United Nations Links

2011 Human Development Index: Norway at top, DR Congo last
Index covers record 187 countries and territories; inequalities lower HDI rankings for US, Republic of Korea, others
Press Release
2 November 2011
Copenhagen—Norway, Australia and the Netherlands lead the world in the 2011 Human Development Index (HDI), while the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Niger and Burundi are at the bottom of the Human Development Report’s annual rankings of national achievement in health, education and income, released today by the United Nations Development

Human Development Report 2011
Sustainability and Equity: A Better Future for All
November 2011
HTML version - includes links to PDF files for each chapter, press releases, FAQs, statistical data and more...
PDF version (5.6MB, 185 pages)

Summary of the report (HTML)
This year’s Report focuses on the challenge of sustainable and equitable progress. A joint lens shows how environmental degradation intensifies inequality through adverse impacts on already disadvantaged people and how inequalities in human development amplify environmental degradation.

Human Development Index (HDI)
The first Human Development Report introduced a new way of measuring development by combining indicators of life expectancy, educational attainment and income into a composite human development index, the HDI. The breakthrough for the HDI was the creation of a single statistic which was to serve as a frame of reference for both social and economic development.

Source:
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
UNDP is the United Nations' global development network, an organization advocating for change and connecting countries to knowledge, experience and resources to help people build a better life. We are on the ground in 177 countries, working with them on their own solutions to global and national development challenges.

International Day for
the Eradication of Poverty 2011 - October 17
The 2011 Commemoration of the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty (IDEP) will be held on Monday, 17 October at United Nations Headquarters in New York, focusing on the theme "From Poverty to Sustainability:People at the Centre of Inclusive Development".
- includes links to information about International day for the eradication of poverty each year back to 2000.

Documents:
* Secretary-General’s reports
* General Assembly resolutions
* Economic and Social Council resolutions
* Human Rights Council Resolutions
* "Rethinking Poverty", 2010 Report on the World Social Situation

Millennium Development Goals
1. End Poverty and Hunger
2. Universal Education
3. Gender Equality
4. Child Health
5. Maternal Health
6. Combat HIV/AIDS
7. Environmental Sustainability
8. Global Partnership

Additional Resources
* The United Nations and Development
* First UN Decade for the Eradication of Poverty
* International Day for the Eradication of Poverty
* Department of Economic and Social Affairs
* Dag Hammarskjöld Library
* United Nations Bookshop
* UN Works
* Stand up Against Poverty
* Millennium Campaign
* Millennium Project
NOTE/WARNING : The brochure and poster whose links appear under "Press kit" on the Additional Resources page are enormous because they're not optimized for the Web. The brochure is 45MB and the poster 30MB. They don't offer any information that's not covered above.

Investing in people the smartest way to eradicate poverty, UN says
17 October 2011
News Release
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon cautioned today that progress so far in the fight against poverty risked being reversed by a failure to put people at the centre of development policies and strategies aimed at economic recovery following the global financial crisis. “In the name of fiscal austerity, we cannot cut back on common-sense investments in people,” Mr. Ban said in a message to mark the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, noting that too many people have been seized by the fear of losing their jobs, their ability to feed their families and access to health care.
(...)
He [Mr. Ban] called for greater efforts to accelerate the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the anti-poverty targets world leaders have pledged to achieve by 2015.

At the Millennium Summit in September 2000, world leaders committed themselves to cutting by half by the year 2015 the number of people living in extreme poverty - people whose income is less than one dollar a day.

World Food Day - October 16
“FOOD PRICES – FROM CRISIS TO STABILITY” has been chosen as this year’s World Food Day theme to shed some light on this trend and what can be done to mitigate its impact on the most vulnerable. Price swings, upswings in particular, represent a major threat to food security in developing countries. Hardest-hit are the poor. According to the World Bank, in 2010-2011 rising food costs pushed nearly 70 million people into extreme poverty. The 2011 World Food Day theme was chosen following five consecutive years of unstable and often rising food prices, which currently stand close to record levels.

On World Food Day, a concerted effort to address root causes of hunger
For World Food Day (16 October), the UN agencies focus on the need to ensure that children have enough to eat, and address the factors that make food unaffordable for so many. “I urge world leaders in rich and poor countries alike to invest the energy and resources necessary to win the battle against hunger — a key pillar of our efforts to achieve the MDGs,” said UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in his message.
Source:
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)

UN World Food Programme (WFP)
WFP is the world's largest humanitarian agency fighting hunger.
WFP launched its “Feed a Child, Feed a Dream,” initiative ahead of World Food Day to provide a glimpse into the lives and aspirations of some of the children around the world who are receiving food from the agency, and to demonstrate how easy it is to help.

