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PassBlue - Covering the UN

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Laura E. Kirkpatrick

Laura E. Kirkpatrick is an editor, writer and researcher who has covered international, national and civic social enterprise and development, women's issues and the media for Gannett Publications, ESPN and other media outlets. Based in Buffalo, N.Y., Kirkpatrick wrote PassBlue's most popular article in 2015, "In New York State, a City Willing to Settle Refugees the Right Way"; in 2017, her story on sexual harassment at the UN was also among the top 5 for the year. Kirkpatrick also manages social media and audience development for PassBlue. She received a New Media Editorial Fellowship from the Columbia University Graduate School of Business and has a graduate degree in journalism from Columbia University and a B.A. in English from Hamilton College.

Laura E. Kirkpatrick

Laura E. Kirkpatrick is an editor, writer and researcher who has covered international, national and civic social enterprise and development, women's issues and the media for Gannett Publications, ESPN and other media outlets. Based in Buffalo, N.Y., Kirkpatrick wrote PassBlue's most popular article in 2015, "In New York State, a City Willing to Settle Refugees the Right Way"; in 2017, her story on sexual harassment at the UN was also among the top 5 for the year. Kirkpatrick also manages social media and audience development for PassBlue. She received a New Media Editorial Fellowship from the Columbia University Graduate School of Business and has a graduate degree in journalism from Columbia University and a B.A. in English from Hamilton College.

Women Leaders to Watch at the UN’s Big Meet

September 15, 2019

by Laura E. Kirkpatrick

Men will dominate the podium during much of the United Nations General Assembly but, as Abigail Adams urged her husband and other founding fathers of the United States in 1776, “remember the ladies.” This is advice that the UN needs to be reminded of — just as the opening session begins, on Sept. 17. Women …

Climate and Environment, General Assembly, Women

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My Year in Africa: Why This Brazilian Woman Peacekeeper Wants to Return

September 10, 2019

by Pérola Abreu Pereira and Giovanna Kuele

In one of the world’s most fragile and violent settings, Lieut. Comdr. Marcia Braga, a 45-year-old Brazilian naval officer, arrived in April 2018 as the third military gender adviser for the United Nations peacekeeping mission in the Central African Republic. She ended her yearlong stint there bestowed with the UN’s annual Military Gender Advocate …

Africa, UN Peacekeeping, Women

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Call Me Dame Karen: UK’s Ambassador Dashes Style With Diplomacy

June 12, 2019

by Laura E. Kirkpatrick

Reporting on activists who work with the United Nations and other global institutions on issues related to the women, peace and security agenda is crucial, but it can be, admittedly, dry. So we decided to look at the diplomats and others working at the UN who are advancing women’s rights in what is still …

Security Council, Women

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Calling All Women’s Groups: Help Shape the Beijing+25 Agenda

June 10, 2019

by Stéphanie Fillion

Twenty-four years ago, the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women, held in Beijing, yielded a bold declaration from 189 countries calling for improving the rights of women across the globe. Now, plans to mark the 25th anniversary of Beijing are forging ahead, as organizers decide on themes of conferences taking place in 2020 while managing …

Gender-Based Violence, US Foreign Relations, Women

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An Assault on Trump’s Global Women’s Health Policy Begins

May 28, 2019

by Barbara Crossette

With a fierce national budget battle looming in the United States Congress, Democrats on a key committee have formally proposed legislation overturning Trump policies that deny millions of women and girls in developing countries access to vital reproductive health care, including family planning. The legislative bill that emerged on May 16 from the House …

Health and Population, Human Rights, Women

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The Case of Harassing a UN Diplomat Via 1,000s of Text Messages

May 14, 2019

While Koki Muli Grignon was working as the facilitator during the most intense week of the Commission on the Status of Women in New York, a prominent annual women’s rights conference at the United Nations, she received an odd email. It was the middle of nearly round-the-clock negotiations on the conference final summary document. …

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

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Wazhma Frogh Wants Women in the Afghan Peace Talks Now

