Gender-Based Violence

Sidelining Africans, the US Imposes Its Own Choice for UN Envoy to Libya

November 16, 2020

Ignoring two proposals from Africa to fill the United Nations special envoy post for Libya, the United States demanded that the secretary-general, António Guterres, accept its own choice, several diplomats have told PassBlue. The maneuver could leave Africa with only a minimal voice in the mediation of a war in its own continent, spurred …

Africa, Gender-Based Violence, Libya, Secretary-General, Security Council, UN Special Envoys

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TOPIC: WOMEN

The UN General Assembly President Turns His Focus on Women, but Why?

November 10, 2020

by Barbara Crossette

When it comes to power and influence in the United Nations system, the president of the General Assembly has little control beyond a procedural role in managing an often-fractious body of member nations, now numbering 193, each with policies of its own. The Assembly is forbidden by Article 12 of the UN Charter, for …

Gender-Based Violence, General Assembly, Women

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TOPIC: WOMEN

Women’s Rights Are Human Rights: How Equality Became a US Foreign Policy Priority

October 14, 2020

by Rebecca Turkington and Melanne Verveer

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Twenty-five years ago this month, tens of thousands of women (and some men) gathered in Beijing for the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women. It was a profound moment in the history of women’s rights, convening 5,000 official delegates from nearly every country in the world and more than 30,000 …

Development, Gender-Based Violence, Human Trafficking, US Foreign Relations, US-UN Relations, Women

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TOPIC: WOMEN

25 Years After the Beijing Accord, Women Across the Globe Ask: Where Is the Equality?

October 2, 2020

by Barbara Crossette

The 25th anniversary of the landmark global action plan that was adopted to expand the equality and rights of women and girls was jinxed from the start. The celebratory event, long scheduled for March, was hastily postponed as the Covid-19 virus spread. When the commemoration finally took place on Oct. 1, it was virtual, with …

Gender-Based Violence, General Assembly, Women

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After Resisting, the UN Redeploys Peacekeepers to Protect Dr. Mukwege, Amid Death Threats

September 9, 2020

by Clair MacDougall

Dr. Denis Mukwege sat behind a desk in a sharp suit with a red tie and his eyes framed by thick black glasses, as his image was live-streamed from eastern Congo during a human-rights meeting of the European Parliament in Brussels on Aug. 31. Dr. Mukwege spoke matter-of-factly about women who had been buried …

Africa, Gender-Based Violence, Secretary-General

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TOPIC: WOMEN

Not All Human Rights Council Specialists Are Perfect: The Latest Controversy

August 19, 2020

by Barbara Crossette

To keep tabs on the lives and rights of people across the world, the United Nations Human Rights Council has the help of 44 independent monitors supposedly chosen for their expertise on a range of themes, from harsh government abuses to often-overlooked individual special needs. A dozen others are assigned specific countries to watch. …

Gender-Based Violence, Human Trafficking, Women

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COVID-19

Sudan May Have Banned FGM, but the Harsh Practice Continues

August 11, 2020

by Rhona Scullion

Just four months ago, Sudan took the monumental step to ban female genital mutilation, a painful, unnecessary and dangerous procedure that leaves lasting scars. Generally carried out on girls before they reach puberty, genital mutilation is now punishable in Sudan by up to three years in prison and subject to a fine. In a …

Africa, Covid-19, Gender-Based Violence

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TOPIC: WOMEN

Does the New US Envoy for Women’s Rights Have Anything to Do?

July 13, 2020

by Fiona Shukri

Six months into her job as the United States ambassador-at-large for global women’s issues, Kelley Currie has done little to demonstrate that she can restore American leadership on women’s rights while reporting to an ideologically driven administration known for its regressive stance on gender equality. While the ambassador’s office is charged with promoting women’s …

Covid-19, Gender-Based Violence, US Foreign Relations, US-UN Relations

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COVID-19

Picturing a Post-Pandemic World Where Latin American Women Are Safe

May 14, 2020

by Maurizio Guerrero

Long before Covid-19, Latin American women suffered from a pandemic of violence. Now, amid lockdowns, domestic abuse is rising. As the region battles both the virus and domestic abuse, women’s advocates see a glimmer of hope in innovative protective measures set up by governments and women’s groups that could endure well into the future. …

