rights

Child Soldier - Children In Armed Conflict

Greater efforts needed to protect children’s rights, says top UN official

11 March 2009
A landmark treaty adopted 20 years ago has transformed the way the world views children but greater efforts are needed to ensure that their rights are protected and advanced, the United Nations human rights chief said today.
Lucille Mair (Jamaica), first female Under- Secretary-General of the United Nations. (Show here in 1980)

Ban pays tribute to late women’s rights advocate and senior UN official, Lucille Mair

30 January 2009
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today paid tribute to the late Lucille Mathurin Mair, a distinguished Jamaican diplomat and leading women’s rights advocate, who was also the first woman to be appointed as an Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations.

Holocaust has vital lessons for today, says Ban

24 January 2009
The Holocaust provides important lessons for the present, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said today, stressing the necessity to bolster the forces of harmony and dialogue.
Michel Sidibé

UN working to ensure release of gay men jailed in Senegal

15 January 2009
Stressing that homophobia has no place in the response to the AIDS epidemic, the United Nations today deplored the jailing of nine gay men who were members of a group working to provide condoms and HIV treatment in Senegal, and said it is working with a coalition of partners to ensure their release.

Ban urges UN rights council to rise above ''partisan posturing'' and review all States

12 December 2008
The United Nations Human Rights Council marked the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in a special session today, with Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon calling on it to rise above “partisan posturing and regional divides” and review the record of every State.
Recipients at the 2008 human rights award ceremony

Seven human rights fighters receive top UN awards

10 December 2008
The United Nations General Assembly today awarded its top human rights prize to seven global advocates ranging from a Congolese doctor who treats female victims of sexual violence, a nun who fought for indigenous rights before her murder in Brazil, and the assassinated Pakistani leader Benazir Bhutto.

Human rights abuses continue in Iraq, despite security improvement - UN

2 December 2008
Grave rights abuses persisted in Iraq during the first half of this year, including targeted killings of professionals, assaults on minorities, alleged widespread torture of detainees and attacks against women, despite great improvements in general security, according to a new United Nations report released today.

Some Sudanese regions rife with arbitrary arrest and detention, says UN report

28 November 2008
Arbitrary arrest and detention are rife in many parts of Sudan, and are often linked to further serious violations such as torture, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) says in a report released today.

Ban urges redoubling of efforts to protect, promote human rights for all

28 August 2008
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today highlighted the progress made since the holding of a landmark United Nations human rights meeting in 1993, while calling for a redoubling of efforts to ensure that everyone around world is able to enjoy their rights.

Human rights situation in Darfur ‘remains grim’ – UN rights expert

11 July 2008
Government forces and rebel groups continue to commit human rights violations in the Darfur region of Sudan, while populations in the southern part of the country also suffer from ongoing violence, according to an independent United Nations rights official.