May 13, 2019

by Maria Luisa Gambale

Wazhma Frogh is a lifetime campaigner for Afghan women and girls. She co-founded the Women and Peace Studies Organization in Afghanistan in 2011 and is a member of the Afghan Women’s Network. In 2009, the United States State Department granted her the International Women of Courage Award. Frogh recently spoke with PassBlue through a …

Asia, Gender-Based Violence, US Foreign Relations, Women

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At the UN, the US Darkens Women’s Right to Abortion

April 23, 2019

by Dulcie Leimbach

After four weeks of tumultuous negotiations over a resolution that reinforced decades of international efforts to combat sexual violence in conflict and to introduce more legal reassurances and services for victims, the 15-member United Nations Security Council approved a text whose wording had been rigorously fought over between the United States and many of …

Gender-Based Violence, Security Council, US Foreign Relations, US-UN Relations, Women

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The only talk show of its kind in the world

Feminist Foreign Policy Advocates Go to Washington

April 16, 2019

by Kevin Pinner

“To reboot the world, we need to change the way we make policies,” says the New York-based advocacy group Madre, whose latest goal is nothing less than to “bring global women’s voices and solutions to progressive policymaking in the US.” Madre is not the only organization wanting more women at the world’s most-powerful tables. …

US Foreign Relations, Women

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Celebrating Women’s History Month, Trump-Pompeo Style

April 2, 2019

by Barbara Crossette

Here’s how the United States government marked the 2019 monthlong celebration of the world’s women in March: Donald Trump’s Secretary of State Mike Pompeo got off to an early start on March 13 by releasing the State Department’s annual global human-rights report, scrubbed of all references to reproductive health and rights. Hewing to the …

Human Rights, US Foreign Relations, US-UN Relations, Women

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In the Drive for Gender Equality, the Law Is Not Always on Women’s Side

April 1, 2019

by Jeroen Spangenberg

So how are women doing these days, during the global push for gender equality? Not all that great in work and legal protections, according to a new World Bank report, even in some prosperous countries — including the United States. The US ranked 65th on the report’s scorecard, below Malawi, Kenya and the Bahamas. …

Human Rights, Women

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Violence Is a Choice: The Peace Philosophy of Filmmaker Abigail Disney

March 25, 2019

by Maria Luisa Gambale

Abigail Disney is an American filmmaker and philanthropist who founded Fork Films and Peace Is Loud, an advocacy group. She also founded — with her husband, Pierre Hauser — the Daphne Foundation. Since her 2009 film “Pray the Devil Back to Hell,” which documented women’s peace activism that brought to power Liberia’s first female …

Gender-Based Violence, Peace and Security, Women

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The US Goes ‘Bonkers’ at the UN Women’s Conference

March 24, 2019

by Laura E. Kirkpatrick

“Hold the line” was the frequent refrain heard during the contentious negotiations swirling around the annual meeting at the United Nations ensuring the rights of women. Delegates from the UN’s 193 countries were urged by conference leaders to remain steadfast against a rising tide of conservative national positions, which included the United States, regarding …

US Foreign Relations, US-UN Relations, Women

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The Goal of Gender Parity in the UN: Proving That Women Are Equal to Men

March 19, 2019

by Dulcie Leimbach

Ana Menéndez is a former Spanish diplomat who oversees the gender parity strategy at the United Nations, working directly for Secretary-General António Guterres for a year and a half now on one of his main priorities at the institution. Menéndez is tasked with the role — besides being responsible for overall UN policy — after …

Secretary-General, US-UN Relations, Women

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At the UN’s Global Summit on Women’s Rights, the US Looks Chaotic

March 7, 2019

by Laura E. Kirkpatrick

More than 10,000 people will soon converge on the United Nations for its annual Commission on the Status of Women conference, providing a unique forum to gauge progress and to press for the rights of women and marginalized populations around the world. Founded at a forward-thinking moment in 1946, the commission’s yearly meetings offer …

Gender-Based Violence, US Foreign Relations, US-UN Relations, Women

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