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24 December 2013
The International Trade Union Confederation, politicians and NGOs have urged western institutions involved in major projects in Abu Dhabi, including the British Museum and New York University (NYU), to take active steps to address the workers’ welfare and press the United Arab Emirates government to improve their conditions.
An Observer investigation found that with respect to thousands workers in building projects, including a new Louvre, the world’s largest Guggenheim and a NYU Campus, minimum labour standards are not respected, there are systematic complaints about poor accommodation and sanitation, salaries and medical services are withheld, and that both experts and the migrants themselves report excessive police force and situations of forced labour.
Sharan Burrow, general secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation, warned the international institutions involved in the projects that they shared responsibility for the workers’ welfare and said that ‘International institutions need to be aware that if they associate their name with developments they must insist on full respect for ILO standards.’
Gulf Labor, a coalition of international artists which is mounting a year-long protest against the mistreatment and exploitation of migrant workers on Saadiyat, said the findings should shame the western institutions involved.
Source: The Guardian | Conditions for Abu Dhabi's migrant workers 'shame the west'
19 December 2013
The search for suitable vendors to assist in the commercial transport and destruction of Syrian chemical agents is due to begin on 20 December 2013, according to Ahmet Üzümcü, Director-General of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW). He announced a multinational effort, that will require additional funding. (more…)
Source: OPCW | Executive Council Receives Destruction Plan for Syrian Chemicals
18 December 2013
Amid growing debate over international drug control policy in Latin America, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) said that a decision by the Uruguayan parliament to legalise cannabis is a strike against international cooperation.
Yuri Fedotov, head of the UNODC, said that ‘Just as illicit drugs are everyone’s shared responsibility, there is a need for each country to work closely together and to jointly agree on the way forward for dealing with this global challenge’.
Source: UNODC | UNODC stresses the health dimension of drug use as Uruguay parliament passes legislation to legalize cannabis
17 December 2013
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon welcomed the signing of long-awaited accords between the government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and the M23 rebels it has been fighting until last month, and called on all other armed groups in the country to lay down their weapons and join the political process.
Talks between the M23 (mostly composed of soldiers who mutinied from the DRC national army in April last year) and the government have been held in Uganda, under the auspices of the Chairperson of the International Conference for the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR), Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, the mediator, as well as Ugandan Defence Minister and Facilitator, Crispus Kiyonga. (more…)
Source: UN News Centre | Ban welcomes signing of declarations between DR Congo-M23
16 December 2013
This is our News Items Overview of 16 November-15 December 2013, a summary of recent news relating to shared responsibility. (more…)