2010 Human Development Report analyses long-term development trends
Press Release
04 November 2010
United Nations — Most developing countries made dramatic yet often underestimated progress in health, education and basic living standards in recent decades, with many of the poorest countries posting the greatest gains, reveals a detailed new analysis of long-term Human Development Index (HDI) trends in the 2010 Human Development Report, released here today. Yet patterns of achievement vary greatly, with some countries losing ground since 1970, the 2010 Human Development Report shows. Introducing three new indices, the 20th anniversary edition of the Report documents wide inequalities within and among countries, deep disparities between women and men on a wide range of development indicators, and the prevalence of extreme multidimensional poverty in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa.

THE 2010 RANKINGS --- 169 countries
[Spoiler: Canada is #8.]
TIP : Click on the name of a country in the list, say Canada, and on the next page you'll find a country profile showing statistics for several human development indicators in the following areas: * Health * Education * Income * Inequality * Gender * Sustainability * Human Security. Click "Open All" to expand the list and see all the indicators.

Composite indices — HDI and beyond
[Click the link above for more detailed information
on all of the indices below, or click a link below to go directly to that page.]

* The Human Development Index (HDI) is a summary measure of human development. It measures the average achievements in a country in three basic dimensions of human development: a long and healthy life, access to knowledge and a decent standard of living.

* The Inequality-adjusted Human Development Index (IHDI) adjusts the Human Development Index (HDI) for inequality in distribution of each dimension across the population. The IHDI accounts for inequalities in HDI dimensions by “discounting” each dimension’s average value according to its level of inequality.

* The Gender Inequality Index (GII) reflects women’s disadvantage in three dimensions—reproductive health, empowerment and the labour market—for as many countries as data of reasonable quality allow. The index shows the loss in human development due to inequality between female and male achievements in these dimensions. It ranges from 0, which indicates that women and men fare equally, to 1, which indicates that women fare as poorly as possible in all measured dimensions. For more details see Technical notes [339 KB] and Table 4 - Gender Inequality Index [119 KB].

The Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) identifies multiple deprivations at the individual level in health, education and standard of living. It uses micro data from household surveys, and—unlike the Inequality-adjusted Human Development Index—all the indicators needed to construct the measure must come from the same survey. Each person in a given household is classified as poor or nonpoor depending on the number of deprivations his or her household experiences. These data are then aggregated into the national measure of poverty. For more details see Technical notes [339 KB] and Table 5 - Multidimensional Poverty Index [100 KB].

The World’s Women 2010: Trends and Statistics - main page
The World’s Women 2010: Trends and Statistics is the fifth issue of The World’s Women and is being produced to coincide with the first-ever World’s Statistics Day, 20.10.2010. The current issue highlights the differences in the status of women and men in eight areas – population and families, health, education, work, power and decision-making, violence against women, environment and poverty. Analyses are based mainly on statistics from international and national statistical sources.
- main page includes links to all news releases, the report itself, earlier editions, and much more. According to the Preface: "The website displays the full range of statistics used for preparing the present publication, as well as links to numerous sources of gender statistics and references to international, regional and national compilations of relevant data."

Complete report (PDF - 7.6MB, 284 pages)
- covers 196 countries or areas with a population of at least 100,000 as of 1 July 2010,
including Canada

CBC coverage of Canada's failed bid (awwwwww)
to win a seat on the United Nations Security Council:

Policy cost Canada UN seat: ex-ambassador
October 13, 2010
Experts are blaming Canada's failure to win a seat on the United Nations Security Council on its foreign policy, not political division, a day after Tuesday's surprise loss in New York. Paul Heinbecker, Canada's former ambassador to the UN and a leading critic of the government's foreign policy, said many of Canada's decisions — including decreased African aid, its support of Israel, and its stance on climate change and peacekeeping — are unpopular with the international community.

Cannon blames Ignatieff for Canada's UN vote loss
Liberal leader refuses to accept blame
October 12, 2010
Foreign Minister Lawrence Cannon says the lack of support from Michael Ignatieff for Canada's bid to win a seat on the United Nations Security Council helped scuttle it, an assertion the Liberal leader called "ridiculous." Canada abruptly dropped its bid for a seat on the council after coming behind Portugal in second ballot voting Tuesday in New York.
- includes links to the following videos:
* Canada's failure at the UN (Duration : 2:33)
* UN Security seat denied (Duration : 3:03)
* Canada's UN seat loss (Duration : 7:47)
* Blaming Ignatieff (Duration : 6:47)
* No UN seat for Canada (Duration 9:48)

For links to information about the Millennium Development Goals Summit in New York (September 20-21, 2010),
go to the National/Federal and International Anti-poverty Strategies and Campaigns page:
http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/antipoverty2.htm

Canada and the United Nations
Human Rights Council: Charting a New Course (PDF - 1.3MB, 139 pages)
June 2010
"(...)The committee became aware of concerns that Canada is no longer fulfilling a "bridge-builder" role between UN Member States with diverging views, as it once was able to do. It is also noted that Canada received strong criticism during the review from some of its traditional allies over its handling of issues affecting Aboriginal peoples and the homeless. Canadaes international reputation could weaken unless Canada quickly demonstrates that it can improve its human rights record on such issues and unless it can demonstrate an ability to achieve results in promoting its own position on human rights issues in international fora.
[Excerpt, p. 2]