Covid-19, Gender-Based Violence

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COVID-19

Across the Globe, Domestic Violence Rises as the Coronavirus Rages

April 6, 2020

by Barbara Crossette

For many women worldwide, the fear and suffering caused by the catastrophic viral pandemic is made even more unbearable and frightening by gender violence, as orders to “stay at home” heighten domestic tensions. Reports are accumulating from virtually every global region, according to independent advocacy groups and United Nations agencies. “Over the past weeks …

Covid-19, Gender-Based Violence, Health and Population

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COVID-19

The Pandemic Forces UN Women to Shelve the Feminist Forums Until 2021

April 3, 2020

by Barbara Crossette

UN Women is postponing two long-planned international meetings designed to give civil society groups a leading role in advancing gender rights 25 years after a landmark 1995 Beijing conference on women. The two sessions of the Global Equality Forum that had been planned for Mexico City in May and Paris in July will be postponed …

Covid-19, Gender-Based Violence, Health and Population, Human Rights

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COVID-19

Gender Imbalances: Missing Girls and Vanishing Men

March 31, 2020

by Joseph Chamie

Normally, the numbers of males and females in a human population are about the same across all such populations. However, pregnancy interventions by couples and unhealthy lifestyles among young men have produced gender imbalances, giving rise to “missing girls” in some populations and “disappearing men” in others. The coronavirus pandemic will have lasting impacts …

Covid-19, Gender-Based Violence, Health and Population

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TOPIC: WOMEN

Afghan Women on the US-Taliban Peace Deal: We Refuse to Shut Up

March 25, 2020

by Samea Shanori and Fiona Shukri

Afghan women’s inclusion in the current peace negotiations with the Taliban and the United States has become an international cause célèbre. But calls for participation of Afghan women without methodical, sustained and substantive engagement in a peace settlement has the potential to harm them, not help them. The international community should ensure that Afghan women …

Gender-Based Violence, Women

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TOPIC: WOMEN

Peace Begins at Home: Gloria Steinem’s Recipe for a Nonviolent World

March 6, 2020

by Sonah Lee

Nearly 700 people, many of them young adults and students, flocked to the United Nations recently to attend an all-day gathering on “War No More.” Who were they eager to see and hear? The global feminist icon Gloria Steinem and Leymah Gbowee, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate, who led her fellow countrywomen to help …

Gender-Based Violence, Women

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TOPIC: WOMEN

UN Chief Condemns Male Privilege as Many Nations Defy Such Bashing

March 4, 2020

by Barbara Crossette

With International Women’s Day, March 8, on the horizon, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres blasted the intractable power of patriarchy, the cause of overwhelming gender injustice and an abuse of historical proportions, in his view. “Just as slavery and colonialism were a stain on previous centuries, women’s inequality should shame us all in the …

Gender-Based Violence, Secretary-General, Women

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Gender-Based Violence

Sidelining Africans, the US Imposes Its Own Choice for UN Envoy to Libya

The UN General Assembly President Turns His Focus on Women, but Why?

Women’s Rights Are Human Rights: How Equality Became a US Foreign Policy Priority

25 Years After the Beijing Accord, Women Across the Globe Ask: Where Is the Equality?

After Resisting, the UN Redeploys Peacekeepers to Protect Dr. Mukwege, Amid Death Threats

Not All Human Rights Council Specialists Are Perfect: The Latest Controversy

Sudan May Have Banned FGM, but the Harsh Practice Continues

Does the New US Envoy for Women’s Rights Have Anything to Do?

Picturing a Post-Pandemic World Where Latin American Women Are Safe

Across the Globe, Domestic Violence Rises as the Coronavirus Rages

The Pandemic Forces UN Women to Shelve the Feminist Forums Until 2021

Gender Imbalances: Missing Girls and Vanishing Men

Afghan Women on the US-Taliban Peace Deal: We Refuse to Shut Up

Peace Begins at Home: Gloria Steinem’s Recipe for a Nonviolent World

UN Chief Condemns Male Privilege as Many Nations Defy Such Bashing

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