Peace and Security

• October 4, 2021

In October, the United Nations Security Council diplomats are packing up their suitcases and hopping on an overseas flight to the Sahel region of West Africa to assess the serious challenges that this semiarid strip is countering. It is the first Council trip abroad since the pandemic hit in March 2020. “The Sahara is …

Africa, Caribbean, Latin America, Peace and Security, Security Council Presidency, Terrorism

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TOPIC: WOMEN

Russia, the Current Big Spoiler in Advancing Global Gender Rights

Barbara Crossette

• April 12, 2021

Human-rights advocates around the world are assessing how much lasting damage could still be done to universal human rights after the four-year assault from the Trump administration. Although the Trump years ended with the swearing-in of President Joe Biden in January, civil society organizations and governments understand that an American turnaround could be slow …

Gender Violence, Secretary-General, Security Council, Women

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TOPIC: WOMEN

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

Samea Shanori and Fiona Shukri

• March 25, 2020

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 Violence, Women

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TOPIC: WOMEN

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

Joanne Myers

• December 11, 2019

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

Maria Luisa Gambale

• March 25, 2019

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 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

Stéphanie Fillion

• March 4, 2019

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 Change, Gender Violence, Security Council Presidency

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SECURITY COUNCIL PRESIDENCY

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

Stéphanie Fillion

• January 3, 2019

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

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

Climate Change, Security Council, Security Council Presidency

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TOPIC: WOMEN

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

Adriana Erthal Abdenur

• March 13, 2018

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 Violence, Women

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

Rhona Scullion

• March 8, 2016

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 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

Danielle Goldberg and Mavic Cabrera-Balleza

• October 14, 2015

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

Yasmine Ergas

• December 17, 2013

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

Barbara Crossette

• April 19, 2013

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

Lorraine Boissoneault

• April 2, 2013

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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US Envoy for Global Women’s Issues Leaves for Georgetown

PassBlue

• February 22, 2013

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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Peace and Security

Kenya Is Taking the Security Council to Mali and Niger to Assess Their Problems of Terrorism

Russia, the Current Big Spoiler in Advancing Global Gender Rights

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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