NOTE: For links to more information about the Human Rights Council and the Universal Periodic Review of Canada,
go to the Human Rights Links page of this website:
http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/rights.htm

World Social Science Report 2010
June 25, 2010
http://www.unesco.org/new/en/social-and-human-sciences/resources/reports/world-social-science-report/
Where are people most likely to study the social sciences? Where are most of the academic publications in social sciences based? These are but a few of the questions asked (and answered) within the pages of the World Social Sciences Report 2010. The report was compiled by a blue-ribbon panel of social science experts. Interestingly, this report was a follow-up to the World Social Science Report published in 1999. The report has a number of positive findings, including the observation that the social sciences are "taught almost everywhere and their research results are widely disseminated, increasingly by new information technologies." The full report is 444-pages, and it includes chapters on the fragmentation of knowledge, the divide between academic disciplines, and the "sometimes tense relations between academics and society." For those who might be pressed for time, there is also a 28-page executive summary (PDF - 1.6MB)
Reviewed by:
The Scout Report, Copyright Internet Scout Project 1994-2010
Source:
UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization)
"Building peace in the minds of people"

Canada Ratifies UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
March 11, 2010
The Honourable Lawrence Cannon, Minister of Foreign Affairs, and the Honourable Diane Finley, Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development, today announced that, with the support of all provinces and territories, the Government of Canada has ratified the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities at United Nations headquarters in New York City.
(...)
The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities is an international human rights instrument of the United Nations intended to protect the rights and dignity of persons with disabilities. Parties to the Convention are required to promote, protect and ensure the full enjoyment of human rights by persons with disabilities, and to ensure that they enjoy full equality under the law.There are approximately 4.4 million persons with disabilities in Canada—about 14.3 percent of the population.
Source:
Canada News Centre

Canada Ratifies Historic U.N. Treaty on Disability Rights
New York and Toronto
March 11, 2010
Today, at the United Nations headquarters in New York, Canada ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. This is a historic and profound moment in our country’s history. It is Canada’s declaration to Canadians and the international community that disability is at last to be recognized as a matter of fundamental human rights – at home in Canada and internationally. By ratifying this first international treaty that comprehensively recognizes the rights of persons with disabilities, Canada binds our governments to its implementation. The Canadian Association for Community Living (CACL) applauds the Government of Canada for this landmark decision, and indeed all Provincial/Territorial Governments for their support in taking this step. The Convention creates a new and lasting foundation on which to build an inclusive and accessible Canada where rights can no longer be diminished on the basis of disability. (...)
Source:
Canadian Association for Community Living (CACL)
The Canadian Association for Community Living is a Canada-wide association of family members and others working to advance the human rights and inclusion of persons of all ages who have an intellectual disability. Founded in 1958 by parents of children with intellectual disabilities who wanted supports and services within the community instead of in institutions, CACL has become one of Canada's ten largest charitable organizations, and has grown into a federation of 10 provincial and three territorial associations comprising of 420 local associations and over 40,000 members.

United Nations Statistical Yearbook - Fifty-second Issue
February 2010
This is an annual compilation of a wide range of international economic, social and environmental statistics for over 200 countries and areas of the world, compiled from sources including United Nations agencies and other international, national and specialized organizations. The fifty-second issue contains data available to the Statistics Division as of June 2008 and presents them in 68 tables on topics such as: agriculture; balance of payments; communication; development assistance; education; energy; environment; finance; gender; industrial production; international merchandise trade; international tourism; labour force; manufacturing; national accounts; nutrition; population; prices; research and development; and wages. The number of years of data shown in the tables varies from one to ten, with the ten-year tables covering 1996 to 2005 or 1997 to 2006. Accompanying the tables are technical notes providing brief descriptions of major statistical concepts, definitions and classifications.

Table of contents (PDF - 124K, 4 pages)
NOTE: The complete report (the link below) is a large file and a slow download even for someone with a broadband connection.
Check the table of contents first by clicking the link above, then (if you wish to continue), click the link below.

Source:
United Nations Department
of Economic and Social Affairs - DESA
The UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs provides support services to the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), the principal body coordinating the economic and social work of the United Nations and its operational arms.

[ UN Economic and Social Council - ECOSOC
ECOSOC was established under the United Nations Charter as the principal organ to coordinate economic, social, and related work of the 14 UN specialized agencies, functional commissions and five regional commissions.]

