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UNRIC Info Point & Library Newsletter – September 2024

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New UN websites & publications

TOPIC OF THE MONTH: 79th Session of the General Assembly

General Assembly High-level Week 2024
English: https://www.un.org/en/high-level-week-2024
French: https://www.un.org/fr/high-level-week-2024
Spanish: https://www.un.org/es/high-level-week-2024
A web page dedicated to the United Nations General Assembly High-level Week has been developed in all official languages. This one-stop-shop provides useful information on key events during the high-level week of the 79th General Assembly: the Summit of the Future, the General Debate, the High-level Meetings on: Sea-Level Rise; Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR); and the commemoration of the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons. Each section will be updated as more information becomes available.

 

 

The 79th regular session of the General Assembly will open on 10 September 2024, the General Debate will commence on 24 September 2024.

Further information

Agenda of the 79th session
English: https://www.un.org/en/ga/79/agenda/
French: https://www.un.org/fr/ga/79/agenda/
Spanish: https://www.un.org/es/ga/79/agenda/

High-Level Meetings of the 79th Session of the General Assembly
English: https://www.un.org/en/ga/79/meetings/
French: https://www.un.org/fr/ga/79/meetings/
Spanish: https://www.un.org/es/ga/79/meetings/

Provisional Schedule

Additional information and modalities

 

UN in General

The 2024 edition of The UN Card brings an update to 10 actions of the UN that show in quantifiable terms how the daily work of the UN and its agencies affects the lives of people around the globe. You can download a high resolution version of the cards in all six UN official languages and Portuguese for local printing (in pdf).

Knowledge Snapshot 2024: A compilation of useful reports, toolkits, guidance materials from the United Nations system to support the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
https://sdgs.un.org/sites/default/files/2024-08/Knowledge%20Snapshot%202024%20(1).pdf
This document provides a snapshot of key knowledge products highlighted by United Nations entities in their responses to the 2023 questionnaire of the UN System SDG Implementation Database, aiming to facilitate better access to recent analytical work, guidance materials and toolkits from UN system entities to guide and support the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at national, regional and global levels. It does not intend to be an exhaustive list of United Nations knowledge products.

United Nations Security Council representatives / United Nations Dag Hammarskjöld Library
https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/4047618
The UN Dag Hammarskjöld Library has completed a notable project that enriches the data available on the historic gender ratio of UN Security Council representatives.
This initiative enables researchers, policymakers, and the public to gain insights into the evolving gender dynamics within the Council through a simple search in the UN Digital Library.
The project involved a meticulous review and update of individual name records for over 4,800 Security Council representatives from 1946 to the present.
One key outcome is the ability to track the historic gender balance among Security Council representatives. Delegates, UN staff, and researchers worldwide can now readily explore how gender representation has changed over time, identify trends, and analyze progress towards gender equality in global governance.

see also: Enhancing gender data on UN Security Council representatives (28 August 2024): https://www.un.org/en/delegate/enhancing-gender-data-un-security-council-representatives

 

Economic Growth and Sustainable Development

Be an empowering and supportive coach: Health Promoting Sports Coach implementation guide (WHO/Europe)
https://www.who.int/europe/publications/i/item/WHO-EURO-2024-10391-50163-75563
This new publication is aimed at empowering sports coaches to play a meaningful role in sport and community health. It equips coaches with the tools and knowledge to support the health and well-being of individuals and communities. Coaches play a pivotal role in shaping the lives of millions of young people and adults across the WHO European Region. While sports participation offers numerous benefits for physical and mental health, it can also pose risks such as injuries, burnout, and exposure to promotion and marketing from health-harming industries such as tobacco, alcohol and fast-food. The new guide addresses these challenges by providing examples of best practices and practical strategies for coaches to create a positive and supportive sporting environment.

