The validity of United nations report on Gender Violence has been called into question by the President of the Autonomous Region of Bougainville, John Momis. He says that since the Report has not yet been formally presented to the Government, he is not “prepared to go into a point by point rebuttal of the findings”. Read more
The United Nations estimates that as many as 200 million girls are missing today, the majority from India and China. What are the cultural patterns and individual stories behind this shocking statistic? Evan Grae Davis, an American who has extensive experience in the developing world, has produced a documentary film that answers this question through Read more
An international panel of doctors has told the United Nations Commission for the Status of Women that abortion is not necessary to promote women’s health and can actually harm women instead. The doctors challenged assumptions that the expansion of health care and women’s rights demands the expansion of abortion. They stressed that pregnancies — even Read more
The Vatican says the United Nations puts human rights at risk when it starts recognising “new rights” that stem from private interests rather than human dignity. Archbishop Dominique Mamberti, the Vatican’s Secretary for Relations with States, said recent attempts to reinterpret certain terms in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and to introduce “ambiguous expressions Read more
A United Nations committee has taken the United States to task for failing to pursue and prosecute clerical sex abusers. The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child urged the US to “take all necessary measures to investigate all cases of sexual abuse of children whether single or on a massive and long-term scale, Read more
A proposal to endorse the re-inscription of Tahiti on the United Nations Decolonization Committee’s list will be on the agenda at the Pacific Conference of Churches’ annual general assembly in Solomon Islands this week, despite opposition from France, New Zealand and Australia. PCC acting general secretary and Tahiti native, Reverend Francois Pihaate, told Radio Australia’s Pacific Read more
Church leaders in the Holy Land expressed support for the United Nations bid by Palestine to gain non-member status as the critical vote drew near in New York. “The Holy Land’s churches unanimously support the Palestinian National Authority’s accomplishment. The soul and prayers of the Holy Land’s Christians ask for this step to be taken,” Read more
The Vatican has backed efforts to draft a landmark international treaty to control the $NZ74 billion arms industry, but discussions by more than 170 countries ended without a decision. Diplomats said the door is still open for further talks, with the possibility of a draft arms treaty being brought to the United Nations General Assembly Read more
A United Nations official says Pacific nations need to make sure cultural beliefs are not infringing human rights. The UN Special Rapporteur for Cultural Rights, Farida Shaheed, is in the Pacific to attend the first ever Pacific Cultural Rights Symposium in the Solomon Islands. Ms Shaheed says the Pacific is not a region she is Read more
As the international community prepares for Rio+20, the UN conference on sustainable energy, CAFOD is calling for attention to be given to the poor and displaced as the heart of a ‘green economy’. “We think it’s an important event, and an important opportunity, but more to try and put poverty reduction and poor people’s livelihood Read more