Angela Merkel

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

October 2, 2020

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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SECURITY COUNCIL PRESIDENCY

Germany Renews Its Push for Multilateralism as the Top Dog in July

July 5, 2020

by Stéphanie Fillion

Germany is anticipating two milestones between now and Dec. 31 — make that three. On July 31, its monthly rotating presidency of the United Nations Security Council ends, and on Dec. 31 its two-year stint on the Council is over. Meanwhile, Angela Merkel has said she will not seek re-election as German chancellor in …

Security Council Presidency

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TOPIC: WOMEN

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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Strongmen to Kick Off the UN General Assembly Session in September

August 14, 2019

by Stéphanie Fillion

Donald Trump will shake hands with Emmanuel Macron, Jair Bolsonaro and Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. But will Benjamin Netanyahu; Boris Johnson and Angela Merkel be there, too? The 74th opening debate of the United Nations General Assembly, which starts on Sept.17 and ends on Sept. 30; the general debate begins on Sept. 24. With most …

Climate and Environment, General Assembly, US-UN Relations

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SECURITY COUNCIL PRESIDENCY

Security Council Presidency: Two Old Friends, France and Germany, Now Share an Office

March 4, 2019

by Stéphanie Fillion

As a united front in the fight to preserve the European Union, France and Germany are about to gain a global audience. During March and April, their top United Nations ambassadors, François Delattre and Christoph Heusgen, will take turns — in alphabetical order — presiding over the Security Council, marking the first time for twin …

Climate and Environment, Gender-Based Violence, Security Council Presidency

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UNGA72

Myanmar, North Korea, Gender Parity: Guterres Highlights the Topics of the UN Debate

September 13, 2017

by Dulcie Leimbach

António Guterres, the secretary-general of the United Nations, said the top two problems he would highlight the most at the opening session of the General Assembly next week were Myanmar’s rapidly unfolding humanitarian disaster and North Korea’s nuclear-weapons provocations. “The humanitarian situation is catastrophic,” Guterres said at a media briefing on Sept. 13 at …

Secretary-General, UNGA72

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GEOPOLITICS

On Climate Change, UN Secretary-General António Guterres Swipes at the US

May 30, 2017

by Dulcie Leimbach

“Allow me to be blunt,” António Guterres, the United Nations secretary-general, told his audience to an uneasy laugh. “Our world is in a mess.” Although Guterres could have been speaking to any audience anywhere, he was addressing a crowd gathered at the Stern Center for Sustainable Business at New York University on May 30, …

Climate and Environment, Geopolitics, Secretary-General, US Foreign Relations, US-UN Relations

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TOPIC: WOMEN

Nikki Haley, Seeking the Right Style to Make Big Statements

May 20, 2017

by Laura E. Kirkpatrick

If Nikki Haley is dressing for attention, honestly, it would be hard to fault her. One of the few women named to President Trump’s administration, Haley, a former governor of South Carolina who is the ambassador to the United Nations, has been set adrift in a different region of the country, in foreign policy …

US Foreign Relations, US-UN Relations, Women

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TOPIC: WOMEN

Feminists Made the Difference: How Women Won National Leadership Roles

April 23, 2017

by Torild Skard

Hillary Clinton did not make it to the top, but Theresa May, the British prime minister, and Angela Merkel, chancellor of Germany, did. Since Sirimavo Bandaranaike became the world’s first female prime minister, in Sri Lanka in 1960, one-hundred women have been heads of state or government around the world. How did they get …

Governance, Women

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BOOKS

Misogyny Didn’t Stop Them: The World’s Most Important Female Leaders

April 1, 2017

by Joanne Myers

From Asia and Africa to Europe and the Americas, women remain important forces of change as government leaders in the modern era. Indira Gandhi, the daughter of Jawaharlal Nehru, India’s first prime minister after its independence, was one of the earliest — and the only woman in India — to hold that position, from 1966 …

BOOKS

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A New Year at the UN: Getting Serious About Global Disorder?

September 12, 2016

by Barbara Crossette

Government leaders from around the world are gathering in New York for the opening on Tuesday of the 71st session of the United Nations General Assembly, an event haunted by momentous crises demanding undivided attention and action from all member countries. Responses in both the General Assembly (whose powers are limited) and the Security Council …

General Assembly, Migration, Refugees, UN-NY Relations, US-UN Relations

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The Field Grows and Shifts in the Race for UN Secretary-General

June 1, 2016

by Barbara Crossette

The second crop of campaigners making a pitch to replace Ban Ki-moon in January is now being assembled, and it looks like the first declared candidate on the list may well shake up the race. She is Susana Malcorra, Argentina’s foreign minister and a well-respected, internationally known former United Nations official. The next round …

General Assembly, Secretary-General, Security Council, Women

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The Next UN Secretary-General: Views From UN Watchers

April 3, 2016

by Stephen Browne, Fiona Curtin and Thomas G. Weiss

The results of the latest FUNDS survey of global experts, conducted during the winter of 2015-16, contains clear messages about the next United Nations secretary-general: s/he should be a world leader with integrity and political courage who will prioritize UN reform; and the election process should be open and transparent. There is more room …

General Assembly, Secretary-General, Security Council

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A New Plan to Recruit Candidates for UN Secretary-General Emerges

March 3, 2016

by Dulcie Leimbach

For the first time in United Nations history, officially announced candidates for the secretary-general race, underway this year, will be interviewed publicly in the General Assembly along the lines of a standard democratic election. Mogens Lykketoft, the Assembly president and a Dane, is pushing the “unprecedented transparent process,” as he put it, in selecting …

General Assembly, Secretary-General, Security Council, Women

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The Heart of Pope Francis’s Speech at the UN: Don’t Look Past the Poor

September 25, 2015

by Dulcie Leimbach

Pope Francis spread his gospel of not forgetting the poor at the United Nations on Friday morning, where he spoke in his native Spanish to the 193 member delegations and heads of state gathered before him at the General Assembly Hall. It was his first appearance at the UN during his first trip to …

Development, General Assembly, Poverty, Secretary-General, Women

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Angela Merkel

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

Germany Renews Its Push for Multilateralism as the Top Dog in July

Women Leaders to Watch at the UN’s Big Meet

Strongmen to Kick Off the UN General Assembly Session in September

Security Council Presidency: Two Old Friends, France and Germany, Now Share an Office

Myanmar, North Korea, Gender Parity: Guterres Highlights the Topics of the UN Debate

On Climate Change, UN Secretary-General António Guterres Swipes at the US

Nikki Haley, Seeking the Right Style to Make Big Statements

Feminists Made the Difference: How Women Won National Leadership Roles

Misogyny Didn’t Stop Them: The World’s Most Important Female Leaders

A New Year at the UN: Getting Serious About Global Disorder?

The Field Grows and Shifts in the Race for UN Secretary-General

The Next UN Secretary-General: Views From UN Watchers

A New Plan to Recruit Candidates for UN Secretary-General Emerges

The Heart of Pope Francis’s Speech at the UN: Don’t Look Past the Poor

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