London, March 24 : Russia has reportedly urged the United Nations to stop its General Assembly from extending staff benefits to same-sex couples, diplomats said.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon had announced last year that the UN would provide equal benefits to both opposite-sex and same-sex couples, reported The Independent.
The change was made after trashing a previous law according to which, a staff members’ marital status was determined by the laws of their country of nationality. Instead, same-sex couples were allowed to avail the same benefits if they married in a country where it was legal.
The change will impact around 43,000 UN employees worldwide.
However, following threats over the measure since December last year, Russia has requested the General Assembly Fifth Committee, which decides the United Nations budget, to overturn Ban’s decision during Tuesday’s vote.
The Fifth Committee website said that an “action” on the proposal will be taken on Tuesday.
The measure came in the wake of a controversial anti “gay-propaganda” law, which sparked an international condemnation before the start of the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics.
(ANI)
