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Members of the Human Rights House Network (HRHN) express their concern to learn that the European Union is aiming at further reducing the ordinary budget of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. The NGOs call upon the European Union to support the work of the Office, by increasing its ordinary budget as a way to strengthen the impact of its work and cooperation by all States.

Members of the Human Rights House Network (HRHN) express their concern to learn that the European Union is aiming at further reducing the ordinary budget of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. The NGOs call upon the European Union to support the work of the Office, by increasing its ordinary budget as a way to strengthen the impact of its work and cooperation by all States.

Three front line environmental rights activists-Bill McKibben, Nnimmo Bassey and Pablo Solon – have addressed an open letter to governments and their negotiators, stressing that to really address climate change, UNFCCC-COP18 should decide to leave under the soil more two-third of the fossil reserves, writes Allvoices

Internet blog Towleroad has recently published an interview with Ugandan gay activist Frank Mugisha about the on-going debate on the “kill the gays” bill.

Joseph Kabila meets with M23 rebel group in Uganda, after regional summit called on them to end their offensive.

Coming from a country where an equivalent of one Exxon Valdez volume of crude oil is spewed into our environment yearly, it is inescapably clear that the petroleum sector is a very polluting one. It is obvious that there cannot be this level of ecological impunity without human rights being considerably trampled on, said the 2012 Rafto Prize laureate Nnimmo Bassey in his keynote address at the Rafto Conference on 3 November.

The Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) rebel group are holding preliminary peace talks in Norway that are expected to set the stage for formal talks in Cuba next month. However, there are already signs of some disagreement, with the government saying it will not stop military operations against the rebels during the talks and FARC saying it is willing to discuss the issue any time.

The 2012 Rafto Prize is awarded to Nigerian Nnimmo Bassey, 54, in recognition of his long-term fight for people’s right to life, health, food and water in a world affected by complex and threatening climate change and mass environmental destruction. Through his rights-based work and criticism of prevailing systems, Bassey has shown how human rights can help mitigate the effects of these changes.

Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar’s pro-democracy leader, is travelling to the US for the first time since she was put under house arrest in 1990. The Nobel laureate, who begins her 18-day tour of the US on Monday, will be presented the Congressional Gold Medal and meet various members of the state department and possibly the White House. She will also hold meetings with various Burmese expatriates and groups across the US.