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==History==
==History==
===Founding===
===Founding===
UN Watch was founded in 1993 under the chairmanship of [[Morris Abram]], a former [[US]] procecutor in the [[Nazi]] war criminals at the [[Nuremberg Trials]] in Germany, and vice chairman of the [[United States Civil Rights Commission]].
UN Watch was founded in 1993 under the chairmanship of [[Morris Abram]], a former [[US]] procecutor in the [[Nazi]] war criminals at the [[Nuremberg Trials]] in Germany, and vice chairman of the [[United States Civil Rights Commission]] and honorary president of the [[American Jewish Committee]].<ref name="AJCPressRelease2001-01-04">[http://www.ajc.org/site/apps/nlnet/content2.aspx?c=ijITI2PHKoG&b=849241&ct=866815 UN Watch, AJC Seal Partnership], January 2, 2001, [[American Jewish Committee]]. Accesses 2009-08-18.</ref>

UN Watch was initially partly funded by the generosity of North American billionaire [[Edgar Bronfman]] who was then the President of the [[World Jewish Congress]].<ref name="AJCPressRelease2001-01-04"/> UN Watch operated under joint control of the World Jewish Congress and the American Jewish Committee from its founding in 1993 until 2001.<ref name="AJCPressRelease2001-01-04"/>


===Current Status===
===Current Status===
UN Watch participates actively at the UN as an accredited NGO in Special Consultative Status to the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) and as an Associate NGO to the UN Department of Public Information (DPI). It is affiliated with the American Jewish Committee, a NGO established in 1906, which was a pioneer advocate of the UN Charter's inclusion of international human rights guarantees, and the creation of the post of a High Commissioner of Human Rights.[http://www.ajc.org/site/c.ijITI2PHKoG/b.5018439/k.A04B/Human_Rights.htm]
UN Watch participates actively at the UN as an accredited NGO in Special Consultative Status to the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) and as an Associate NGO to the UN Department of Public Information (DPI).
Since 2001, UN Watch is "a fully integrated partner of the American Jewish Committee"<ref name="AJCPressRelease2001-01-04"/>, a NGO established in 1906, which was a pioneer advocate of the UN Charter's inclusion of international human rights guarantees, and the creation of the post of a High Commissioner of Human Rights.<ref>http://www.ajc.org/site/c.ijITI2PHKoG/b.5018439/k.A04B/Human_Rights.htm</ref>

==Issues==
==Issues==
===Darfur===
===Darfur===
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* [http://www.unwatch.org UN Watch (official website)]
* [http://www.unwatch.org UN Watch (official website)]


{{DEFAULTSORT:Un Watch}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:UN Watch}}
[[Category:American Jewish Committee]]
[[Category:Civic and political organizations]]
[[Category:Civic and political organizations]]
[[Category:Human rights organizations]]
[[Category:Human rights organizations]]

Revision as of 16:19, 14 September 2009

UN Watch is a Geneva-based NGO whose mandate is to monitor the performance of the United Nations by the yardstick of its own Charter and to promote human rights.[1] As a non-governmental organization active in UN bodies, it works to encourage United Nations adherence to the objectives of the UN Charter and to prevent actions inconsistent with those principles. UN Watch was outspoken in supporting Secretary General Kofi Annan's declared goal of ending the UN's perceived imbalanced treatment of Israel,[2] which UN Watch believes consumes a disproportionate amount of the UN's time and resources, preventing it from addressing other compelling needs around the world. The current Executive Director of the organization is Hillel Neuer.

History

Founding

UN Watch was founded in 1993 under the chairmanship of Morris Abram, a former US procecutor in the Nazi war criminals at the Nuremberg Trials in Germany, and vice chairman of the United States Civil Rights Commission and honorary president of the American Jewish Committee.[3]

UN Watch was initially partly funded by the generosity of North American billionaire Edgar Bronfman who was then the President of the World Jewish Congress.[3] UN Watch operated under joint control of the World Jewish Congress and the American Jewish Committee from its founding in 1993 until 2001.[3]

Current Status

UN Watch participates actively at the UN as an accredited NGO in Special Consultative Status to the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) and as an Associate NGO to the UN Department of Public Information (DPI).

Since 2001, UN Watch is "a fully integrated partner of the American Jewish Committee"[3], a NGO established in 1906, which was a pioneer advocate of the UN Charter's inclusion of international human rights guarantees, and the creation of the post of a High Commissioner of Human Rights.[4]

Issues

Darfur

UN Watch is an advocate at the United Nations for human rights victims in Darfur.[5][6] UN Watch chaired the NGO Activist Summit For Darfur in 2007.[7] UN Watch challenged Sudan in 2007 for its rejection of human rights experts in Darfur.[8] UN Watch justice for child victims in Darfur in 2005.[9]

Human Rights Campaigns

UN Watch cooperates with non-governmental organizations around the world in order to protect and promote the principles of the UN Charter. In 2004 UN Watch intervened on behalf of victims of torture and censorship in Cote d'Ivoire, Zimbabwe, Cuba, Nepal, Myanmar, and Pakistan.[10] UN Watch also spoke out for the Lebanese victims of Syrian political assassinations.[11]

Combating Anti-Semitism and Anti-Israel Bias

UN Watch is active at the UN in combating anti-Semitism and what it calls the selective and politicized treatment of Israel by many UN bodies.[12] On March 23, 2007, UN Watch's Hillel Neuer asked the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) why it failed to address pressing humanitarian situations around the world, instead devoting 100 percent of its resolutions to scapegoating Israel. The UNHRC President, Luis Alfonso De Alba of Mexico, responded by threatening to "remove from the record" the testimony, and said he would not "express thanks for that statement... I will not tolerate any similar statements in the Council."[13][14] It became the most written-about NGO speech in the history of the United Nations, earning praise from the editorial and opinion pages of the Wall Street Journal, the New York Sun,[15] the Washington Times, Canada's National Post, Italy's Il Foglio and numerous other newspapers in Canada, Australia and around the world. Major blogs that praised the speech included Commentary, Foreign Policy, Atlantic Monthly magazine, and the on-line magazine Slate, which reported on the speech's blog coverage in its "Today's Blogs" column.[16]

Board Members


References

  1. ^ Mission & History, UN Watch
  2. ^ [1]
  3. ^ a b c d UN Watch, AJC Seal Partnership, January 2, 2001, American Jewish Committee. Accesses 2009-08-18.
  4. ^ http://www.ajc.org/site/c.ijITI2PHKoG/b.5018439/k.A04B/Human_Rights.htm
  5. ^ [2], UN Watch.
  6. ^ [3], UN Watch
  7. ^ [4]. UN Watch.
  8. ^ [5], UN Watch
  9. ^ [6], UN Watch
  10. ^ [7], UN Watch
  11. ^ [8], UN Watch
  12. ^ http://www.yale.edu/yiisa/videos.htm
  13. ^ UN Council Chief Doesn't Like Message, Threatens Messenger - Politics & Government - Israel News - Arutz Sheva
  14. ^ Testimony at the UN, UN Watch
  15. ^ ‘I Will Not Express Thanks' - March 30, 2007 - The New York Sun
  16. ^ Watch Out - By Michael Weiss - Slate Magazine
  17. ^ [9]
  18. ^ http://www.ajc.org/site/apps/nl/content3.asp?c=ijITI2PHKoG&b=872349&ct=872849

Further reading

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=UN_Watch&oldid=313888984"