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Elton John and UN criticise Suella Braverman speech branding illegal migration ‘existential challenge’

Just a few days before the Conservative Party conference, the home secretary set out how she thought the global asylum system should be changed. The address was made to a US think tank as Ms Braverman visited Washington DC.

The United Nations’ refugee agency and Sir Elton John have rebuked the home secretary after she claimed the current asylum system is no longer fit for purpose.

Suella Braverman called for a reform of the “outdated” international system in a speech in Washington DC.

She branded the number of displaced people in the world as an “epoch-defining challenge”, and said being gay or a woman should not be enough to gain asylum.

The senior cabinet minister – whose speech was signed off by Number 10 – called for reform of the 1951 UN Human Rights Convention, which forms the basis of the asylum system.

The UN’s refugee agency, the UNHCR, responded to Ms Braverman’s speech by saying the convention “remains as relevant today as when it was adopted in providing an indispensable framework for addressing those challenges, based on international co-operation”.

Sir Elton said Ms Braverman risked “further legitimising hate and violence” against LGBT+ people.

The UN agency added: “The need is not for reform, or more restrictive interpretation, but for stronger and more consistent application of the convention and its underlying principle of responsibility sharing.

“An appropriate response to the increase in arrivals and to the UK’s current asylum backlog would include strengthening and expediting decision-making procedures.

“This would accelerate the integration of those found to be refugees and facilitate the swift return of those who have no legal basis to stay.

“UNHCR has presented the UK government with concrete and actionable proposals in this regard and continues to support constructive, ongoing efforts to clear the current asylum backlog.”

Source: https://news.sky.com/story/un-refugee-agency-criticises-suella-braverman-speech-branding-illegal-migration-existential-challenge-12970591

Ukraine, Russia and the tense UN encounter that almost happened — but didn’t

It was a moment the diplomatic world was watching for — but didn’t get.

In the end, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov avoided staring each other down Wednesday across the U.N. Security Council’s famous horseshoe-shaped table. Zelenskyy left before Lavrov arrived.

The near-miss was somewhat to be expected. Yet the moment still spoke to the U.N.’s role as a venue where warring nations can unleash their ire through words instead of weapons. The choreography also underscored the world body’s reputation as a place where adversaries sometimes literally talk past each other.

Zelenskyy denounced Russia as “a terrorist state” while Russian Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia sat facing him near the other end of the table’s arc. As Zelenskyy launched into his remarks, the Russian looked at his phone, then tucked the device away.

Zelenskyy left before Lavrov’s arrival, which came as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken was accusing Russia of having “shredded” key provisions of the U.N. Charter.

Lavrov, in turn, reiterated his country’s claims that Kyiv has oppressed Russian speakers in eastern areas, violating the U.N. charter and getting a pass on it from the U.S. and other western countries. Across the table was Ukrainian Ambassador Sergiy Kyslytsya, his eyes on his phone during at least parts of Lavrov’s remarks. (Blinken, for his part, took handwritten notes.)

If there was no finger-pointing face-off, the atmosphere was decidedly prickly.

Before Zelenskyy’s arrival, Nebenzia objected to a speaking order that put the Ukrainian president before the council’s members, including Russia. (Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama, the meeting chair, retorted: “You stop the war, and President Zelenskyy will not take the floor.”)

Zelenskyy had been in the same room, but hardly eye to eye, with a Russian diplomat during the Ukrainian leader’s speech Tuesday in the vast hall of the U.N. General Assembly, which this week is holding its annual meeting of top-level leaders. (Russian Deputy Ambassador Dmitry Polyansky later said, wryly, that he’d been focusing on his phone and “didn’t notice” Zelenskyy’s address.) Before that, Zelenskyy last encountered a Russian official at a 2019 meeting with President Vladimir Putin.

