Commission on the Status of Women

The Pandemic Forces UN Women to Shelve the Feminist Forums Until 2021

April 3, 2020

UN Women is postponing two long-planned international meetings designed to give civil society groups a leading role in advancing gender rights 25 years after a landmark 1995 Beijing conference on women. The two sessions of the Global Equality Forum that had been planned for Mexico City in May and Paris in July will be postponed …

Covid-19, Gender-Based Violence, Health and Population, Human Rights

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COVID-19

UN Women’s Forum in Mexico City Is Under Review

March 29, 2020

by Barbara Crossette

Another highlight of the year marking the 25th anniversary of a breakthrough international conference in Beijing on women’s rights has fallen victim to the global march of the new coronavirus, Covid-19. The event is the first of two global meetings of the Generation Equality Forum, which is meant to give civil society organizations a …

Covid-19, Health and Population, Latin America

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TOPIC: WOMEN

Beijing+25 Moves to the Next Stage: Vast Uncertainty

March 16, 2020

by Barbara Crossette

This year was intended to be a celebratory time for women: the 25th anniversary of the momentous Beijing conference on women’s rights and how to advance them. It isn’t working out that way, however, as a global health crisis and disagreements among advocates for women rewrite the script. The 2020 session of the Commission …

Human Trafficking, Women

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COVID-19

The UN in New York Shuts Physically as Most Personnel Telecommute: Updates

March 15, 2020

by Dulcie Leimbach and Stéphanie Fillion

The coronavirus has officially hit the United Nations at its New York City headquarters. On Thursday, March 12, the first reported case was confirmed by a diplomat with the Philippines mission to the UN, who said that a Filipino colleague had tested positive for Covid-19 and had notified the “UN medical director’s office.” The …

Child Soldiers, Covid-19, Health and Population, Secretary-General, Security Council

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UN-Scripted: PassBlue's exclusive podcast series

Master of Science in Humanitarian Studies at Fordham University

SECURITY COUNCIL PRESIDENCY

China Is in the Hot Seat as Covid-19 Shadows Its Diplomacy

March 5, 2020

by Stéphanie Fillion

Over the past year China’s presence at the United Nations got suddenly noticed. It may be its more outgoing ambassador, Zhang Jun, its lobbying against human rights, its accession to high-level roles or the disengagement of the United States — perhaps all of the above that has drawn attention. But just as the country …

Peace and Security, Security Council Presidency

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TOPIC: WOMEN

UN Chief Condemns Male Privilege as Many Nations Defy Such Bashing

March 4, 2020

by Barbara Crossette

With International Women’s Day, March 8, on the horizon, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres blasted the intractable power of patriarchy, the cause of overwhelming gender injustice and an abuse of historical proportions, in his view. “Just as slavery and colonialism were a stain on previous centuries, women’s inequality should shame us all in the …

Gender-Based Violence, Secretary-General, Women

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TOPIC: WOMEN

Battle Lines Are Drawn on Women’s Rights Before #CSW64 Even Begins

February 27, 2020

by Dulcie Leimbach

From the start, the diplomats leading the negotiations on the new political declaration for the United Nations’ women’s rights conference in March wanted to keep it short and sweet. That meant five pages maximum, one diplomat told PassBlue before the discussions began, inevitably frustrating diplomats who had hoped to produce a generous endorsement of …

Gender-Based Violence, US-UN Relations, Women

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TOPIC: WOMEN

The UN Unveils 6 Themes in a Big Year Pushing for Women’s Rights

January 20, 2020

by Stéphanie Fillion

As the countdown to this year’s main events celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women has begun, UN Women has announced six themes to anchor the two Generation Equality forums to be held in May and in July. While many women’s groups applaud the broad themes, some have serious qualms about one …

Gender-Based Violence, Women

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WORLDVIEWS

Women’s Rights Defenders Are Tired of Being Told to ‘Push Back’ Against the Opposition

