating this horrific crime. Understanding the issue is the first step to combatting it. This study provides: – a comprehensive overview of the new challenges, – perspectives and data from law enforcement, private sector, governments, and caregivers, – potential mitigation strategies.
Newsletter Archive: https://unric.org/en/unric-info-point-library-newsletter-archive
