United Nations
This page highlights some of the current parliamentary material available on the United Nations (UN). This includes select committee reports, briefing papers on current legislation and other subjects produced by the parliamentary research services, and the latest Early Day Motions put down by MPs.
Standard Notes
| Date | Description |
|---|---|
| 01.03.2013 | In brief: The Arms Trade Treaty - trying again |
| This note surveys the state of the UN-based negotiations on an Arms Trade Treaty, which were due to be completed at a conference in New York in July 2012, but which were unable to reach agreement on a final text. However, the UN General Assembly has just agreed to convene a further UN Conference in March 2013. One way or another, the odds favour a treaty being agreed next year. | |
| 05.02.2013 | The crisis in Mali: current military action and upholding humanitarian law |
| This note describes the current military intervention in Mali, led by France, which began on 11 January as a reaction to the southward advance of militant Islamist armed groups with links to al-Qaeda. It also looks at the intervention in the context of upholding humanitarian law. | |
| 20.12.2012 | Sri Lanka since the end of the civil war |
| Sri Lanka's civil war ended in May 2009. Since then President Mohinda Rajapakse has consolidated his power at home but has been unable to shake off international controversy about alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity by the security forces during the final phase of the conflict. There are also grave doubts about whether the govermment is willing to promote the kind of regional autonomy that many observers believe is essential to avoiding renewed conflict in the longer-term. | |
| 23.11.2012 | In brief: deja vu in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo |
| On 20 November, forces belonging to the March 23 (M23) armed group seized Goma, the main city in eastern DRC. This note briefly surveys the events of recent days and the many echoes of the past that they evoke. It also looks at the roles of Rwanda and Uganda, which is leading Western governments, including the UK, to review their aid programmes to both countries. | |
| 09.05.2012 | The Syrian Crisis: Update May 2012 |
| On 21 March, the UN Security Council supported a peace plan devised by Kofi Annan that called for a ceasefire, humanitarian access to Syria and the withdrawal of forces from urban areas. All sides declared their willingness to adhere to the plan. The Annan plan is at present the only hope of ending the accelerating violence in Syria, which has now caused more than 9,000 deaths, according to UN estimates. |
Research Papers
| Date | Description |
|---|---|
| 20.03.2009 | Geneva Conventions and United Nations Personnel (Protocols) Bill [HL] (Bill 69 of 2008-09) |
| This short Bill is intended to amend two UK Acts to enable the Government to ratify two international agreements protecting military medical personnel and humanitarian workers. In line with the protocols, the Bill would firstly sanction and protect the 'red crystal' as a new symbol to protect humanitarian personnel in armed conflict instead of (or in addition to) the existing red cross or red crescent; and secondly extend the definition of protected UN workers to include those delivering humanitarian, political or development assistance in peacebuilding operations and those delivering emergency humanitarian protection. | |
| 17.06.2008 | Reinventing humanitarian intervention: Two cheers for the Responsibility to Protect? |
| Reinventing humanitarian intervention: Two cheers for the Responsibility to Protect? House of Commons Library Research Paper 08/55. | |
| 13.03.2003 | Iraq: Developments since UN Security Council Resolution 1441 |
| Iraq: developments since UN Security Council Resolution 1441. House of Commons Library Research Paper 03/22 | |
| 21.11.2002 | Iraq and UN Security Council Resolution 1441 |
| Iraq and UN Security Council Resolution 1441. House of Commons Library Research Paper 02/64. |
Early Day Motions
| Date | Description |
|---|---|
| 01.11.2011 | PALESTINIAN MEMBERSHIP OF UNESCO |
| That this House welcomes the admission of Palestine to full membership of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation. | |
| 15.09.2011 | UN SUMMIT ON NON-COMMUNICABLE DISEASES |
| That this House notes the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon's statement that non-communicable diseases (NCD) represent a `public health emergency in slow motion'; welcomes the decision ... | |
| 06.09.2011 | UN REPORT ON GAZA FLOTILLA ATTACK |
| That this House registers its condemnation of Israel following the publication on 1 September of a United Nations report which declared that the death of nine people on a Turkish vessel, ... | |
| 05.09.2011 | PALESTINIAN MEMBERSHIP OF THE UNITED NATIONS |
| That this House recalls the target set by President Obama last year of welcoming `a new member of the United Nations - an independent sovereign state of Palestine' by September 2011, ... | |
| 25.01.2011 | RECOGNITION OF BANGLA AS AN OFFICIAL LANGUAGE OF THE UNITED NATIONS |
| That this House welcomes the ongoing campaign initiated by Bangladeshis in the United Kingdom to have Bangla, which is the fifth most spoken language in the world, recognised as an ... |
Lords Library Notes
| Date | Description |
|---|---|
| 19.11.2012 | Debate on 22 November: Successor Framework to the Millennium Development Goals |
| This Library Note provides background reading on the successor framework to the Millennium Development Goals. | |
| 23.01.2009 | Geneva Conventions and United Nations Personnel (Protocols) Bill [HL]. LLN 2009/001 |
| Geneva Conventions and United Nations Personnel (Protocols) Bill [HL]. House of Lords Library Note 2009/001 |
