UNESCO

The Trump Administration is Leaving the UN Agency That Promotes Freedom of the Press

The Trump administration formally announced today that is is withdrawing from UNESCO, the UN’s scientific and cultural agency. The US will downgrade its embassy there to an observer mission. This is the rationale they gave. Official: Trump administration has withdrawn...

This is What Political Science Teaches Us About the Killing of Journalists

We are nearly six months into the year and already nice journalists have been killed in 2017, including four in Mexico alone. That figure comes from Reporters Without Borders and is part of a larger data set that researcher Sabine...

An historic first for the International Criminal Court

Yesterday saw the trial of Ahmad al-Faqi al-Mahdi at the International Criminal Court for the intentional destruction of world heritage shrines in Timbuktu during the 2012 occupation of the city by the Islamic rebel group Ansar Dine. The trial marks...

Beyond Bathrooms in North Carolina: UN Issues New Global Report on Transphobia and Homophobia in Schools

The debate over the safety and welfare of transgender and gay school kids is something that is raging well beyond American borders. A new UNESCO report on education bears an ominous message – violence against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students is endemic in schools....

Map of the Day: Where the Press is Not Free

Today’s map, in honor of the UN’s World Press Freedom Day, comes from Reporters Without Borders, which documents crimes committed against journalists and advocates for free press worldwide. As you can see from the map, press freedom is wildly...

Diplomatic Intrigue as Committee Approves Kosovo’s Bid to Join UNESCO

UPDATE: Kosovo’s bid failed on November 9, with 92 votes in favor, 50 votes against and 29 abstentions. They needed at least 94 votes to win admission. — Here is a totally overlooked story that is dripping with diplomatic intrigue....

UNESCO is Fighting a Different Kind of Culture War

In war, there are casualties. Beyond the obvious human toll of people killed, injured and displaced, increasingly cultural heritage is also coming under attack. While historical building, monuments, artifacts and artwork is always at risk in conflict, recent actions by...

UNESCO Rebuilt These Ancient Mausoleums in Timbuktu that Were Destroyed By Religious Extremists

A recent surge in violence in northern Mali that saw an attack on a MINUSMA convoy kill six Burkinabe peacekeepers and forced hundreds of Malians to seek refuge in neighboring Mauritania has served as a disquieting reminder that much work remains...

Crackdown on Press Freedom in Hong Kong

It was once a bastion of relative press freedom.

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