Source : https://apnews.com/article/un-russia-ukraine-zelenskyy-lavrov-security-council-b7f8e47c3a3b1eeb02193452017b97e4

UN urges FIFA to make good on equal prize money promise by next Women’s World Cup

The prize fund for the 32 Women’s World Cup teams is £86m – compared to £344m given to the men’s teams who took part in the tournament in Qatar last year.

FIFA should ensure there is equal prize money by the next Women’s World Cup, the United Nations agency for women’s rights has told Sky News.

The governing body’s president, Gianni Infantino, has said it is “our ambition” to ensure there is pay parity for the 2026 men’s World Cup and the 2027 women’s event.

But he called it “the most difficult step” closing a gap that sees the men’s tournament enjoy a prize fund that is four times larger.

“We’ve heard that by the next Women’s World Cup in 2027 that at least the prize money will be equalised with the men’s World Cup,” UN Women sports lead Jennifer Cooper told Sky News.

“So let’s see – we’ll be holding them to account to make sure that happens along with the players’ union, FIFPRO. They’re really holding their feet to the fire.”

The prize fund for the 32 Women’s World Cup teams is £86m ($110m) compared to £344m ($440m) given to the men’s teams in Qatar last year.

UN Women has partnered with FIFA at this ongoing Women’s World Cup to promote gender equality, with that message featuring on some captains’ armbands.

Ms Cooper said: “As far as the equalisation of pay and salaries etc going down to the national level of all 211 of the national federations FIFA governs, that I think will take a while.

“And it will require, I think, additional transparency and reporting on the use of funding that FIFA at the global level, as how those funds are distributed and used.”

FIFA does have cash reserves of more than £3bn – giving it the financial cushion to raise funding for the Women’s World Cup.

But Mr Infantino has put the onus on sponsors and broadcasters to put more money into women’s football – highlighting their greater investment in the men’s game.

“Without this kind of investment, it’s actually a missed opportunity,” Ms Cooper added.

FIFA has also sought to ensure players receive a minimum income for the first time from playing at the World Cup – from $30,000 each for those exiting early to $270,000 each for the champions.

England forward Bethany England said at the team’s base today: “The more the game grows and becomes a bigger, wider spread for the female game, we deserve to be paid at least a reasonable amount for that.

“I don’t think it’s unacceptable to be asking for such a thing.”

Ms Cooper praised FIFA’s “accelerated pace of trying to equalise prize money” and funding projects that are not just aimed at the elite nations to grow women’s football widely.

“I think it’s really wise and I’m impressed by this speed,” Ms Cooper said. “We’re not there yet.”

National federations will be given the responsibility of distributing FIFA’s cash to players – raising concerns about whether it will reach them.

Source: https://news.sky.com/story/un-urges-fifa-to-make-good-on-equal-prize-money-promise-by-next-womens-world-cup-12937513

Permanent Mission of North Korea to U.N. defends Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons as sovereign right

North Korea’s Ambassador to the United Nations Kim Song speaks during a meeting of the U.N. General Assembly after China and Russia vetoed new sanctions on North Korea in the U.N. Security Council, at U.N. headquarters in New York City, New York, U.S., June 8, 2022. REUTERS/Mike Segar/File Photo

The Permanent Mission of North Korea to the United Nations has criticized the U.S. for having nuclear weapons and urged it to stop “sharing nuclear” or “beefing up extended deterrence,” state media KCNA reported on Saturday.

While criticizing the U.S. over the AUKUS alliance and the Nuclear Consultative Group with South Korea, Pyongyang defended its nuclear weapons as an “exercise of sovereignty.”

“Signatories to the NPT (Non-Proliferation Treaty) should not take issue with the DPRK over its legitimate exercise of sovereignty, as it had legally withdrawn from the NPT 20 years ago,” the DPRK permanent mission to the UN Office and international organizations in Vienna was quoted as saying.

Source: https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/permanent-mission-n-korea-un-defends-pyongyangs-nuclear-weapons-sovereign-right-2023-08-04/