Women

• February 12, 2018

After years of civil war, Somalia is beginning to build democratic institutions with support from the West, even as horrific violence repeatedly strikes the capital, Mogadishu. Help from foreign countries and regional groups — such as the European Union, Italy and the United States — was provided in Somalia’s 2016 election, where electoral processes …

Caribbean, Governance, Latin America, Women

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TOPIC: WOMEN

US Visa Rules Can Create Heartbreak for Women

Barbara Crossette

• February 4, 2018

Imagine an accomplished young woman — we can call her Amrita — who has a caring husband and maybe a child or two. He is a highly skilled professional in his field with a doctorate or even postdoctorate qualifications. She has the same level of achievement or possibly higher. He has been offered a …

Asia, Gender Violence, Women

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TOPIC: WOMEN

At Sciences Po in France, a Lack of Gender Studies Rankles Some Students

Elizabeth Walsh

• January 25, 2018

PARIS — Women outnumber men in international affairs graduate programs across the world and are increasingly demanding that curriculums reflect feminist thinking and include gender mainstreaming. Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) in New York, Sciences Po’s Paris School of International Affairs and the London School of Economics are three of …

Women

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TOPIC: WOMEN

Blessed Are the Peace-Builders in Ukraine: Female Activists Repair a Broken Country

Dulcie Leimbach

• January 21, 2018

KYIV, Ukraine — There is no escaping that Ukraine is at war — although it is not totally apparent who the Ukrainian military and volunteer vigilantes are fighting in the east: Russian “separatists” or Russians themselves? No one can definitively say who is who or decide up from down, one of the living puzzles …

Gender Violence, Health and Population, Human Rights, Women

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TOPIC: WOMEN

Michelle Bachelet, Outgoing President of Chile, Gets a WHO Post

Chris Gelardi

• January 19, 2018

Chilean President Michelle Bachelet has agreed to chair the board of the World Health Organization’s Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health after she finishes her government role on March 11. The announcement came after a Jan. 10 meeting at the presidential palace in Santiago, during which the WHO leadership offered Bachelet the position. …

Health and Population, Women

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TOPIC: WOMEN

Sexual Harassment at the UN Is Alive and Persistent

Laura E. Kirkpatrick

• December 22, 2017

As its people of the year, Time magazine recently named the Silence Breakers — people who have spoken against sexual harassment and launched the hashtag #MeToo into an international phenomenon with more than seven million hits on social media. Just before the announcement, more than 230 women who work in national security for the …

Gender Violence, Human Rights, Secretary-General, UN Diplomats, Women

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TOPIC: WOMEN

From the Kingdom of Women, With Love

Johanna Higgs

• December 5, 2017

LIOUSHUI, China — Known as the Kingdom of Women, the Mosuo are a small ethnic minority group living in Yunnan and Sichuan provinces, predominantly around Lugu Lake. The Mosuo have become somewhat famous for their matriarchal society, where the family name and other legalities are passed to the next generation through the women, and …

Asia, Gender Violence, Women

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TOPIC: WOMEN

‘Period Poverty’: Why No One Is Talking About Eco-Friendly Solutions

Rhona Scullion

• November 30, 2017

The United Nations has recognized menstrual hygiene as a global public health and human-rights issue, yet across the world, “period poverty,” as some call it, is the reality for millions of women and girls. In India, for example, it is estimated that only 12 percent of the country’s 355 million menstruating women can afford …

Climate and Environment, Human Rights, Poverty, Women

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TOPIC: WOMEN

#MeToo Must Include All Women: A Chat With UN Women’s Director

Kacie Candela

• November 24, 2017

November 25 marks the annual International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, which encompasses 16 days of activism through Dec. 10, with this year’s theme being “leave no one behind.” The annual commemoration couldn’t be better timed this year, coinciding with the #MeToo movement reverberating across the United States — and far …

Gender Violence, Women

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TOPIC: WOMEN

A New Index Rates the Well-Being of Women in 153 Nations and US Ranks 22d

Kacie Candela

• October 31, 2017

A new women, peace and security index was unveiled at the United Nations recently. At its core, the WPS index, as it is known, provides evidence for what advocates have been saying all along: that the active and equal participation of women in all aspects of society is critical for peace and security, especially …

Gender Violence, Secretary-General, US Foreign Relations, Women

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TOPIC: WOMEN

Afghan Women Write New Narratives About Themselves, With Courage

Elizabeth Walsh

• October 24, 2017

Throughout the world, Afghan women are often portrayed as victims by the media and other institutions, needing foreign rescue or summoning deep pity for their oppression. Women’s literacy rate is less than half that of men’s in the country, and it remains one of the worst places in the world for a girl to …

Asia, Gender Violence, Journalists, Women

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TOPIC: WOMEN

Women Break the Ice for Peace in Guinea-Bissau

Adriana Erthal Abdenur

• October 3, 2017

Since attaining independence from Portugal, in 1973, Guinea-Bissau has had almost a dozen presidents, none of whom has managed to finish his mandate. Recurring coups, assassinations and political turmoil at the elite level have contributed to a landscape of instability and underdevelopment and vulnerability to organized crime, especially the illegal drug trade. However, unlike …

Women

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TOPIC: WOMEN

Syrian Refugees Get Help to Run Their Own Business, but It’s Not Easy

Elizabeth Walsh

• September 4, 2017

TAANAYEL, Lebanon — Taanayel is nestled in Lebanon’s picturesque Bekaa Valley, and on a hot summer day in a feebly air-conditioned room, 35 Syrian female refugees gathered at a center shared by numerous local nongovernmental organizations. They arrived that morning by bus from Salaam wa Makhaba, a refugee camp nearby. The women are here to …

Refugees, Syria, Women

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TOPIC: WOMEN

Where Are the Female Leaders at the UN? Gender Bias Persists

Ingvild Bode

• August 28, 2017

The exhibition “HERStory: A Celebration of Leading Women in the United Nations” was held at the Unesco headquarters in Paris this summer, after it made its debut in New York last year. Designed to showcase the contributions of female leaders throughout the UN’s history, it featured such high-profile personalities as Margaret Anstee, the first …

Secretary-General, Women

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TOPIC: WOMEN

UN Chief Asks All Nations to Sign New Pact Protecting Women

Barbara Crossette

• August 21, 2017

Haunted by accumulating reports of sexual exploitation and abuse of women and girls by United Nations peacekeepers and others attached to UN missions around the world, Secretary-General António Guterres is taking the bold, unprecedented step of asking all governments to sign a compact pledging to prevent and stop these violations. The compact is voluntary …