Women

The Sole Woman Running for President of Burkina Faso Says: ‘I Will Win’

November 19, 2020

OUAGADOUGOU, Burkina Faso — Monique Yéli Kam’s war room is not a typical campaign headquarters for a national presidential candidate. A dusty white marquis stands next to stacked blue chairs fanning out to a balcony that leads to a room where teenage boys jostle to play a soccer video game. Upstairs in her apartment, …

Africa, Governance, Women

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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

For This Afghan Woman, Midwifery Is a Labor of Love

November 8, 2020

by Lori Silberman Brauner

From a young age, Zahra Mirzaei, 32, decided to become a midwife after she encountered a kind doctor who encouraged her to pursue studies in the field. Observing the role that midwives played in her country — Afghanistan — while challenged by extremely limited educational opportunities for women and girls, Mirzaei said: “It spoke …

Health and Population, 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

Five Months Before UN Security Council Resolution 1325, the Seminar That Set the Scene

October 8, 2020

by Barbara Crossette

In a year of anniversaries at the United Nations, one stands out of special interest to women in peacekeeping and humanitarian work in conflict zones and other arenas of crisis where civilian rights are trampled on and families and societies severely disrupted. On October 31, 2000, the Security Council passed a breakthrough resolution 1325 …

UN Peacekeeping, 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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TOPIC: WOMEN

Leadership of UN Missions: Halting Progress on the Road to Gender Parity

September 30, 2020

by Foteini Papagioti and Paul von Chamier

It has been a banner year for the long-overdue push to appoint women to the notoriously male-dominated leadership ranks of United Nations peacekeeping and political missions. Five out of six mission-leadership jobs in the first half of 2020 went to women. That includes all-female leadership teams not only in Cyprus but also in Iraq, …

Secretary-General, UN Careers, Women

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TOPIC: WOMEN

The UNFPA Is Thriving as It Praises an American Who Kept US Interest Alive

September 29, 2020

by Barbara Crossette

In the rubble of what’s left of American commitments to international organizations, one survivor is doing well. The United Nations Population Fund, or UNFPA, the perennial target of Republican politicians and presidents since the 1980s, is thriving. Arthur Erken, director of communications and strategic partnerships at the Population Fund, said in an interview with …

Health and Population, Human Rights, Women

One Comment

TOPIC: WOMEN

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

September 10, 2020

by Stéphanie Fillion

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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Women

The Sole Woman Running for President of Burkina Faso Says: ‘I Will Win’

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

For This Afghan Woman, Midwifery Is a Labor of Love

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

Five Months Before UN Security Council Resolution 1325, the Seminar That Set the Scene

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

Leadership of UN Missions: Halting Progress on the Road to Gender Parity

The UNFPA Is Thriving as It Praises an American Who Kept US Interest Alive

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

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