* World Population Ageing 2009 (PDF - 894K, 82 pages) - February 2010
This report provides a description of global trends in population ageing and includes a series of indicators of the ageing process by development regions, major areas, regions and countries. This new edition includes new features on ageing in rural and urban areas, the coverage of pension systems and the impact of the 2007-2008 financial crisis on pension systems. The report is intended to provide a solid demographic foundation for the follow-up activities of the Second World Assembly on Ageing.

* Rethinking Poverty : Report on the World Social Situation 2010 - January 2010
Fifteen years ago, in Copenhagen, global leaders at the World Summit for Social Development described poverty eradication as an ethical, political and economic imperative, and identified it as one of the three pillars of social development. Poverty eradication has since become the overarching objective of development, as reflected in the internationally agreed development goals, including the Millennium Development Goals, which set the target of halving global extreme poverty by 2015. Rethinking Poverty, the 2010 issue of the Report on the World Social Situation seeks to contribute to rethinking poverty and its eradication.

=====> Executive summary (PDF - 196K, 8 pages)
=====> Table of contents (HTML) +links to individual chapters, including:
* Poverty: the official numbers * The poverty of poverty measurement * Deprivation, vulnerability and exclusion * Macroeconomic policies and poverty reduction * Economic liberalization and poverty reduction * Labour-market and social policies and poverty reduction * Poverty reduction programmes * Rethinking poverty reduction interventions

Women central to efforts to deal with climate change, says new UNFPA report (Word file - 69K, 2 pages)
18 November 2009
LONDON -Women bear the disproportionate burden of climate change, but have so far been largely overlooked in the debate about how to address problems of rising seas, droughts, melting glaciers and extreme weather, concludes The State of World Population 2009, released today by UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund.
Source:
Media Outreach Kit
- includes links to reports, news releases, videos, charts and contacts for media enquiries

United Nations human-rights panel wants action on women
Canada must soon report to the UN on poverty and violence
against women, but advocate Shelagh Day argues that the report will have nothing to say.
November 26, 2009
By Carlito Pablo
Canada appears to be dragging its heels in responding to a demand from a United Nations human-rights panel. It probably won’t be until December 2014 that the country will file its next report regarding its compliance with the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, an international treaty ratified in 1981. However, when the CEDAW committee met in Geneva in 2008, the panel was so concerned about poverty and violence here that it asked Canada to report within one year—and not wait until its next scheduled report in 2014—about how it is dealing with these issues. The UN panel made the request when it released its observations on Canada’s treaty compliance on November 7, 2008. According to women’s-rights advocate Shelagh Day, the report is due by the end of November. But the codirector of the Poverty and Human Rights Centre and member of the B.C. CEDAW monitoring group says she doubts that Canada has much to say.
Source:
Georgia Straight

Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) is the body of independent experts that monitors implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.

Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW)
New York, 18 December 1979
- complete text of the Convention + introduction
"(...) The implementation of the Convention is monitored by the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). The Committee's mandate and the administration of the treaty are defined in the Articles 17 to 30 of the Convention. The Committee is composed of 23 experts nominated by their Governments and elected by the States parties as individuals 'of high moral standing and competence in the field covered by the Convention'. At least every four years, the States parties are expected to submit a national report to the Committee, indicating the measures they have adopted to give effect to the provisions of the Convention.

Poverty & Human Rights Centre
The Poverty and Human Rights Centre is committed to eradicating poverty and promoting social and economic equality through human rights.

The Role of International Social and Economic
Rights in the Interpretation of Domestic Law in Canada
February 1, 2008
This Law Sheet, produced by the Poverty and Human Rights Centre, is concerned with the role that international human rights law can play in the interpretation of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and other laws in Canada. It is intended to assist lawyers in their advocacy work before courts and tribunals. It is also intended to assist non-governmental organizations who rely on the human rights framework in their work to assist members of vulnerable groups. It is specifically focused on the domestic enforcement of social and economic rights.

Factum Library
The Factum Library section contains factums, pleadings and other litigation documents from selected Canadian Charter of Rights and statuatory human rights cases. The materials are organized by case name, parties, and document date.

Canadian Feminist Alliance for International Action
The Canadian Feminist Alliance for International Action (FAFIA) is a dynamic coalition of over 75 Canadian women’s equality-seeking and related organizations. FAFIA’s mandate is to further women’s equality in Canada through domestic implementation of its’ international human rights commitments.

CEDAW Report Card 2009 (PDF - 112K, 8 pages)
First annual CEDAW report card released: Province gets a “D” in women’s equality
British Columbia fares badly in the first annual West Coast Legal Education and Action Fund CEDAW Report Card.
October 6, 2009
The Report Card grades the BC government on how well it has adhered to the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). The Report Card monitors BC’s compliance between CEDAW’s 4-year reporting periods, in order to hold the government accountable both to UN standards and BC women. Measurements include a number of important legal and policy areas that fall within provincial jurisdiction, such as access to justice and violence against women.
Source:
West Coast Legal Education and Action Fund
The West Coast Legal Education and Action Fund (LEAF) formed when the equality guarantees of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms came into force. Our mission is to achieve equality by changing historic patterns of systemic discrimination against women through BC-based equality rights litigation, law reform and public legal education.

Guinness World Book of Records shattered by
citizens across the globe demanding that their leaders end poverty
More than 173 Million People Gather at “Stand Up, Take Action,
End Poverty Now!” events, setting new world record for largest mobilization in history
By Sebastian
October 20, 2009
A Guinness World Record shattered this weekend when 173,045,325 citizens gathered at over 3,000 events in more than 120 countries, demanding that their governments eradicate extreme poverty and achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). “Stand Up, Take Action, End Poverty Now!”, now in its fourth year, has been certified by Guinness World Records as the largest mobilization of human beings in recorded history, an increase of about 57 million people over last year.
Source:
Stand Up Blog
[ Stand Against Poverty ]

U.N. End Poverty 2015 Millennium Campaign
"End poverty by 2015" is the historic promise 189 world leaders made at the United Nations Millennium Summit in 2000 when they signed onto the Millennium Declaration and agreed to meet the Millennium Development Goals.

United Nations calls for action and investment to eradicate global poverty
Conflict, chronic poverty and high food prices threaten children’s well-being in the eastern DRC
17 October 2009 – The United Nations today marked the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, with Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon declaring that the fight against a scourge that afflicts over a billion people around the world is at a critical juncture.
Source:
United Nations

Stand Up and Take Action
Last year, more than 116 million Stood Up and Took Action to end poverty and in support of the Millennium Development Goals.
This year, join the growing movement.
Stand with us.

Overcoming barriers:
Human mobility and development
Human Development Report 2009
October 2009
Human development is about putting people at the centre of development. It is about people realizing their potential, increasing their choices and enjoying the freedom to lead lives they value. Since 1990, annual Human Development Reports have explored challenges including poverty, gender, democracy, human rights, cultural liberty, globalization, water scarcity and climate change. Migration, both within and beyond borders, has become an increasingly prominent theme in domestic and international debates, and is the topic of the 2009 Human Development Report (HDR09).

In 182 countries, uneven progress
and inequality in health, wealth and education persist (PDF - 337K, 3 pages)
Disparities in life expectancy can range up to 30 years,
says the 2009 Human Development Report
Bangkok, 5 October 2009—Despite progress in many areas over the last 25 years, the disparities in people’s well-being in rich and poor countries continue to be unacceptably wide, according to the Human Development Index (HDI) released today as part of the 2009 Human Development Report (HDR). This year’s HDI, a summary indicator of people’s well-being—combining measures of life expectancy, literacy, school enrolment and GDP per capita—was calculated for 182 countries and territories, the most extensive coverage ever.

Human Development Report
challenges common migration misconceptions (PDF - 1.8MB, 4 pages)
Bangkok, 5 October 2009—Allowing for migration—both within and between countries—has the potential to increase people’s freedom and improve the lives of millions around the world, according to the 2009 Human Development Report launched here today.

The Human Rights Council
The Human Rights Council is an inter-governmental body within the UN system made up of 47 States responsible for strengthening the promotion and protection of human rights around the globe. The Council was created by the UN General Assembly on 15 March 2006 with the main purpose of addressing situations of human rights violations and make recommendations on them.

Permanent Mission of Canada to the United Nations
The Mission of Canada is the primary channel for communications between the Canadian government and the United Nations in New York City. The Mission acts as diplomatic representation for the Government of Canada abroad.

Canada's Diplomatic Missions to the United Nations
Canada has seven diplomatic missions accredited to the UN:
[Click the link above to access the links to more info on each of the specific missions listed below.]
* United Nations in New York * Office of the United Nations in Geneva * UNESCO in Paris * International Organisations in Vienna * Office of the United Nations in Nairobi * the FAO in Rome * the ICAO in Montreal

Canada and other international organizations and forums
- incl. links to more info about the following:
* Arctic Council * Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) * Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) * Commonwealth * European Union (EU) * G8 Summits * International Criminal Court * International Indigenous Affair * La Francophonie * North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) * Order of Malta * Organization of the American States (OAS)

The 10th session of the Human Rights Council took place in Geneva, 2 – 27 March 2009.
For more info, see the Human Rights Links page of this website:
http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/rights.htm

UN panel calls for better treatment of Canada's Aboriginals, immigrants
February 6, 2009
GENEVA — A United Nations panel is calling on Canada to improve the treatment of its Aboriginal people and other disadvantaged groups such as new immigrants and minorities. The UN Human Rights Council mentions in particular the need to protect Aboriginal women who face discrimination in various areas including "employment, housing, education and health care." The council also points out the "inequalities" that exist between Aboriginals, recent immigrants and other Canadians. Canada's human rights record came under review in Geneva this week with a Canadian government delegation appearing before the 47-country council for several hours Tuesday. It took just 15 minutes Thursday for the council to adopt a report containing 68 points based on concerns voiced by dozens of UN member countries about the situation in Canada.
Source:
Google.ca News / Canadian Press

Universal Periodic Review - Canada
3 February 2009
The Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review, established in accordance with Human Rights Council resolution 5/1 of 18 June 2007, held its fourth session from 2 to 13 February 2009. The review of Canada was held at the 3rd meeting on 3 February 2009.

National report (PDF - 91K, 41 pages)
January 5, 2009
[ Each country under review must submit a written report to the Council in advance of the review; this is Canada's report for the Feb. 3/09 review. ]
- prepared in collaboration by the federal, provincial and territorial governments of Canada

Compilation of UN information (PDF - 94K, 19 pages)
The present report is a compilation of the information contained in the reports of treaty bodies, special procedures, including observations and comments by the State concerned, and other relevant official United Nations documents.

Summary of stakeholders' information (PDF - 87K, 18 pages)
NOTE : scroll down to "Related links" below for the actual text of each of the 50 submissions

Universal Periodic Review
The Universal Periodic Review (UPR) is a unique process which involves a review of the human rights records of all 192 UN Member States once every four years. The UPR is a State-driven process, under the auspices of the Human Rights Council, which provides the opportunity for each State to declare what actions they have taken to improve the human rights situations in their countries and to fulfil their human rights obligations. As one of the main features of the Council, the UPR is designed to ensure equal treatment for every country when their human rights situations are assessed.
[ More Basic facts about the UPR ]

Stakeholders’ information - links to all 50 submissions from Canadian NGOs.
Highly recommended reading --- insights into Canadian human rights issues from, among many others:
* Canadian Human Rights Commission * Assembly First Nations * Amnesty International * Council of Canadian with Disabilities * Charter Committee on Poverty Issues * Canadian Coalition for the rights of Children * Canadians For Choice * Citizens for Public Justice * Center on Research Action on Racial Relations * Disability Right Promotion International Canada * EGALE - Egale Canada * Canadian Feminist Alliance for International Action * International Center for Transitional Justice * Independant Living Canada * Womens Housing Equality Network * British Columbia Universal Periodic Review Coalition * KAIRO * Ligue des Droits et Libertés * National Union of Public and General Employees * Native Womens Association of Canada * Pivot Legal Society * Wellesley Institute * more...
Source:
UPR Info
UPR-info.org is a creation of UPR Info, a Geneva-based Non-profit and Non-governmental Organisation aiming at promoting and strengthening the Universal Periodic Review by raising public awareness and facilitating the participation of delegations and the civil society.
- incl. links to : * Home * UN System * UPR Process * Countries * NGOs * Documents * Media Centre * About us * Links

Canada's Universal Periodic Review
Canada's review under the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) is taking place on February 3, 2009. Under the UPR, Canada must submit a written report (see "National Report" link above), with information on the promotion and protection of human rights in Canada, including achievements, best practices, and challenges. In addition, the report must include initiatives and commitments to address any challenges and improve human rights situations on the ground. Federal, provincial and territorial government officials worked together to identify the principal themes/issues that were to be addressed in Canada’s report. The issues that were included in Canada's report are available in the report outline.
- includes background information on the UPR, info on the UPR Process and a few links to related content
Source:
Canadian Heritage

Happy 60th anniversary - Universal Declaration of Human Rights
December 10, 2008
By Michael Shapcott
Today (December 10) marks the 60th anniversary of the United Nation's Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Human rights form the cornerstone of national and global economic, political and social policy. Every person, instead of being reduced to pleading for special favours, is recognized to have universal rights - and governments are obliged to also recognize those rights.

The Universal Declaration was forged in the aftermath of the second world war and the great depression of the 1930s, when the world had grown tired of bloodshed and inequality. The opening sentences recognize the importance of human rights and the perils of ignoring them: "disregard and contempt for human rights have resulted in barbarous acts which have outraged the conscience of mankind, and the advent of a world in which human beings shall enjoy freedom of speech and belief and freedom from fear and want has been proclaimed as the highest aspiration of the common people."

Human Rights Day - "Dignity and justice for all of us"
December 10, 2008
- incl. video statements from Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navanethem Pillay, along with a schedule of events for Human Rights Day 2008 at UN Headquarters in New York.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights
On December 10, 1948 the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted and proclaimed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights the full text of which appears in the following pages. Following this historic act the Assembly called upon all Member countries to publicize the text of the Declaration and "to cause it to be disseminated, displayed, read and expounded principally in schools and other educational institutions, without distinction based on the political status of countries or territories."

