UN Agencies

Human Rights for Western Sahara?; a Cease-Fire Comes to Central African Republic; Weapons Spending Drives Gender Inequalities

• October 22, 2021

The UN boss points to rising global military spending as a source of gendered violence; the UN’s tech envoy, mired in controversy, may be exiting; the Human Rights Council rolls out a multimillion-dollar project with the Philippines. You are reading This Week @UN, summarizing the most pressing issues facing the organization. The information is …

Africa, Asia, Gender Violence, General Assembly, Human Rights, ICC, Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Secretary-General, Security Council, This Week @UN, UN Agencies, UN Special Envoys, US-UN Relations

Leave a Comment

TOPIC: WOMEN

What Should the New Head of UN Women Tackle First? Strong Advice From Feminists

Barbara Crossette

• September 28, 2021

More than 50 former staff members of UN Women sent a pointed open letter to the new executive director of the agency, Sima Sami Bahous, an ex-Jordanian diplomat, on Sept. 28. They suggest a comprehensive agenda for her, undertaking managerial reform and more actively and successfully promoting gender equality across the world. “UN Women …

Gender Violence, UN Agencies, Women

2 Comments

THIS WEEK @UN

#UNGA76 Is Here; Women on Edge in Afghanistan; Biden’s Hit-and-Miss With Allies

Anna Bianca Roach

• September 10, 2021

Calling all world leaders to the General Assembly; the Taliban shun women; Biden’s confounding foreign policy. You are reading This Week @UN, summarizing the most pressing issues facing the organization. The information is gathered from UN press briefings, PassBlue reporting and other sources. Scoop: Incoming members of the obscure but influential UN General Assembly Credentials …

General Assembly, Secretary-General, Security Council, This Week @UN, UN Agencies, US-UN Relations

Leave a Comment

TOPIC: WOMEN

A Jordanian Diplomat With Development Expertise Will Lead UN Women

Barbara Crossette

• September 6, 2021

Sima Sami Bahous, until recently Jordan’s ambassador to the United Nations since 2016, has been chosen as the next executive director of UN Women. Her appointment may be announced as soon as Tuesday, Sept. 7, according to numerous people who have been closely following the search for a successor to Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka of South …

Gender Violence, Secretary-General, UN Agencies, Women

5 Comments

THIS WEEK @UN

The UN Sticks to Afghanistan; Ireland Steers the Security Council; Preying on Mothers’ Fears

Anna Bianca Roach

• September 3, 2021

The UN’s priorities in Afghanistan for now; how certain multinational corporations feed on new-mothers’ fears amid Covid; Ireland’s envoy defends the rights of women and girls in Afghanistan. You are reading This Week @UN, summarizing the most pressing issues facing the organization. The information is gathered from UN press briefings, PassBlue reporting and other sources. …

Human Rights, Secretary-General, Security Council, This Week @UN, UN Agencies, US Foreign Relations, US-UN Relations

Leave a Comment

WOMEN AS CHANGEMAKERS

Women Will Achieve Equality, No Matter What: Natalia Kanem of UNFPA Explains

Barbara Crossette

• August 24, 2021

For Natalia Kanem, the executive director of the United Nations Population Fund since 2017, the last couple of years have been a wild ride. In 2020, women the world over were getting ready to celebrate important anniversaries: 25 years since an international conference in Beijing pledged global action on women’s rights, including their reproductive …

Health and Population, Secretary-General, UN Agencies, Women as Changemakers

One Comment

Afghans Who Work for the UN in Their Country Say They Fear for Their Lives [Updated]

Fiona Shukri

• August 20, 2021

United Nations staff members in Afghanistan who work for the UN political mission there say it has been failing to protect its national personnel since the Taliban’s sudden takeover of the country on Aug. 15 and as the United States evacuates tens of thousands of Americans and others from the Kabul airport amid deadly …

Asia, Gender Violence, Humanitarian Aid, Secretary-General, UN Agencies, US Foreign Relations, US-UN Relations

9 Comments

TOPIC: WOMEN

US Congress Takes Up Sweeping Changes on Global Health Policies, but Will They Materialize?

Barbara Crossette

• August 19, 2021

The Biden administration’s budget proposals for 2022 could erase many of the constrictions on global health aid imposed during the Trump years or earlier Republican administrations. But the sweeping developments depend on what happens in the Congressional debate on federal spending, beginning in September. Among the proposed changes: a doubling of contributions to the United …

UN Agencies, US Foreign Relations, Women

Leave a Comment

Despite the Intensifying Dangers in Afghanistan, the UN Says It Is Staying Put [Updated]

Dulcie Leimbach

• August 14, 2021

As the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan’s capital, Kabul, on Sunday — and the Afghan president, Ashraf Ghani, fled the country — the United Nations continues to decline to say whether it is planning to evacuate its thousands of personnel there. Rather, the UN is emphasizing its efforts on providing food, water and other …

Asia, Gender Violence, Humanitarian Aid, Secretary-General, Security Council, UN Agencies

One Comment

COVID-19

Member States Want UN Personnel Back in Headquarters. Staff Are Resisting.