Blind Spots in Belgian Flood Risk Governance: The Case of the Summer 2021 Floods in Wallonia (UNU-CRIS)
https://cris.unu.edu/blindspotsinbelgianfloodriskgovernance
This report examines the case of the 2021 floods in Belgium’s Walloon Region to help overcome critical governance gaps and protect communities from the increasing threat of floods and other extreme climate events. It highlights six primary areas of concern, referred to as ‘blind spots’, which require immediate attention and strategic action: Complex Governance Arrangements, Communication Issues, Preparedness Challenges, Citizen Engagement Deficits, Return to Normalcy Obstacles, Risk Culture Gaps.

Choosing Our Future: Education for Climate Action (World Bank)
https://hdl.handle.net/10986/42098
A staggering 400 million students globally experienced school closures from extreme weather since 2022, according to this World Bank report released on 4 September 2024. The report examines the detrimental impacts of climate change on education in low- and middle-income countries and offers solutions to harness education to spur climate action. It also estimates that a one-time investment of $18.51 per child can mitigate the impact from climate shocks.

Country risk analysis: Libya (ESCWA)
https://www.unescwa.org/publications/country-risk-analysis-libya
Risk-informed policymaking is essential not only for prioritizing and tackling current challenges, but also for foreseeing future risks and designing policies aimed at mitigating or preventing them. This report offers evidence-based analysis aimed at preventing and mitigating risks in Libya. It analyses the risk of violence as a function of two elements – high vulnerability and low resilience. These two elements are examined in connection with conflict, climate and development. Various types of risk affecting Libya are at notably high levels. Institutional risk affects development, and contributes substantially to the overall risk situation in Libya. The main risk factors leading to vulnerability, including water scarcity and unemployment, as well as the main risk factors leading to low resilience, namely water withdrawals and security, are also at high levels.

Economic vulnerability in Afghanistan amid converging crises: An exploratory analysis using community-based needs assessments (IOM)
https://publications.iom.int/books/economic-vulnerability-afghanistan-amid-converging-crises
This analytical brief explores how the assessed levels of economic vulnerability at the community level evolved through converging crises in Afghanistan – namely, the COVID-19 pandemic, drought and the political transition in August 2021. In a broader context, it engages with the opportunities and challenges of using community needs assessments for continuous monitoring in data-scarce emergency contexts.

E-Mobility as a Driver for Change: Towards a gender transformative and just transition to electric mobility (UNEP)
https://www.unep.org/resources/report/e-mobility-driver-change-towards-gender-transformative-and-just-transition
This report is the first deliverable under the project “E-Mobility as a Driver for Change – Towards a gender transformative and just transition to electric mobility” which is being implemented by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) with funding from the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).
It has the objective to increase the knowledge and evidence base, internationally and locally, on how women can play a more important role in accelerating the take up of E-Mobility based on improved data availability.

A focus on adolescent sexual health 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/10665/378547
This urgent report from the WHO Regional Office for Europe reveals that condom use among sexually active adolescents has declined significantly since 2014, with rates of unprotected sex worryingly high. This is putting young people at significant risk of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and unplanned pregnancies. The new data were published as part of the multi-part Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) study, which surveyed over 242 000 15-year-olds across 42 countries and regions in 2014–2022.

Global Employment Trends for Youth 2024 (GET for Youth) (ILO)
Report & Regional Briefs: https://www.ilo.org/publications/major-publications/global-employment-trends-youth-2024
The global labour market outlook for young people has improved in the last four years, and the upward trend is expected to continue for two more, according to this new International Labour Organization (ILO) report released on 12 August 2024. However, the report cautions that the number of 15- to 24-year-olds who are not in employment, education or training (NEET) is concerning, and that the post-COVID 19 pandemic employment recovery has not been universal. Young people in certain regions and many young women are not seeing the benefits of the economic recovery. The 2023 youth unemployment rate, at 13 per cent, equivalent to 64.9 million people, represents a 15-year low and a fall from the pre-pandemic rate of 13.8 per cent in 2019. It is expected to fall further to 12.8 per cent this year and next. The picture, however, is not the same across regions. In the Arab States, East Asia and South-East Asia and the Pacific, youth unemployment rates were higher in 2023 than in 2019.

