Margot Wallstrom
- Stephanie Liechtenstein
- • October 1, 2022

VIENNA — Margot Wallstrom, a former Swedish foreign minister, clinched her reputation in 2014 for boldly coining the concept of the world’s first “feminist foreign policy.” While having left active politics only five years later, in 2019, she remains…
- Categories: Gender Violence, Nuclear Disarmament, Peace and Security, Women
- Yasmine Ergas
- • March 9, 2022

Mothers appeal to mothers. Who doesn’t understand the power of women speaking to women about fear for their children? We listen as young women — parliamentarians, government ministers — who are staying to defend their country and denounce the…
- Categories: Gender Violence, Peace and Security, WORLDVIEWS
- Mikaela Conley
- • February 14, 2022

BERLIN — The number of countries declaring they are carrying out a feminist foreign policy is quickly increasing throughout the world, with Spain, France, Canada, Mexico, Luxembourg, Libya and now Germany joining Sweden’s pioneering concept, declaring that the countries’…
- Categories: Geopolitics, Women
- Barbara Crossette
- • October 6, 2021

Jessica Neuwirth, a pivotal force in promoting and supporting the rights of women and girls worldwide, was appointed to the rank of chevalier in the French Legion of Honor by the French government in a ceremony in New York…
- Categories: Gender Violence, Human Rights, Women as Changemakers
- Maurizio Guerrero
- • September 22, 2021

The second day of world leaders’ speeches delivered at the United Nations General Assembly continued on Sept. 22, after the heavily reported appearance of United States President Joe Biden at the fabled rostrum in the Assembly Hall; a last-minute…
- Categories: Asia, Gender Violence, General Assembly, Human Rights, UNGA76, US-UN Relations
- Clair MacDougall
- • September 9, 2020

Dr. Denis Mukwege sat behind a desk in a sharp suit with a red tie and his eyes framed by thick black glasses, as his image was live-streamed from eastern Congo during a human-rights meeting of the European Parliament…
- Categories: Africa, Gender Violence, Secretary-General
- Barbara Crossette
- • May 26, 2020

The world of diplomacy has toyed with the concept of feminist foreign policies for years, raising some support and not a few snickers from dissenters. A new campaign led by women with strong professional qualifications and global experience in…
- Categories: Security Council, US Foreign Relations, Women
- Stéphanie Fillion  and Kacie Candela
- • November 20, 2019

African summits may be in vogue worldwide, and Russia’s recent summit in Sochi in late October was no exception. A PassBlue correspondent, Joe Penney, traveled to the Black Sea resort to report on President Vladimir Putin’s pitch to African…
- Categories: Africa, Gender Violence, Geopolitics, US Foreign Relations
- Barbara Crossette
- • November 4, 2019

Margot Wallstrom, as Sweden’s newly appointed foreign minister, announced in 2014 that her priority would be the creation of the world’s first feminist foreign policy. The concept left some in her diplomatic corps “gasping for air,” she said. Now,…
- Categories: Gender Violence, Human Trafficking, US Foreign Relations, Women
- Dulcie Leimbach
- • November 11, 2018

A decision by the United Nations Security Council to add sanctions against perpetrators of sexual violence should have gone smoothly. The proposal, led by the Netherlands and Sweden, was meant to deter such violence in conflict zones and other…
- Categories: Gender Violence, Libya, Security Council
- Stéphanie Fillion
- • July 5, 2018

Welcome to our new column, Security Council Presidency, providing insight into the United Nations Security Council member sitting in the rotating seat of the president every month, starting in July with Sweden and its ambassador, Olof Skoog. The column…
- Categories: Climate Change, Security Council, Security Council Presidency
- Stéphanie Fillion
- • 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,…
- Categories: Caribbean, Governance, Latin America, Women
- Kacie Candela
- • April 30, 2017

Two women have been named to highly visible posts at the United Nations: Pramila Patten of Mauritius is the new special envoy on sexual violence in conflict and begins in mid-June; and Virginia Gamba, an Argentine, is special envoy on children…
- Categories: Child Soldiers, Gender Violence, UN Special Envoys, Women
- Dulcie Leimbach
- • November 4, 2016

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…
- Categories: Gender Violence, Peace and Security, Women
- Mavic Cabrera-Balleza
- • July 30, 2012

Zainab Hawa Bangura, the minister of health and sanitation in Sierra Leone, a country that not long ago rose from a brutal civil war, will take over in September as the United Nations special representative on sexual violence in…