July 8, 2019

by Hayley Willingale

As a human-rights defender and women’s rights campaigner, I continue to be struck not by the many challenges now facing women’s rights organizations but by the constant calls for women to “push back against the pushback.” This call for women to push back against the many forces oppressing women’s rights organizations was repeated in …

Africa, Gender-Based Violence, Human Rights, Security Council, WORLDVIEWS

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TOPIC: WOMEN

Thank You, UN, for Protecting the Rights of Women

February 28, 2018

by Bertrand Ramcharan

There is still a long way to go to uphold the rights of women worldwide, and UN Women, a department of the Secretariat, is now carrying the torch in this struggle. It builds on the efforts of the UN human-rights program going back to the earliest days of the organization. For International Women’s Day, …

Human Rights, International Justice, Women

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The UN’s First Feminist, Peg Snyder, Describes Her Brilliant Career

March 22, 2016

by Barbara Crossette

As the Commission on the Status of Women convenes to tackle 21st-century feminist issues, Margaret Snyder — “Peg” to almost everyone who has met her — can take a long view of the history of women in the United Nations system, the hurdles they overcame and the changes they have made. Best known as the …

Africa, Development, Women

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Justin Trudeau, Self-Described Feminist, Wows the UN Crowd

March 17, 2016

by Laura E. Kirkpatrick

“Because it’s 2015,” Justin Trudeau, the prime minister of Canada and self-proclaimed feminist, said simply, using the vernacular of his generation to reinforce his position on gender equality as he spoke at the United Nations recently during an “armchair conversation.” Trudeau, who is 44, was addressing a large audience at an event presented as …

Gender-Based Violence, Women

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Women’s Rights and the UN: A Long History of Ups and Downs

August 10, 2015

by Saraswathi Menon

The 2010 creation of the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment (or UN Women) represented an unusual organizational consolidation instead of the typical proliferation. It had a promising start under strong leadership but faces serious challenges with growing resistance to gender equality. Support for women’s rights has a long and checkered …

UN Agencies, Women

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Minding Your Pronunciations and Protocols at That ‘Women’s Conference’ [Video]

March 26, 2015

by Laura E. Kirkpatrick

Are you wondering what happened at that “women’s conference at the United Nations,” as one (male) writer at The New York Times called it? Here is a recap of things to think about from the annual Commission on the Status of Women, held March 9-20, assessing how women’s rights and related gender issues are …

Gender-Based Violence, Women

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UN WOMEN'S CONFERENCE 2014

Solving Bangladesh’s ‘Living Wages’ Problem Demands Global Support

March 18, 2014

by Shiwani Neupane

The dialogue on living wages has come a long way since the Rana Plaza collapse in Bangladesh that killed more than 1,000 people in 2013, but there will be no solution to the living wage problem until all parties involved work together, a diverse group of panelists agreed at a panel on the topic, …

Development, Millennium Goals, Women

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Commission on the Status of Women

The Pandemic Forces UN Women to Shelve the Feminist Forums Until 2021

UN Women’s Forum in Mexico City Is Under Review

Beijing+25 Moves to the Next Stage: Vast Uncertainty

The UN in New York Shuts Physically as Most Personnel Telecommute: Updates

China Is in the Hot Seat as Covid-19 Shadows Its Diplomacy

UN Chief Condemns Male Privilege as Many Nations Defy Such Bashing

Battle Lines Are Drawn on Women’s Rights Before #CSW64 Even Begins

The UN Unveils 6 Themes in a Big Year Pushing for Women’s Rights

Women’s Rights Defenders Are Tired of Being Told to ‘Push Back’ Against the Opposition

Thank You, UN, for Protecting the Rights of Women

The UN’s First Feminist, Peg Snyder, Describes Her Brilliant Career

Justin Trudeau, Self-Described Feminist, Wows the UN Crowd

Women’s Rights and the UN: A Long History of Ups and Downs

Minding Your Pronunciations and Protocols at That ‘Women’s Conference’ [Video]

Solving Bangladesh’s ‘Living Wages’ Problem Demands Global Support

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