Global Waste Management Outlook 2024 for Youth: Beyond an age of waste – Turning rubbish into a resource (UNEP)
https://www.unep.org/resources/report/global-waste-management-outlook-2024-youth-beyond-age-waste-turning-rubbish
Jointly published with the Children and Youth Major Group to UNEP (CYMG), this report provides an updated analysis of global waste generation and management since 2018.
Engaging youth in combating waste pollution is crucial, as they will face the long-term consequences of today’s waste management practices. The Youth Summary of the Global Waste Management Outlook 2024 aims to equip young people with the knowledge and tools needed to address these challenges. By empowering youth, we can harness their energy, creativity, and commitment to drive transformative change and secure a healthier, more sustainable future for all.

Harnessing the Power of AI for Climate Change Impact Assessment (UNU-INWEH)
https://collections.unu.edu/eserv/UNU:9738/Harnessing_the_Power_of_AI__Obringer__2024_.pdf
This new report by UN scientists encourages the global climate action community and the UN member states to consider Artificial intelligence (AI) as a promising solution to this problem. AI is flexible, computationally efficient, and can be run in web- and cloud-based services. As AI continues to grow in popularity for a variety of applications, it is likely that more people will soon be able to operate and interpret AI output than the traditional climate change impact assessment models. Yet, AI has not been fully utilized within the climate change impact assessment space. This motivated the researchers of the United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health (UNU-INWEH) to investigate the capabilities of AI by conducting a rapid, flexible, and reliable climate change impact assessment for 46 cities across the United States. Their results demonstrate the power of this technique to serve as a replacement for conventional climate change impact assessment methods at the local level that are computationally intensive and time-consuming.

Implementation playbook, delivering impact for health (WHO)
https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240085190
This Implementation Playbook is designed to respond to the needs of a broad audience of health systems leaders and “change-makers” at all levels. It should be especially useful for those working with policy-makers and programme managers, including those with roles and responsibilities related to delivering the health-related Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). To that end, the Implementation Playbook can be used by anyone aiming to improve their implementation capacity and how they connect their day-to-day efforts with achieving impact.

Minimum Income and Social Inclusion Pathways – A review of selected European Union programs (World Bank Discussion Paper No. 2408)
https://hdl.handle.net/10986/42088
Across European Union (EU) countries, the institutional design of Minimum Income (MI) programs varies widely in terms of the benefits and services provided to recipients, despite significant convergence toward a similar MI model and shared common approaches. This discussion paper investigates the delivery of social inclusion pathways, i.e., non-monetary support components to foster MI recipients’ social inclusion and highlights common challenges and good practices across eight EU case study countries (Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Portugal, Spain, and Sweden). The paper shows that while some countries prioritize labor activation for workforce reintegration of MI recipients, others aim for broader social inclusion, recognizing the challenges in integrating such recipients into the labor market due to their complex needs. Moreover, the paper examines how the social inclusion pathway and case management interventions in MI programs affect recipient’s welfare within poverty-targeted programs. It notes the lack of evidence on the effectiveness and impact of social inclusion pathways within MIs and mentions ongoing evaluations in Spain, Italy, and France to address this gap.

Mid-term Status on SDG 6 Indicators: 6.3.2, 6.5.1, & 6.6.1 (2024)
https://www.unep.org/resources/report/mid-term-status-sdg-6-indicators-632-651-661-2024
Water is vital to human and planetary health and the internationally agreed goals that back it, including the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, the Sendai Framework and the Paris Agreement. Yet the triple planetary crisis – the crisis of climate change, nature and biodiversity loss and pollution and waste – is affecting the availability, distribution, quality and quantity of water. These three mid-terms status reports for SDG 6 indicators: 6.3.2, 6.5.1, and 6.6.1 find that SDG 6 is alarmingly off-track and action needs to be accelerated.
Progress Reports can also be found on UN-Water’s SDG 6 Progress Reports page.

