Paula Dupraz-Dobias

Civil society groups are calling on a UN human rights expert to investigate alleged foot-dragging by pharma-intensive countries at ongoing pandemic treaty talks, but will the motion have teeth?

Guy Ryder, who is leading UN chief António Guterres’s reform push, says controversial merger proposals were to assess the merits of fusing organisations, not to force decisions on member states. With just two months left to come up with the United Nations' biggest structural shakeup, Guy Ryder, chairman of the UN80 reform task force, announced that no further budget cuts will be made while difficult discussions on agency mergers proceed.

An initial deal struck between the US and Iran, aimed at de-escalating tensions and paving the way for further talks, fails to address human rights issues, an issue that worries Mai Sato, the UN rights expert on Iran. Five months since tens of thousands of Iranians were killed in anti-government protests, and a war launched by the United States and Israel, has compounded Iran’s human rights concerns.