Women

• March 24, 2019

“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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TOPIC: WOMEN

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

Dulcie Leimbach

• March 19, 2019

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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TOPIC: WOMEN

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

Laura E. Kirkpatrick

• March 7, 2019

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

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TOPIC: WOMEN

For Journalists Seeking Female Experts on Global Affairs, Here’s a New Source

Kacie Candela

• February 25, 2019

The scarcity of female experts that journalists can readily rely on for objective, accurate information for reporting on an international news story couldn’t be clearer: 81 percent of experts interviewed for global news stories were men, according to a 2015 study by the Global Gender Monitoring Project, which promotes gender equality in the news …

Journalists, Women

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TOPIC: WOMEN

Three Ex-UN Leaders Form a Women’s Group to Save the World

Dulcie Leimbach

• February 21, 2019

As multilateralism takes a beating from President Trump amid the “new world disorder,” as one European diplomat put it, three women who know the United Nations inside and out through previous top leadership jobs have originated a Group of Women Leaders for Change and Inclusion. The goal is to bring together former UN female …

SDGs, US Foreign Relations, US-UN Relations, Women

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TOPIC: WOMEN

Women and Brexit: Their Voices Are Just Not Heard

Rhona Scullion

• February 20, 2019

NOTTINGHAM, England — It has been more than two and a half years since Britain voted to leave the European Union. As the rest of the world knows, nothing since then has gone smoothly. It’s not even clear where most voters stand on the issue today. But despite the nonstop debate, women’s voices continue …

Women

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TOPIC: WOMEN

A Journey Into Terror and Truth: My Travels Alone in Afghanistan

Johanna Higgs

• February 13, 2019

ISHKASHIM, Afghanistan — I entered the country from the northeast, from Tajikistan, where I had been traveling for a month, researching the lives of women, as I have been doing across the world for years. From the small town of Khorog in Tajikistan, I hired a taxi to drive me to the border crossing. …

Gender Violence, Women

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TOPIC: WOMEN

Authorities Find More Ways to Silence Women Human-Rights Experts

Kacie Candela

• January 29, 2019

More than two decades have passed since the United Nations General Assembly approved the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, which encourages countries to protect people who fight for human rights around the world. So why has the situation deteriorated, especially for women who defend human rights? Fears of terrorism and the rise of fundamentalism …

Gender Violence, Human Rights, Women

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TOPIC: WOMEN

Young, Female and Diverse: Legislatures Begin to Change to Save Democracy

Barbara Crossette

• January 15, 2019

As many political analysts see democracy weakened by introverted, xenophobic parties and autocratic leaders, a glimmer of hope is offered by a new generation of candidates and voters. This year will test that optimism in a series of important elections around the world. Changes in the composition of national legislatures were already being recorded …

Governance, Women

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TOPIC: WOMEN

How Will Women Fare as Cities Grow Dramatically? The Data Are Missing

Laura E. Kirkpatrick

• January 13, 2019

Improving the lives of women is woven into each of the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals, markers that all 193 member states aim to reach by 2030. Goal 5 is quite specific: nothing short of gender equality. Attaining this lofty goal means being able to put one’s hands on data that have been …

Cities, SDGs, Women

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TOPIC: WOMEN

Another UN Harassment Case Quietly Disappears

Barbara Crossette

• January 6, 2019

Amid a busy December, when the United Nations was focusing on important conferences on climate change and migration and year-end holidays loomed, a case of harassment that never got the traction it arguably deserved ended in a traditional UN way: it disappeared. On Dec. 14, the chairman of the International Civil Service Commission, which …

Gender Violence, Secretary-General, Women

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TOPIC: WOMEN

Heather Nauert, Trump’s Nominee for UN Envoy, Faces Heated Opposition

Dulcie Leimbach and Laura E. Kirkpatrick

• December 12, 2018

The nomination of Heather Nauert to succeed Nikki Haley as United States ambassador to the United Nations has quickly enraged some international women’s rights groups and a major Islamic advocacy organization based in the United States, portending a tense confirmation hearing in the US Senate for Nauert. The announcement of her nomination last week …

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

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TOPIC: WOMEN

Lessons in Making a Difference for Girls in Burkina Faso

Irwin Arieff

• November 24, 2018

So many nonprofits seem to be after your money these days. Even if you are eager to give it away, you want to be convinced that a given group is the most deserving. But how can you tell when a charitable group is effective, making the best use of your donation without wasting it …

Africa, Education, Women

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TOPIC: WOMEN

‘We Do Not Ask. We Act’: A Syrian Women Activist Tells It Like It Is

Maria Luisa Gambale and Laura E. Kirkpatrick

• November 20, 2018

Mariam Jalabi, a co-founder of the Syrian Women’s Political Movement and the Syrian National Council’s representative to the United Nations, reflected on Syria’s future in a recent conversation with Jamille Bigio, senior fellow in the Council on Foreign Relations’ Women and Foreign Policy program. Jalabi’s work focuses on women’s inclusion in politics and decision-making, and …

Women

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TOPIC: WOMEN

Women’s Rights Predicted to Advance in New US Congress

Barbara Crossette

• November 13, 2018

The results of the recent United States elections raise hopes for women’s rights. At least 100 women, among them young liberals who defeated incumbent men, will hold nearly a quarter of the seats in the House of Representatives when a new Congress opens in early January. Two women are Muslim-American and two are Native …