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 and … Read more
OSLO — The last year has brought troubling events for feminists who are striving to see more women win top political leadership positions. Two female presidents, Dilma Rousseff of Brazil and Park Guen-hye of South Korea, had to leave office amid corruption scandals. In the United States, a female candidate did not become president: Hillary … Read more
Two young women in London are taking on what they call the elitist nature of foreign policy and turning it toward a more feminist approach that could play out in many different pathways, said Marissa Conway, a founder of a new blog, Feminist Foreign Policy, in a phone call recently. “We want to provide a … Read more
A newly released Wikileaks trove of emails sent to or sent by former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, some as old as 2009, reveals a wide range of topics related to the United Nations over the years, from the drama unfolding in Egypt after the Arab Spring revolt, to the bloody spectacle of the uprising … Read more
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 faring … Read more
Gender is at the center of international agendas, not at their periphery. Today, plans in Sochi for the forthcoming Olympics — the emblem of international cooperation — are riven by disputes over Russia’s policies toward lesbian-gay-bisexual-transgender persons. Peacemakers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo must address the needs of more than 2.5 million displaced … Read more
Melanne Verveer, most recently the United States ambassador at large for global women’s issues, is the new executive director of the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security, which officially opened Feb. 21. Verveer had been appointed to the government post, the first of its kind for the country, by President Obama when it was … Read more
