Women

How Long Do You Have to Wait to Hear a Woman at the UNGA? 53 Speakers, to Be Exact

September 10, 2020

The first woman scheduled to speak at this year’s opening session of the United Nations General Assembly is 53rd on the list of about 119 heads of state — President Zuzana Caputova of Slovakia — delivering her remarks on Sept. 23. The day before, the first of the big gathering, will not feature any …

General Assembly, US-UN Relations, Women

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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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TOPIC: WOMEN

Is the US Ready for a Feminist Foreign Policy? Absolutely, Advocates Say

May 26, 2020

by Barbara Crossette

The world of diplomacy has toyed with the concept of feminist foreign policies for years, raising some support and not a few snickers from dissenters. A new campaign led by women with strong professional qualifications and global experience in more than 50 organizations plans to change that mind-set in the United States. On May …

Security Council, US Foreign Relations, Women

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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

Beijing+25 Moves to the Next Stage: Vast Uncertainty

March 16, 2020

by Barbara Crossette

This year was intended to be a celebratory time for women: the 25th anniversary of the momentous Beijing conference on women’s rights and how to advance them. It isn’t working out that way, however, as a global health crisis and disagreements among advocates for women rewrite the script. The 2020 session of the Commission …

Human Trafficking, 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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TOPIC: WOMEN

Battle Lines Are Drawn on Women’s Rights Before #CSW64 Even Begins

February 27, 2020

by Dulcie Leimbach

From the start, the diplomats leading the negotiations on the new political declaration for the United Nations’ women’s rights conference in March wanted to keep it short and sweet. That meant five pages maximum, one diplomat told PassBlue before the discussions began, inevitably frustrating diplomats who had hoped to produce a generous endorsement of …

Gender-Based Violence, US-UN Relations, Women

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TOPIC: WOMEN

Win or Lose, Trump’s Policies on Women’s Health Inflict Damage

February 25, 2020

by Barbara Crossette

Whether or not Donald Trump will be re-elected president on Nov. 3, a tough debate is likely to begin soon in the United States Congress over the national budget for the unpredictable year ahead. Reproductive health issues rank high on the agenda for women’s rights advocates. Trump’s proposed budget would continue to restrict funds …

Gender-Based Violence, Women

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TOPIC: WOMEN

Trump’s Dictator Buddies Across the World Are Not Friends of Women

February 4, 2020

by Barbara Crossette

In the gallery of authoritarian governments undercutting the rights of women and threatening democracy around the world, five nations stand out for a special reason. Donald Trump has made the leaders of Brazil, Egypt, India, Saudi Arabia and Turkey his friends and accomplices. In all of these countries, according to mounting evidence in numerous …

Gender-Based Violence, Human Rights, US-UN Relations, Women

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TOPIC: WOMEN

Feminists Rev Up for Beijing+25 Reviews as the US Resists

January 26, 2020

by Laura E. Kirkpatrick

This year will be an urgent moment for the United Nations and its 193 member countries to renew their commitment ensuring women’s equality in all walks of life. Twenty-five years have passed since the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action was ratified at the Fourth World Conference on Women in 1995. That document was …

Gender-Based Violence, US-UN Relations, Women

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TOPIC: WOMEN

Fannie Munlin, the Face of the African-American Community at the UN

January 23, 2020

by Dulcie Leimbach

Fannie Munlin has led a long life of helping others, making her a natural fit to chair the NGO Executive Committee, the liaison for the 1,600 civil society organizations affiliated with the United Nations Department of Global Communications. She is also “the face of the African-American community at the UN,” as she said, as …

Women

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TOPIC: WOMEN

The UN Unveils 6 Themes in a Big Year Pushing for Women’s Rights

January 20, 2020

by Stéphanie Fillion

As the countdown to this year’s main events celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women has begun, UN Women has announced six themes to anchor the two Generation Equality forums to be held in May and in July. While many women’s groups applaud the broad themes, some have serious qualms about one …

Gender-Based Violence, Women

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TOPIC: WOMEN

In Haiti, a Result of Peacekeepers Who Abuse Their Power: ‘Petits Minustahs’

January 16, 2020

by Susan A. Bartels

In Haiti, a young woman I’ll call Marie became involved with a United Nations peacekeeper from Brazil when she was 14 years old. She became pregnant. He was sent back to Brazil; she was ostracized by her family. In 2017, when our research team met with Marie, she said that she and her son, …

UN Peacekeeping, Women

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TOPIC: WOMEN

Despite Years of Pledges and Plans, Gender Gaps Persist on a Global Scale

January 14, 2020

by Barbara Crossette

In health care, political participation, economic advancement, personal safety and justice, women across the world may be advancing on some fronts in various places. At the start of a new decade, however, the realities on a global scale are far from meeting promises made in past years. On March 9, when delegations from United …

Health and Population, Take a Look, Women

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Women

How Long Do You Have to Wait to Hear a Woman at the UNGA? 53 Speakers, to Be Exact

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

Is the US Ready for a Feminist Foreign Policy? Absolutely, Advocates Say

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

Beijing+25 Moves to the Next Stage: Vast Uncertainty

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

UN Chief Condemns Male Privilege as Many Nations Defy Such Bashing

Battle Lines Are Drawn on Women’s Rights Before #CSW64 Even Begins

Win or Lose, Trump’s Policies on Women’s Health Inflict Damage

Trump’s Dictator Buddies Across the World Are Not Friends of Women

Feminists Rev Up for Beijing+25 Reviews as the US Resists

Fannie Munlin, the Face of the African-American Community at the UN

The UN Unveils 6 Themes in a Big Year Pushing for Women’s Rights

In Haiti, a Result of Peacekeepers Who Abuse Their Power: ‘Petits Minustahs’

Despite Years of Pledges and Plans, Gender Gaps Persist on a Global Scale

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