Samea Shanori and Fiona Shukri

Samea Shanori and Fiona Shukri met in 2008, when they worked together on a Usaid-funded development project in Kabul. Shanori who is from Afghanistan, is currently working with a global media management company in New York City while pursuing her graduate degree in public policy and administration at Columbia University. Shukri is a writer and consultant who has worked in Central Asia and the Middle East as a senior program manager for the National Democratic Institute in Washington D.C., and as a communications strategist at Unesco in Paris and at UNA-USA in New York.

Samea Shanori and Fiona Shukri

TOPIC: WOMEN

Afghan Women on the US-Taliban Peace Deal: We Refuse to Shut Up

March 25, 2020

by Samea Shanori and Fiona Shukri

Afghan women’s inclusion in the current peace negotiations with the Taliban and the United States has become an international cause célèbre. But calls for participation of Afghan women without methodical, sustained and substantive engagement in a peace settlement has the potential to harm them, not help them. The international community should ensure that Afghan women …

Gender-Based Violence, Women

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TOPIC: WOMEN

Rosemary DiCarlo, the Top-Ranking American at the UN, Describes Her Work Crisscrossing the World

December 11, 2019

by Joanne Myers

On a busy day of a busy week and year, Rosemary DiCarlo, the United Nations under secretary-general for political and peacebuilding affairs, spoke frankly in an interview about her role as the first woman to be appointed to this position and as the highest-ranking American now serving the UN. DiCarlo discussed the challenges and …

US-UN Relations, Women

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TOPIC: WOMEN

Violence Is a Choice: The Peace Philosophy of Filmmaker Abigail Disney

March 25, 2019

by Maria Luisa Gambale

Abigail Disney is an American filmmaker and philanthropist who founded Fork Films and Peace Is Loud, an advocacy group. She also founded — with her husband, Pierre Hauser — the Daphne Foundation. Since her 2009 film “Pray the Devil Back to Hell,” which documented women’s peace activism that brought to power Liberia’s first female …

Gender-Based Violence, Peace and Security, Women

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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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SECURITY COUNCIL PRESIDENCY

Dominican Republic’s Priority in the UN Security Council: Climate Change

January 3, 2019

by Stéphanie Fillion

Although the Dominican Republic has been a member of the United Nations since 1945, the country is making its debut on the Security Council this month — starting big, as the president in the rotating seat. It is the country’s first strike out of two presidencies as an elected member with a two-year term, …

Caribbean, Security Council Presidency

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SECURITY COUNCIL PRESIDENCY

Sweden’s Priorities in the Security Council: Being Prepared, Including for the World Cup

July 5, 2018

by Stéphanie Fillion

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 is meant to be an informative capsule of not only the country’s ambassador but also …

Climate and Environment, Security Council, Security Council Presidency

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TOPIC: WOMEN

In Colombia, Female Ex-Combatants Still Face Risk of Stigmatization

March 13, 2018

by Adriana Erthal Abdenur

United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 and the resulting agenda on women, peace and security has called for more inclusive peace processes, stressing that women’s specific needs and experiences should be taken into account during and after peace negotiations. Yet the role of female ex-combatants in peace processes remains understudied and somewhat neglected in …

Disarmament, Gender-Based Violence, Women

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In London, a New Academic Center Focuses on Sexual Violence in Conflict

March 8, 2016

by Rhona Scullion

LONDON — The Center for Women, Peace and Security, based at the London School of Economics in Britain, is a year old. The first of its kind in Europe, the center aims to shed light on the prevalence of violence against women during conflict through academic research and forums. The concept of the center …

Gender-Based Violence, Human Rights, Peace and Security, Women

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WORLDVIEWS

As the UN Celebrates Empowerment of Women, a New Survey Shows Major Frustrations

October 14, 2015

by Danielle Goldberg and Mavic Cabrera-Balleza

Fifteen years ago, the United Nations Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution on women, peace and security, a landmark international law that demands women’s participation in decision-making on international peace and security. Though seldom recognized, the fundamental roots of this resolution, known as 1325, came from women’s actual experiences in armed conflict and their …

WORLDVIEWS

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WORLDVIEWS

Columbia University Adds New Gender Focus to Its International Affairs School

December 17, 2013

by Yasmine Ergas

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 …

WORLDVIEWS

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Ban Ki-moon Backs Emergency Steps for Women Raped in Conflict

April 19, 2013

by Barbara Crossette

With the issues of emergency contraception — the “morning after” pill — and abortion still topics of tremendous controversy among United Nations members, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has recommended that both should be offered as part of an international response to the rape of women in conflict situations. Writing in his first report on the …

Africa, Secretary-General, Uncategorized, Women

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Australian Academics Want Women’s Voices Heard at the Security Council

April 2, 2013

by Lorraine Boissoneault

A new network of women academics from Australia and New Zealand is keeping a close eye on Australia’s new two-year term as an elected member of the United Nations Security Council. The academics have organized a collective to track how well the UN’s most powerful body and Australia itself adhere to the landmark Women, …

Peace and Security, Security Council, Women

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GOINGS-ON

US Envoy for Global Women’s Issues Leaves for Georgetown

February 22, 2013

by PassBlue

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 …

GOINGS-ON, Women

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Samea Shanori and Fiona Shukri

Samea Shanori and Fiona Shukri

Afghan Women on the US-Taliban Peace Deal: We Refuse to Shut Up

Rosemary DiCarlo, the Top-Ranking American at the UN, Describes Her Work Crisscrossing the World

Violence Is a Choice: The Peace Philosophy of Filmmaker Abigail Disney

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

Dominican Republic’s Priority in the UN Security Council: Climate Change

Sweden’s Priorities in the Security Council: Being Prepared, Including for the World Cup

In Colombia, Female Ex-Combatants Still Face Risk of Stigmatization

In London, a New Academic Center Focuses on Sexual Violence in Conflict

As the UN Celebrates Empowerment of Women, a New Survey Shows Major Frustrations

Columbia University Adds New Gender Focus to Its International Affairs School

Ban Ki-moon Backs Emergency Steps for Women Raped in Conflict

Australian Academics Want Women’s Voices Heard at the Security Council

US Envoy for Global Women’s Issues Leaves for Georgetown

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