This Wednesday marked the 60th anniversary of the adoption of the United Nations' Universal Declaration of Human Rights. A number of groups around the world, including the United Nations and Amnesty International, used the observation of this event to bring attention to some of the continued human rights challenges and abuses around the world. Of course, sixty years ago, just getting the Declaration approved by the new U.N. General Assembly was quite a challenge, as individual countries had their own separate ideas about what constituted human rights. As Larry Cox, the director of Amnesty International USA, points out: "It was no longer a question of individual states doing whatever they want to for their citizens, because the way that governments treat their citizens affects the whole word and especially the peace and security of the whole world." Also this week, a number of commentators, such as Mary Robinson, the former United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights remarked that global climate change may be the next frontier in terms of thinking about human rights, especially in regards to the world's poor. [KMG]

The first link will lead visitors to a piece from the Voice of America News which talks about the legacy and future of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The second link leads to a piece from this Thursday's Christian Science Monitor which comments on a group of Cuban activists who said they were beaten while readying for a rally related to the anniversary of the Declaration. The third link will lead visitors to an excellent site created by the BBC to commemorate this event. The site includes a news article, an interactive slideshow, and a general Q&A section about the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Moving on, the fourth link leads to an editorial by Sumayyah Waheed on the state of California's prison youth system, which appeared in Wednesday's San Francisco Chronicle. The fifth link will whisk users away to an impassioned piece by Mary Robinson about the relationship between climate change and human rights. The sixth link leads to the official United Nations homepage on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Here, visitors can read the text of the Declaration in hundreds of different languages, watch short video presentations, and take a look through the "World Voices" project. Finally, the last link leads to a fascinating collection of audio documentaries produced by the United Nations over the past sixty years. While visitors do have to register to listen in, the range of voices is quite accomplished. The archive includes Edward Murrow talking about needy children in a post-WWII Europe, Helen Hayes narrating reports on the Korean War, and the unbeatable troika of Michael Redgrave, James Mason, and Orson Welles narrating the history of diplomacy.

International Day for the Eradication of Poverty
(this link takes you further down on this page)

United Nations Research Guide
This is a selective guide designed to assist researchers and students in gaining access to United Nations materials available within the library’s collections and databases, and via the Internet.
- incl. links to: UN System of Organizations - Background Information and History - Current Awareness - Indexes and Databases Directories - Statistical Information - Research Guides
Source:
Mitchell Memorial Library (Mississippi State University)

United Nations Conferences and Events

Official Web Site Locator for the United Nations System of Organizations
Official Classification of the United Nations System
Find any U.N. organization quickly from this comprehensive list . This page contains over 100 links
Includes links to :
a) programmes of the United Nations;
b) specialized agencies;
c) autonomous organizations;
d) convention secretariats; and
e) the inter-agency coordination mechanism.

United Nations System

Economic Commission for Europe (ECE)

International Computing Centre (ICC)

International Labour Organization (ILO)

International Telecommunication Union (ITU)

International Trade Centre UNCTAD/WTO (ITC)

United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)

United Nations Interim Secretariat of the Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD)

United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Office of the (UNHCHR)

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Office of the (UNHCR)

United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR)

United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD - see below)

World Health Organization (WHO)

World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)

World Meteorological Organization (WMO)

Source: United Nations Office at Geneva

The United Nations System
Over two dozen links to key United Nations sites
- from Global Policy Forum

UNdata
http://data.un.org
UNdata is a statistics database service that provides users with quick and easy access to a wide range of data that cover themes including agriculture, crime, education, energy, industry, labour, national accounts, population and tourism. UNdata is part of the “Statistics as a Public Good” project launched by the United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD) that aims to provide free access to global statistics, assist National Statistical Offices of member countries with strengthening their data dissemination capabilities, and educate users on the importance of statistics in evidence-based policy and decision making.
Source:
United Nations
http://www.un.org

UN to Canada: Take action on housing, homelessness!
October 22, 2007
By Michael Shapcott
Canada has received both a sharp reprimand and a strong call to action in the preliminary observations of the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Adequate Housing, Miloon Kothari, in his preliminary observations at the end of his fact-finding mission to Canada. (...) The preliminary observations are the first stage towards completing a major review on Canada’s compliance with its international housing rights obligations. Mr. Kothari, who visited five Canadian cities and several Aboriginal communities during his mission from October 9 to 22. He met with senior government officials, representatives of non-governmental organizations and people who are directly experiencing Canada’s nation-wide affordable housing and homelessness crisis.
Source:
Welleseley Institute Blog
[ Wellesley Institute ]

Related links: go to the Homelessness and Housing Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/homeless.htm

Social Watch
"Founded in 1995, Social Watch was first established to provide a global platform for non-governmental organizations to monitor and promote the effective implementation of the commitments made by national governments during the United Nations World Summit on Social Development. Since that time, the group's work has continued in the areas of monitoring poverty eradication and gender equality and users with interests in these areas will appreciate both the organization's annual report (available from the homepage) and its country-by-country reports. One very well-developed interactive graphic feature is the development indicator section of the site. Here, visitors can view representations of such indicators as female adult literacy, deforestation, and fertility across the globe, along with discrete data from each country. Additionally, many of the materials offered here are available in Spanish as well."
Review by:
The Scout Report, Copyright Internet Scout Project 1994-2005.
- Current issue of the Scout Report

Sources and resources - excellent collection from Social Watch --- 200 links to resources for NGOs.