MOOC on the Social and Solidarity Economy
English: https://www.itcilo.org/courses/mooc-social-and-solidarity-economy
French: https://www.itcilo.org/fr/courses/mooc-sur-leconomie-sociale-et-solidaire
Spanish: https://www.itcilo.org/es/courses/mooc-en-economia-social-y-solidaria
Portuguese: https://www.itcilo.org/pt/courses/mooc-em-economia-social-e-solidaria
The United Nations Inter-Agency Task Force on Social and Solidarity Economy (UNTFSSE) has unveiled tan open, online package to raise awareness of the Social and Solidarity Economy (SSE). This comprehensive tool is designed to empower a wide range of stakeholders, including UN Member States, intergovernmental bodies, United Nations entities, regional organizations, policymakers, academia, think tanks, development banks, civil society, the private sector, and media.

Mpox: Global Strategic Preparedness and Response Plan (WHO)
https://www.who.int/publications/m/item/mpox-global-strategic-preparedness-and-response-plan
The Global Strategic Preparedness and Response Plan (SPRP) for mpox, covering the six-month period from September 2024 to February 2025, provides a framework for public health preparedness and response to the mpox emergency. The current draft, subject to Member State input, outlines the urgent actions needed at global, regional, and national levels.

State of the Climate in Africa 2023 (WMO)
https://library.wmo.int/idurl/4/69000
Africa bears an increasingly heavy burden from climate change and disproportionately high costs for essential climate adaptation, according to this new report from the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). On average, African countries are losing 2–5 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and many are diverting up to 9 percent of their budgets responding to climate extremes. In sub-Saharan Africa, the cost of adaptation is estimated to be between US$ 30-50 billion annually over the next decade, or 2-3 percent of the region’s Gross Domestic Product, says the WMO State of the Climate in Africa 2023 report.

State of the Climate in South-West Pacific 2023 (WMO)
English: https://library.wmo.int/idurl/4/68995
French: https://library.wmo.int/idurl/4/68997
The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) State of the Climate in the South-West Pacific 2023 report details how sea level rise in the region is above the global average. Sea surface temperatures have risen three times faster than the global average since 1980. During that time marine heatwaves have approximately doubled in frequency since 1980 and are more intense and are lasting longer.
The report was released by United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres and WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo at the Pacific Islands Forum in Tonga. It was accompanied by a special briefing document on Surging Seas in a Warming World, described by Mr Guterres as “an SOS on sea level rise.”
see also: What is sea level rise and why does it matter to our future? (UN News, 26 August 2024): https://news.un.org/en/story/2024/08/1153596

A study on the employment and wage outcomes of people with disabilities (ILO Working Paper 124)
https://www.ilo.org/publications/study-employment-and-wage-outcomes-people-disabilities
The study shows that individuals with disabilities are less likely to participate in the labour market, and that when they do, they face higher unemployment rates, are more likely to be self-employed and tend to earn lower wages. These disparities do not appear to be explained solely by individual characteristics such as educational attainment, experience or occupational category. They are most likely driven by various other factors as well, including limited provision of workplace accommodations in many firms, the potentially greater job flexibility offered by self-employment, and discrimination against people with disabilities. In its final section, the study highlights legal frameworks established at the international and national levels to promote equal opportunities and fair remuneration for people with disabilities.

Surging Seas in a warming world: The latest science on present-day impacts and future projections of sea-level rise
https://www.un.org/en/climatechange/reports/sea-level-rise
In 2021, the IPCC concluded with high confidence that global mean sea level is rising at rates unprecedented in at least the last 3,000 years due to human-induced global warming. This technical brief provides a summary of the latest science on sea-level rise and its present-day and projected impacts — including coastal flooding — at a global and regional level, with a focus on major coastal cities in the Group of Twenty (G20) countries and the Pacific Small Island Developing States. The findings demonstrate that sea-level rise is affecting the lives and livelihoods of coastal communities and low-lying island nations around the world today, and it is accelerating. The climate actions and decisions taken by political leaders and policymakers in the coming months and years will determine how devastating these impacts become and how quickly they worsen.

Taming Public Debt in Europe: Outlook, Challenges, and Policy Response (IMF Working Paper No. 2024/181)
https://www.imf.org/-/media/Files/Publications/WP/2024/English/WPIEA2024181.ashx
This paper quantifies the outlook for Europe’s public debt and financing needs over the medium term and from a regional perspective, updating and extending earlier work and presents scenario simulations with a view to informing policy discussions on taming public debt in Europe.

