Monthly Archive: September 2016

Blog

The Diplomatic (and Economic) Struggle over Microbes

It may sound like an issue for health specialists, but at the UN high-level meeting on antimicrobial resistance (AMR) ministers and heads of state from around the world made clear that it is more than that it appears.

This is the fourth time that the UN General Assembly has addressed health issues. As the representative of Portugal pointed out, this meeting “is proof of global recognition of this problem and how important an issue it is”. Executive Director of South Centre, Martin Khor said that AMR is “as serious as Climate Change and perhaps more immediate”. Read more…

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Spotlighting the 2030 Agenda — one-year after

Heads of state and government leaders from around the globe have descended on the United Nations in New York for the 71st United Nations General Assembly. Their “general debate” on 20 September will focus on the...

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Panel discussion: Corporate accountability and influence in the UN

The international debate surrounding the environmental, social and human rights responsibilities of corporations has been gaining momentum. Growing public criticism of transnational corporations and banks has furthered this debate. A historic decision of the UN Human Rights Council (of 26 June 2014) to establish an intergovernmental working group “to elaborate an international legally binding instrument to regulate, in international human rights law, the activities of transnational corporations and other business enterprises” is one of the results. For the first time since decades, an intergovernmental body of the UN was established to address the international regulation of corporations. You are invited to a panel discussion on October 4, 2016, at the Church Center in New York, to assess the state of the current debate, discuss the pros and cons and the potential content of a legally binding instrument (or a treaty), and explore links to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs and to the agenda and responsibilities of the incoming Secretary-General. Read more …

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Lebanese civil society formulated concrete recommendations in their alternative report on the 2030 Agenda: 1. Move from project-led initiatives towards adopting a comprehensive national strategy on rights-based development, integrating targets and goals. 2. Ensure that the National Committee for SDGs and the new National Human Rights Institute remain independent in their monitoring, coordination and advisory roles towards the implementation of the SDGs and the promotion and protection of human rights. 3. Revisit social and economic policies to ensure their alignment with the rights-based development approach. For implementation of the Capital Investment Plan – promoted by the government for job creation and development – ensure that an enabling environment for the private sector does not come at the expense of human rights and sustainable development.  Read more 

SDG 3: THE NEED TO STRENGTHEN PUBLIC FUNDING FOR THE WHO

A strong and dynamic World Health Organisation (WHO) is critical for the achievement of the SDGs, especially SDG 3 on health and well-being. The WHO constitution mandates the organization “to act as the directing and co-ordinating authority on international health work”. However, its ability to fulfill this mandate is circumscribed by the nature of its financial resources. WHO’s biennial budget for 2018-2019 is US$ 4.42 billion, 2 just over a quarter of the total sales of the top-selling medicine Humira (Adalimumab) in 2016 (US$ 16.08 billion). In part this is because many of the organization’s donors share the view that WHO may not need a huge budget to carry out its constitutional mandate. Read more here

Ways to improve donor reporting across United Nations system

The United Nations and system organizations should engage with donors in a dialogue at the strategic level for the adoption of donor reporting templates and accommodating the common information needs, demands and requirements of donors and the regulatory frameworks and capacities of the organizations. This is one of the main recommendations highlighted in a new report by the Joint Inspection Unit (JIU), an independent external oversight body of the UN system, reviewing donor reporting requirements across the UN system. The JIU review focused on the UN system organizations that have the highest number of donor reports and on the 16 major donors to the UN system, including the European Commission. Read more here.