Paula Donovan

• March 24, 2021

Unless a strong candidate backed by an influential member state comes forward soon, it looks unlikely that Secretary-General António Guterres will be denied a second term and that a woman could be elected to succeed him, starting in 2022. Any challengers for the United Nations’ top leadership post will need to step up in …

Secretary-General, Security Council, US-UN Relations, Women

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A Task for the Next UN Secretary-General: Review the Special Envoy System

Barbara Crossette

• February 23, 2016

When a tough independent report sharply criticized the United Nations in December for its bungled attempts to cover up, or at least ignore, the sexual abuse of children by peacekeeping troops in the Central African Republic in recent years, it named among the people responsible for letting the children down Leila Zerrougui, Secretary-General Ban …

Secretary-General, UN Diplomats, UN Special Envoys

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France and the UN Pressured to Act on Troops’ Sex Abuse in Central Africa

Dulcie Leimbach

• June 6, 2015

The uproar over accusations that French soldiers assigned to peacekeeping had sexually abused about a dozen boys in the Central African Republic from late 2013 through mid-2014 has shifted focus from the apparent behavior of the soldiers to the role the United Nations played in dealing with the allegations. The French soldiers were not …

Africa, Gender Violence, UN Agencies

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An Independent Report on Sexual Abuse Cases by UN Peacekeepers Surfaces

Dulcie Leimbach

• March 16, 2015

A report commissioned by the United Nations but never made public — which studied sexual exploitation and abuse committed by UN peacekeepers — has been released online by AIDS-Free World, a nonprofit organization founded by two former UN officials, Stephen Lewis and Paula Donovan. The report, written by an independent three-person team, was based …

Peace and Security, UN Peacekeeping, Women

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Calling the UN to Account to Stop the HIV/AIDS Scourge

Danielle M. Bennett

• April 23, 2014

It has been 33 years since the first reports of HIV/AIDS surfaced, and the pandemic, which has never been found to be racial, ethnic or gender specific among the population, is now affecting women the most. They account for more than half of the people living with HIV/AIDS — approximately 16.1 million women out …

Caribbean, Health and Population, Women

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Nigeria Attracts Latest Criticism for Anti-Gay Laws

Barbara Crossette

• January 15, 2014

In an open letter to United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Michel Sidibé, the executive director of UNAIDS, the organization called AIDS-Free World wants answers to questions about how the UN will deal with Nigeria after the adoption of a sweeping law broadening the criminalization of homosexuality. Nigeria has the second-largest number of people …