UN DESA Policy Brief No. 164: The Integrated Nature of the Sustainable Development Goals as a Lever for Trust, Institutional Resilience and Innovation
https://desapublications.un.org/policy-briefs/un-desa-policy-brief-no-164-integrated-nature-sustainable-development-goals-lever
Renewed efforts in enhancing policy coherence are required to leverage synergies at different levels and unleash the transformations needed to achieve the SDGs. However, public entities face challenges in identifying and leveraging SDG interdependencies and translating relevant plans into action. There are actionable ways to support integration and address existing barriers to unlock SDG progress in a way that contributes to building trust, enhancing resilience and advancing innovation. 

UN DESA Policy Brief No. 163: Policy Choices for Leaving No One Behind (LNOB): Overview From 2023 SDG Summit Commitments
https://desapublications.un.org/policy-briefs/un-desa-policy-brief-no-163-policy-choices-leaving-no-one-behind-lnob-overview-2023
Prioritizing leaving no one behind (LNoB), 31 countries have introduced new policies and commitments aimed at eradicating poverty, enhancing human capital, addressing uneven access to basic necessities, improving decision-making processes on sustainable development and ensuring no country or locality is left behind.

UN DESA Policy Brief No. 162: Multilevel Governance for Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation
https://desapublications.un.org/policy-briefs/un-desa-policy-brief-no-162-multilevel-governance-climate-change-mitigation-and
Effective climate action requires multilevel governance and coordination across national, regional, and local levels of government, as well as with non-state actors, to maximize synergies and ensure inclusive, coherent approaches. By integrating equity into governance arrangements at all levels, global, national and local stakeholders can foster a more effective and sustainable response to climate change.

UNRIC Library Backgrounder: MpoxUNRIC Library Backgrounder: Mpox
https://unric.org/en/unric-library-backgrounder-mpox/
This new backgrounder provides an overview of the information available on Mpox throughout the UN system.

 

UNRIC Library Backgrounder: Sea Level RiseUNRIC Library Backgrounder: Sea Level Rise
https://unric.org/en/unric-library-backgrounder-sea-level-rise/
This new backgrounder highlights selected online resources on this specific topic in preparation for the High-level plenary meeting on addressing the existential threats posed by sea level rise.

What is driving inequality in the Arab region? (ESCWA)
https://www.unescwa.org/publications/what-driving-inequality-arab-region
This policy brief examines the factors driving inequality in youth employment in the Arab region, focusing on access to quality education, economic conditions and job availability. It uses perception data to assess what the Arab population sees as the biggest challenges. The data reveals significant disparities in satisfaction with education, employment and job availability between sub-regions, with high-income countries generally being optimistic, while both low-income and middle-income Arab countries showing growing pessimism.

Who on Earth Is Using Generative AI ? (World Bank Policy Research Working Paper 10870)
https://hdl.handle.net/10986/42071
Leveraging unconventional data, including website traffic data and Google Trends, this paper unveils the real-time usage patterns of generative artificial intelligence tools by individuals across countries. The paper also examines country-level factors driving the uptake and early impacts of generative artificial intelligence on online activities.

World Development Report 2024: The Middle-Income Trap (World Bank)
https://hdl.handle.net/10986/41919
Drawing on the development experience and advances in economic analysis since the 1950s, World Development Report 2024 identifies what developing economies can do to avoid the “middle-income trap.” Lower-middle-income countries must go beyond investment-driven strategies—they must also adopt modern technologies and successful business practices from abroad and infuse them across their economies. Upper-middle-income countries need to accelerate the shift to innovation, by pushing the global frontiers of technology. This requires reconfiguring economic structures governing enterprises, labor, and energy use—in ways that enable greater economic freedom, social mobility, and political contestability.

