International efforts to address the humanitarian challenges posed by cluster munitions received an additional boost this week. The Group of Governmental Experts to the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons concluded its second 2008 Session today at the Palais des Nations. In a productive…

The Governing Council of the United Nations Compensation Commission, under the presidency of Ambassador Van Meeuwen (Belgium), and the vice-presidency of Ambassador Puja (Indonesia) has today concluded its sixty-fifth session. At this session, the Council elected Ambassador Thompson (Costa Rica)…

The Governing Council of the United Nations Compensation Commission will hold its sixty-fifth session from 8 to 9 April 2008 under the Presidency of Ambassador Alex Van Meeuwen (Belgium). During the session, the Governing Council will discuss various issues relating to the work of the…

The Human Rights Committee, the United Nations expert body that monitors implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, concluded its three-week session at Headquarters in New York today, having taken up the compliance reports of Tunisia, Botswana, the former…

The Second 2008 Session of the Group of Governmental Experts of the High Contracting Parties to the 1980 Convention on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Certain Conventional Weapons Which May Be Deemed to Be Excessively Injurious or to Have Indiscriminate Effects (CCW) will convene from 7…

First 16 Countries to be Reviewed During Inaugural UPR Session from 7 to 18 April The first session of the Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR) Working Group will be held in Geneva from 7 to 18 April during which 16 States will have their human rights records examined under this…

Wraps Up with General Statements from 23 Speakers on Renewed Mandates, Upcoming Universal Periodic Review, and Defamation of Religions, Among Others The Human Rights Council this morning officially concluded the work of its seventh regular session, adopting its reports to the General Assembly,…

Establishes New Mandate on Access to Safe Drinking Water The Human Rights Council at its seventh regular session adopted 36 resolutions on a wide range of issues, extended the mandates of 13 Special Procedures and established the mandate of an Independent Expert on the issue of human rights…

Issues Concluding Observations on the Reports of Fiji, Italy, the United States, Belgium, Nicaragua, Moldova and the Dominican Republic The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination today concluded its seventy-second session, issuing concluding observations and recommendations on the…

The campaign to universalize membership of the Biological Weapons Convention has recorded a further success, with Zambia acceding with effect from 15 January 2008, becoming the one hundred and sixtieth State party to the treaty. Described as a cornerstone of international peace and security, and…