As Sweden's government intensifies the campaign for a seat on the UN Security Council 2017-2018 the rights-based foreign policy the government claims it wants to carry out will be put to the test. The diplomatic entanglements with Saudi Arabia and the Arab League show clear differences between the nations of the world when it comes to their view of human rights, not least the rights of girls and women. Sweden must continue to make its voice heard.

At the end of last year, China introduced a draft law that forbids foreign NGOs that engage in activities contrary to "Chinese society's moral customs." In Russia, organizations that receive foreign funding must register as "foreign agents." Egypt, Bolivia, Eritrea, and Zimbabwe have passed similar measures. These governments see malign motives behind many of these foreign-financed initiatives. Are they right to be worried?

The United Nations said Tuesday that the last of its international staffers had left Yemen, while the U.N. human rights chief warned that the country was on the verge of a "total collapse."U.N. spokesman Farhan Haq said the 13 remaining international staffers had been withdrawn and would return when "circumstances permit."

The Chinese government provides hundreds of thousands of pounds and more than 90 teachers to schools across the UK as part of a Chinese-language teaching project. An investigation by campaign group Free Tibet found that British educational institutions are hosting so-called Confucius Classrooms without prior discussion of their content. Critics argue the language classes present students with a “whitewashed” view of China’s government and human rights record.

Fuat Oktay, the president of Turkey's Prime Ministry Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) remarked that AFAD is engaging in humanitarian aid by hosting Syrian refugees and that AFAD's accomplishments until now are beyond its mission. 

Randy Berry, currently the consul general of the Netherlands, will be tasked with promoting the human rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals at home and abroad, as well as combatting violence and discrimination against LGBT people around the world, according to the Boston Globe.