WMO Air Quality and Climate Bulletin, No. 4 – September 2024
https://library.wmo.int/records/item/69006-no-4-september-2024
The WMO Air Quality and Climate Bulletin includes a special focus on wildfires. It also looks at global and regional concentrations of particulate matter pollution and its harmful effects on crops in 2023. The WMO bulletin was released for Clean Air for Blue Skies Day on 7 September. This year’s theme was Invest in Clean Air Now. Ambient air pollution causes more than 4.5 million premature deaths annually and wreaks a high economic and environmental cost.

 

International Peace and Security

Assembly for Peace: A Digital Handbook on the UN General Assembly’s Past Practice on Peace and Security
https://www.un.org/pga/wp-content/uploads/sites/108/2024/08/Assembly-for-Peace_GA-Digital-Handbook-on-Peace-and-Security.pdf
Produced by the United Nations University Centre for Policy Research for the President of the United Nations General Assembly at its 78th session with the support of Member States, this resource is designed to inform both Member States, the United Nations system, and the public about the General Assembly’s extensive, varied and ambitious actions over the past decades since the founding of the organization. It is intended to be informative rather than prescriptive – offering background, context and knowledge without directing Member States toward specific actions or conclusions.

Climate Security Mechanism Progress Report 2023: Bridging Climate Action, Peace and Security
https://mptf.undp.org/news/climate-security-mechanism-launches-progress-report-2023
The Climate Security Mechanism Progress Report 2023 summarizes the main achievements of the CSM in 2023 towards advancing peace-positive climate action, catalyzing climate-informed approaches to peace and security, and forging partnerships with actors at all levels. Established in late 2018, the CSM draws on the complementary resources of the UN Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs (DPPA), the UN Development Programme (UNDP), the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the UN Department of Peace Operations (DPO).

Concept note for the Security Council open debate on the theme “Strengthening United Nations peacekeeping: reflections for the future”
English, French & Spanish: https://undocs.org/S/2024/638
Slovenia, in its capacity as President of the Security Council for the month of September 2024, held an open debate under the agenda item “United Nations peacekeeping operations”, pursuant to resolution 2378 (2017) on 9 September 2024. In order to guide the discussions on this topic, Slovenia has prepared this concept note.

Defueling Conflict Environment and Natural Resource Management as a Pathway to Peace: Executive Summary (World Bank)
English, French & Spanish: https://hdl.handle.net/10986/42059
The report is divided in six sections: Section 1 sets the Background, Context, and Approach; Section 2 describes the risks associated with the interplay between natural resources, climate change, fragility, and conflict across the conflict cycle; Section 3 connects those causal chains to the delivery of the FCV Strategy across its four pillars; Section 4 showcases a suite of options to improve conflict-sensitive project design and implementation; and Section 5 presents an annotated questionnaire that serves as a complementary tool to the report.

 

Human Rights

Human Rights in the Administration of Justice Training Package (OHCHR)
https://www.ohchr.org/en/publications/training-and-education-publications/human-rights-administration-justice-training
The Human Rights in the Administration of Justice Training Package comprises a Manual, an Addendum to the Manual on Major Recent Developments (2003-07) and a Facilitator’s Guide. It is the result of a joint endeavour of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and the International Bar Association (IBA).
The training package aims to provide a comprehensive core curriculum on international human rights standards for legal professionals. Readers of the Manual (published in 2003) are offered basic information on international human rights law and the jurisprudence of universal and regional bodies and national courts. Each module addresses a specific human rights area. In view of the nature of the legal professions, the Manual should have multiple applications: as a training material for collective exercises; a resource tool for carrying out individual studies; and as a reference source for the interpretation and application of the law.

The Missing Link: Rethinking and reprioritizing HIV and gender-based violence in fragile settings (UNAIDS)
English, French & Portuguese: https://www.unaids.org/en/resources/documents/2024/the-missing-link
This report explores the extent to which evidence, policy, normative guidance and commitments on HIV and gender-based violence, and their interlinkages, is being translated into action on the ground in fragile settings. These issues are explored through the lens of training of peace support operations deploying African troops across Africa and beyond.

 

Resolve of Afghan women in the face of erasure: Three years since the Taliban takeover (UN Women)
https://www.unwomen.org/en/digital-library/publications/2024/08/resolve-of-afghan-women-in-the-face-of-erasure-three-years-since-the-taliban-takeover
This policy paper marks three years since the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan. It aims to alert the international community to what diminished attention to the women’s rights crisis and limited investments in women’s resilience mean for gender equality and the status of women and girls, and men and boys—as well as Afghanistan’s development more broadly. It is intended to guide international actors with an array of formal mandates and responsibilities in consistently aligning all policies and actions with women’s human rights.

The Right to Health of People of African Descent: Part 2 of the Racism, Discrimination and Health Series – Consultation report and recommendations for the post-2025 EU Anti-racism Action Plan; Published and presented to the European Commission: 27 August 2024 (OHCHR/Europe)
https://tinyurl.com/392dyvtx
The European Public Health Alliance (EPHA) and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in collaboration with Artikel 1 Midden Nederland and De Hofnar Present B.V., organised a two-day event on 26 and 27 June 2024 which brought together leading experts and stakeholders to address the pervasive issues of racism, racial discrimination, and their profound impacts on health, as well as access to healthcare services, with a specific focus on People of African Descent (PAD). The first cycle of the U Anti-racism Action Plan (EU ARAP) 2020-2025 is coming to an end and this report sets out to provide recommendations for the post-2025 EU anti-racism strategy.

Tarhuna – Mass Graves and Related Human Rights Violations and Abuses in Libya
https://www.ohchr.org/en/documents/country-reports/tarhuna-mass-graves-and-related-human-rights-violations-and-abuses-libya
This UN report – released on 30 August – warned that the continued lack of accountability and years of impunity enjoyed by those behind the human rights violations and abuses committed in the Libyan city of Tarhuna between 2013 and 2022 risk fuelling more instability and further division in the country. The report by the Human Rights Service of the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) and the UN Human Rights Office describes how the Al-Kaniyat, an armed element which emerged in 2011, later exercised brutal control over Tarhuna, a city of some 150,000 people 90 km southeast of Tripoli.

Toolkit: Ratifying the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW)
https://www.ohchr.org/en/documents/tools-and-resources/toolkit-ratifying-convention-elimination-all-forms-discrimination
This toolkit presents the benefits of ratifying the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), answers questions about its content and application, provides a simplified version of the Convention’s provisions and practical information on ratification and accession of treaties.

Toolkit: Ratifying the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, aiming at the abolition of the death penalty (OP2-ICCPR)
English & French: https://www.ohchr.org/en/documents/tools-and-resources/toolkit-ratifying-second-optional-protocol-international-covenant
This toolkit presents the benefits of ratifying the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, aiming at the abolition of the death penalty (OP2-ICCPR), answers questions about its content and application, provides a simplified version of the Protocol’s provisions, and practical information on ratification and accession of treaties.

 

Humanitarian Affairs

Promoting refugee integration and inclusion: Empowering municipalities across Europe – Integration policy brief (August 2024) (UNHCR)
https://reporting.unhcr.org/europe-integration-policy-brief
Municipalities have played a defining role in the inclusion and local integration of forcibly displaced and stateless people in Europe in recent years, continually taking the lead in the short and longer-term response to large-scale refugee influxes. This brief examines the policy reforms and new institutional practices needed to better sustain integration efforts and enhance capacities for inclusive local development. It focuses on five persistent challenges which UNHCR has recurrently encountered at the municipal level, based on its on-the-ground daily interactions with local governments, other frontline local actors, and refugees throughout Europe. These include access to affordable housing, sustaining holistic integration and inclusion policies in the long-term, and access to funding.

Risks and protection through the most dangerous zones along transit migration routes in Central America and Mexico (IOM)
English: https://publications.iom.int/books/risks-and-protection-through-most-dangerous-zones-along-transit-migration-routes-central
Spanish: https://publications.iom.int/books/riesgos-y-proteccion-en-las-zonas-mas-peligrosas-de-las-rutas-de-transito-migratorio-por
This study, developed by the IOM Regional Program on Migration with the support of the Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration of the United States Department of State, provides crucial information and lines of action to protect migrants in transit, contributing to the fulfillment of international commitments and the strengthening of coordination among member countries for the assistance and protection of migrants.

