Women

• January 14, 2020

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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TOPIC: WOMEN

Rosemary DiCarlo, the Top-Ranking American at the UN, Describes Her Work Crisscrossing the World

Joanne Myers

• December 11, 2019

On a busy day of a busy week and year, Rosemary DiCarlo, the United Nations under secretary-general for political and peacebuilding affairs, spoke frankly in an interview about her role as the first woman to be appointed to this position and as the highest-ranking American now serving the UN. DiCarlo discussed the challenges and …

US-UN Relations, Women

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TOPIC: WOMEN

Mixing Politics and Religion, the US Stalls UN Work on Women’s Rights

Barbara Crossette

• November 26, 2019

It did not take long after the 74th General Assembly session opened this fall for the Trump team to signal that its strategy in key United Nations meetings would be to act as uncooperative and obstructive as possible, especially on human-rights agendas. The 2019-2020 UN year — September to September — is likely to be …

Health and Population, Women

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TOPIC: WOMEN

Trump’s Misogyny Stands Out During the Impeachment Hearings

Laura E. Kirkpatrick

• November 24, 2019

Although the first hearings by the Intelligence Committee in the House of Representatives in the Trump impeachment inquiry may be over, one remarkable aspect stands out: the heroic way the female foreign service officers and policy specialists who testified braved raw personal tweets by the president and the White House, often in real time. …

Gender Violence, Women

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TOPIC: WOMEN

At the Nairobi Summit, Spotlighting the Reproductive Rights of Women and Girls

Mantoe Phakathi

• November 13, 2019

NAIROBI, Kenya — More than 6,000 delegates in the population development sector are gathering in the Kenyan capital here this week to renew the promise made to girls and women 25 years ago in Cairo. In firm voices, young girls from African countries called on delegates to ensure that young people have access to …

Africa, Health and Population, SDGs, Women

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TOPIC: WOMEN

UN Women Declares Its Neutrality in the Sex Trade Debate

Barbara Crossette

• November 11, 2019

The surprising controversy over women in the sex trade — tangled in issues of legality, terminology and competing feminist visions — has produced an unequivocal statement from the executive director of UN Women that the agency is not taking sides in this debate. The acrimonious dispute has erupted just as the United Nations is …

Gender Violence, Human Trafficking, Women

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TOPIC: WOMEN

Margot Wallstrom’s Feminist Foreign Policy for Sweden Catches On Globally, She Says

Barbara Crossette

• November 4, 2019

Margot Wallstrom, as Sweden’s newly appointed foreign minister, announced in 2014 that her priority would be the creation of the world’s first feminist foreign policy. The concept left some in her diplomatic corps “gasping for air,” she said. Now, having recently completed a hectic five years in office despite numerous global crises, she is …

Gender Violence, Human Trafficking, US Foreign Relations, Women

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TOPIC: WOMEN

A New UK Hotline for Victims of Sexual Harassment Is ‘Constantly Ringing’

Rhona Scullion

• October 21, 2019

A new hotline is offering free, confidential legal advice to women in England and Wales who are experiencing sexual harassment at work. Launched in August, it is the only hotline of its kind dedicated to addressing a problem affecting women from all walks of life. Already, the hotline has been inundated with calls from …

Health and Population, Human Rights, Women

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TOPIC: WOMEN

UN Women Is Criticized for Appearing to Take Sides on Decriminalizing ‘Sex Work’

Barbara Crossette

• October 17, 2019

A group of civil society organizations is warning that a growing global movement to decriminalize and rebrand prostitution as “sex work” could lead to more, not less, violence against the world’s most vulnerable women and girls. The critics are petitioning UN Women, which is leading a review of the results of the 1995 Fourth …

Human Trafficking, Women

6 Comments

TOPIC: WOMEN

US Money for Global Women’s Health Is Jeopardized Again

Barbara Crossette

• October 8, 2019

For the third year, the Trump administration and its Republican allies in the United States Congress are refusing to abandon their harsh restrictions on aid to health programs for women around the world. Instead, all amendments calling for a repeal of what is known as the “global gag rule” have been eliminated in the …

Health and Population, Women

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TOPIC: WOMEN

Women Sighted at #UNGA. Plus: Iran’s Warnings to the US and Russians Denied Visas

Laura E. Kirkpatrick

• September 25, 2019

How women’s issues could be more prominent at the United Nations General Assembly’s annual opening session remains an enigma. The topics of women’s rights and gender equality pop up in speeches by world leaders, including those by women, but their remarks just don’t stand out — especially this year. “As the UN rightly tries …

General Assembly, Women

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TOPIC: WOMEN

Women Leaders to Watch at the UN’s Big Meet

Laura E. Kirkpatrick

• September 15, 2019

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 Change, General Assembly, Women

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TOPIC: WOMEN

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

Pérola Abreu Pereira and Giovanna Kuele

• September 10, 2019

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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TOPIC: WOMEN

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

Laura E. Kirkpatrick

• June 12, 2019

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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TOPIC: WOMEN

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

Stéphanie Fillion

• June 10, 2019

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 …