Millennium Goals: Poverty is not a statistic
"MONTEVIDEO, Sep 14 - Fighting poverty requires, among other things, tools for measuring the phenomenon in all its complexity. Poverty cannot be defined by having an income of one or two dollars a day, nor is there any advantage in distinguishing the very poor from the "almost" very poor, says the annual report by Social Watch, a global coalition of around 400 citizens' groups and non-governmental organisations from more than 50 countries. Although poverty basically reflects drastically unequal distribution of income, it also involves unequal access to goods, job opportunities, information and social services and reduced participation in society, says the Social Watch Report 2005, titled "Roars and Whispers. Gender and Poverty: Promises vs. Action", released Wednesday in New York."

Complete report:

Social Watch Report 2005
Roars and Whispers
Gender and poverty: promises vs. action
- includes several dozen links links to thematic reports (e.g., Poverty and globalization), reports measuring progress in specific areas (e.g., gender) and 50 country reports (Albania to Zambia).

Canada Social Watch Country Report for 2005:

Divided and distracted: regionalism as an obstacle
to reducing poverty and inequality (PDF file - 263K, 15 pages)
By Armine Yalnizyan for the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA)
"Canada’s political agenda is increasingly marked by regional differences. The focus on decentralization and tightly controlled growth in government spending has resulted in more privatization of public goods, intensification of inequality, and heightened federal-provincial rancour. Genuine progress on poverty reduction or gender equality requires committed federal-provincial unity of purpose. The new dynamic unleashed by a minority federal government could lead to either greater inter-governmental cooperation or further balkanization."

The World Distribution of Household Wealth:
Pioneering Study Shows Richest Two Percent Own Half World Wealth (PDF file - 252K, 14 pages)
Press Release (incl. tables)
5 December 2006
A new study on The World Distribution of Household Wealth by the World Institute for Development Economics Research of the United Nations University (UNU-WIDER) was launched on Tuesday 5 December 2006. According to the study, the richest 2% of adults in the world own more than half of global household wealth. "The most comprehensive study of personal wealth ever undertaken also reports that the richest 1% of adults alone owned 40% of global assets in the year 2000, and that the richest 10% of adults accounted for 85% of the world total. In contrast, the bottom half of the world adult population owned barely 1% of global wealth."

Complete report:

The World Distribution of Household Wealth (PDF file - 1.14MB, 70 pages)
James B. Davies, Susanna Sandstrom, Anthony Shorrocks, and Edward N. Wolff
5 December 2006
Department of Economics
University of Western Ontario

Source:
World Institute for Development Economics Research (WIDER)
"WIDER seeks to raise frontier issues and provide new and original insights and policy advice aimed at bosdting the economic and social development of the poorest nations."
- WIDER Publications

WIDER is part of:
United Nations University (UNU)
- incl. links to : About UNU * UNU System * Environment & Sustainable Development * Peace & Governance * Capacity Development * Online Learning
- UNU Publications

Women's Civil and Political Rights in Canada 2005
The Canadian Feminist Alliance for International Action submission to the United Nations Human Rights Committee
on the occasion of its review of Canada’s 5th report on compliance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
September 2005
Introduction - HTML
Full Report (PDF file - 179K, 55 pages)
Source:
Canadian Feminist Alliance for International Action

2005 World Summit
United Nations
14-16 September 2005
- includes links to : General Assembly - Information for the Media - Calendar of Events - UN 60 - Documents - Statements - News Centre - Webcast - Radio - Photos - Links - Un Home

Documents - incl. links to main documents, resolutions and related UN reports

UN General Assembly 60th Session

Source:
United Nations General Assembly

Google News search Results : "2005 world summit, united nations"
Google Web Search Results : "2005 world summit, united nations"
Source:
Google.ca

From the Prime Minister's Office:

Address by Prime Minister Paul Martin at the United Nations General Assembly
September 16, 2005
New York

Prime Minister Paul Martin attends UN 2005 World Summit
September 15, 2005
New York

61st Session of the U.N. Commission on Human Rights (March 14 - April 22, 2005)

Double standards on human rights 'undermining UN'
March 14 2005
The United Nations human rights commission, the UN's principal forum for promoting human rights, opens its annual six-week session today amid unprecedented criticism of its competence and credibility. For years human rights groups have complained of growing politicisation and double standards that have stifled debate and allowed countries responsible for egregious abuses to escape condemnation. (...) Kenneth Roth, head of New York-based Human Rights Watch, reckons that about half the commission's 53 members are there "not to promote human rights but to undermine them".
Source:
Financial Times - U.S.

Les Nations Unies