UNRWA MOPAN Assessment Report (August 2024)
https://www.unrwa.org/resources/reports/unrwa-mopan-assessment-report
This review of UNRWA by a group of UN Member States, all of them donor countries, has commended the Agency for managing to keep operating under highly challenging circumstances, including the war in Gaza. The report, analyzing UNRWA’s performance and effectiveness between July 2018 and April 2023, confirms its unparalleled ability to deliver education, health, and social services to Palestine Refugees.
The members of MOPAN – the Multilateral Organization Performance Assessment Network – are Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Korea, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, New Zealand (observer), Norway, Qatar, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, United States, and Türkiye (observer).
see also: A donor-led organizational performance assessment report lauds UNRWA’s unparalleled services for Palestine Refugees (News Release, 26 August 2024): https://tinyurl.com/9jaafdrt

 

Justice and International Law

Draft United Nations convention against cybercrime: Strengthening international cooperation for combating certain crimes committed by means of information and communications technology systems and for the sharing of evidence in electronic form of serious crimes (A/AC.291/L.15, 7 August 2024)
English, French & Spanish: https://undocs.org/A/AC.291/L.15
After three years of work, the committee established by the UN General Assembly to negotiate a new convention on cybercrime agreed on a draft convention text on 9 August 2024. The draft convention is expected to be adopted by the General Assembly later this year, thus becoming the first global legally binding instrument on cybercrime.

UN Journal makes ICJ webcasts widely available
https://journal.un.org/
Did you know that the International Court of Justice (ICJ) is the only one of the six principal UN organs which is not located at United Nations Headquarters (UNHQ) in New York?
Located in The Hague in the Netherlands, the raison d’être of the Court is to give advisory opinions on international legal issues and disputes.
Thanks to the introduction in April 2023 of a dedicated section in the Journal of the United Nations, everyone can easily follow the hearings of the ICJ.
The webcast picture-in-picture feature has been available in the Journal for UNHQ meetings since February 2024. In late July, it was expanded to include the hearings of the ICJ, allowing everyone to follow the hearings live, making them accessible to persons with special needs.
Not able to follow in real-time? You can access webcasts of the hearings through the Journal’s archives. Just select “International Court of Justice” from the list of entities in the left column of the Journal, and select the day of the meeting from the calendar widget on the horizontal navigation bar.
With this new feature, keeping up to date with landmark hearings has never been easier!
So, the next time the ICJ convenes a hearing or sitting, go to the dedicated ICJ section in the Journal, click the blue webcast icon and watch proceedings from wherever you are!

 

 

Weather, Law, and Public-Private Engagement (World Bank)
https://hdl.handle.net/10986/41937
This report breaks new ground by surveying the existing national weather laws and by asking whether the main obstacle to better public-private engagement the absence or the presence of a national weather law is. A key finding is that weather laws alone will usually not be sufficient to promote effective public-private engagement. Just as important are the intellectual property rights (IPRs) in data generated and held by the National meteorological service (NMS) (usually copyright and database rights) and the extent to which the data policy of the NMS permits the use and re-use of publicly funded weather data by commercial weather service providers.

 

Nuclear, Chemical and Conventional Weapons Disarmament

Two years of IAEA continued presence at the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant
https://www.iaea.org/sites/default/files/documents/two-years-of-iaea-continued-presence-at-the-zaporizhzhaya-nuclear-power-plant.pdf
On 4 September 2024, the International Atomic Energy Agency issued this report on its efforts to ensure nuclear safety and security during the conflict in Ukraine, two years after Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi crossed the frontline to establish the IAEA’s presence at the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) site and help prevent a nuclear accident. The 28-page report highlights the challenges and achievements of the IAEA’s activities to protect Europe’s largest nuclear power plant since Director General Grossi launched the historic mission on 1 September 2022. During this time, the IAEA teams at the site have reported on incidents including shelling and drone strikes at the facility, which has also suffered repeated loss of off-site power events.

 

Newsletter Archive: https://unric.org/en/unric-info-point-library-newsletter-archive

 

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