Laura E. Kirkpatrick

• August 10, 2021

As outbreaks of Covid-19 cases spike again in many places worldwide, the United Nations Secretariat in New York City faces reopening decisions that pit some staff members’ interests against those of UN member states. Pressure is coming from UN member states that want the headquarters to reopen fully with a significant number of staff …

Covid-19, General Assembly, Secretary-General, UN Agencies

2 Comments

WORLDVIEWS

Unicef’s Next Boss Should Be an Internationalist and a Development Pro

Ellen Tolmie

• August 9, 2021

Jockeying for Unicef’s next executive director is well underway, after the July 13 announcement by its current head, Henrietta Fore, that she is leaving before the year’s end. She is going because of a family health emergency and well before her five-year term, which began January 2018, is up. Fore is Unicef’s seventh executive …

UN Agencies, WORLDVIEWS

One Comment

Is the ‘Unprecedented’ Reform of the World Meteorological Organization Seriously Stalled?

Maurizio Guerrero

• July 27, 2021

Back in June 2019, the World Meteorological Organization embarked on an ambitious effort to streamline its internal operations, cut expenses by two percent and realign the organization with “21st-century realities, priorities and dynamics.” The timing was right. A United Nations specialized agency based in Geneva, the WMO, as it is known, dates its origins …

Climate and Environment, UN Agencies

Leave a Comment

WORLDVIEWS

Feminist Wanted: Seeking the Next Leader of UN Women

Anne Marie Goetz and Joanne Sandler

• July 8, 2021

UN Women is looking for a new executive director. Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, a former vice president of South Africa, is stepping down after eight years at the helm. The appointment comes as the Generation Equality Forum in Paris just ended, with historically high financial pledges by some governments. But it comes at a moment of peril …

Gender Violence, Secretary-General, UN Agencies, WORLDVIEWS

One Comment

Nomination to Lead the UN’s Trade Agency Provokes a Power Play

Maurizio Guerrero

• May 27, 2021

The proposed selection of Rebeca Grynspan, a Costa Rican economist and former vice president of her country, to head the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development was made without consulting the core of the agency — the Group of 77 and China, comprised of 134 countries from the Global South. The nomination for …

Development, UN Agencies, US-UN Relations

Leave a Comment

THIS WEEK @UN

The US Envoy on Racism; ‘Apartheid’ in the Mideast; UK’s Cuts to UN Agencies

Ivana Ramirez

• April 30, 2021

Veronique Vandegans, the United Nations chief of the French Interpretation Section, working at home in Brooklyn, N.Y., with company. The photo is part of a story for the UN Department of Global Communications on remote interpretation. MANUEL ELIAS/UN PHOTO The United States ambassador goes honest on racism; an ex-Ecuadorean head of state aims to be …

Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Latin America, Secretary-General, This Week @UN, UN Agencies, UN Special Envoys, US-UN Relations

Leave a Comment

What do you know about the UN Security Council?

This Week's Most Popular

UN Signals That the Search for a New Tech Envoy May Be Underway

Laura E. Kirkpatrick

THIS WEEK @UN

Support Independent Journalism - Support PassBlue - Find out how →

UN Agencies

Human Rights for Western Sahara?; a Cease-Fire Comes to Central African Republic; Weapons Spending Drives Gender Inequalities

What Should the New Head of UN Women Tackle First? Strong Advice From Feminists

#UNGA76 Is Here; Women on Edge in Afghanistan; Biden’s Hit-and-Miss With Allies

A Jordanian Diplomat With Development Expertise Will Lead UN Women

The UN Sticks to Afghanistan; Ireland Steers the Security Council; Preying on Mothers’ Fears

Women Will Achieve Equality, No Matter What: Natalia Kanem of UNFPA Explains

Afghans Who Work for the UN in Their Country Say They Fear for Their Lives [Updated]

US Congress Takes Up Sweeping Changes on Global Health Policies, but Will They Materialize?

Despite the Intensifying Dangers in Afghanistan, the UN Says It Is Staying Put [Updated]

Member States Want UN Personnel Back in Headquarters. Staff Are Resisting.

Unicef’s Next Boss Should Be an Internationalist and a Development Pro

Is the ‘Unprecedented’ Reform of the World Meteorological Organization Seriously Stalled?

Feminist Wanted: Seeking the Next Leader of UN Women

Nomination to Lead the UN’s Trade Agency Provokes a Power Play

The US Envoy on Racism; ‘Apartheid’ in the Mideast; UK’s Cuts to UN Agencies

This Week's Most Popular

The Surreal Saga of Gitmo; US Rejoins the Human Rights Council; the Taliban Break Promises

US Senators Want Human-Rights Work Added to UN’s Western Sahara Mission

Critics Wonder If a New $10 Million UN-Philippines Human-Rights Project Will Work

Afghan Students Reach Kyrgyzstan After a Risky Journey

UN-Scripted, Passblue's UN podcast series

PassBlue needs your support to stay strong: