UN Women

• March 27, 2017

GENEVA — Whether or not he is a fan of Chinese characters, António Guterres will have to discover the double meaning of a crisis as opportunity. United Nations corridors on First Avenue in New York are buzzing with anxiety about the possibility of impending cuts in funding from the United States, with hints from …

Secretary-General, US-UN Relations, WORLDVIEWS

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TOPIC: WOMEN

Was the US a Bad Host at the UN Women’s Conference?

Laura E. Kirkpatrick

• March 25, 2017

The annual women’s conference at the United Nations may have encountered severe weather on its second day, when a blizzard swept through the region and events had to be canceled at the UN, but the real storm originated with the actions of the host country, the United States. Indeed, the role that the US …

US Foreign Relations, US-UN Relations, Women

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TOPIC: WOMEN

Women’s Rights Must Be Backed by Legal Rights, a New Coalition Insists

Barbara Crossette

• February 28, 2017

More than two decades have passed since a series of dynamic international conferences in the 1990s — on human rights, reproductive choices and broad empowerment for women — inspired and encouraged women around the world to raise their hopes in many ways. Subsequently, there have been gains in female education at all levels, a …

Development, Gender Violence, Women, World Bank

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TOPIC: WOMEN

Citing Trump Immigration Ban, a Major Group Drops Out of UN’s Annual Women’s Conference

Dulcie Leimbach

• February 11, 2017

The annual meeting of the United Nations’ Commission on the Status of Women, held in New York every March, may be in trouble because of uncertainty and fear about the Trump administration’s attempt to ban immigration from seven Muslim-majority countries. One major group has announced it is pulling out, and calls are being heard …

UN Agencies, US Foreign Relations, US-UN Relations, Women

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A New Campaign, #EveryHourMatters, Urges Instant Post-Rape Care

Lori Silberman Brauner

• March 28, 2016

Maureen Phiri, a young girl from a poor family in Malawi, was only 11 years old when she was raped by the man who had hired her to do housework for him and his wife. Not only did Maureen continue to experience sexual abuse from the man she worked for, he left her with another …

Gender Violence, Health and Population, UN Agencies, UN Office on Drugs and Crime, Women

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As Syrian Peace Talks Take Shape, How Will Women Take Part?

Dulcie Leimbach

• December 26, 2015

When the United Nations Security Council recently approved timelines to begin peace talks and institute a national cease-fire in Syria, the language in the resolution gave no hint of the magnitude of such undertakings, nor did the congratulatory speeches afterward by diplomats delve into the details. That means the nitty-gritty work is left to …

Gender Violence, Middle East, Peace and Security, Security Council, Syria, Women

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In South Africa, the Importance of Telling Our Own Stories

Kamayani Bali Mahabal

• December 2, 2015

CAPE TOWN — As the curtains go up and bright lights dramatically illuminate the room, the only thing the audience can see is a bare stage with three chairs. A stark setting indeed, and yet it’s the perfect backdrop for a performance that combines music, dance, laughter and heart-rending stories of feminine courage and …

Africa, Gender Violence, Women

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Women’s Rights and the UN: A Long History of Ups and Downs

Saraswathi Menon

• August 10, 2015

The 2010 creation of the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment (or UN Women) represented an unusual organizational consolidation instead of the typical proliferation. It had a promising start under strong leadership but faces serious challenges with growing resistance to gender equality. Support for women’s rights has a long and checkered …

UN Agencies, Women

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This Palestinian Policewoman Has Zero Tolerance for Domestic Violence

PassBlue

• July 16, 2015

RAMALLAH — As the head of the Palestinian Civil Police Family and Juvenile Protection Unit, Lieut. Col. Wafa Muammar is the highest-ranking female officer in the Palestinian police force and a role model for women trying to find their own space in what has been considered a man’s profession here. Among the first generation …

Gender Violence, Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Middle East, Women

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Eastern Europe Presses Its Claim to the Secretary-General’s Office

Barbara Crossette

• April 13, 2015

In 70 years of United Nations history, Eastern Europe has been the only regional group in the organization that has never filled the position of secretary-general. Western Europe has had three secretaries-general; Asia and Africa, two each; and Latin America and the Caribbean, one. The 23 nations of the Eastern European region, determined to …

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

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Prostitution: A Word That UN Women Does Not Want to Hear

Barbara Crossette

• March 31, 2015

On the eve of a speech Ruchira Gupta was to give on International Women’s Day in New York as the recipient of a Woman of Distinction award, she got a strange email. Gupta, who has collected numerous awards for her work against sex slavery in India — including an Emmy for her 1996 documentary, …

Gender Violence, Human Trafficking, Poverty, Women

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The Many Global Currents Undermining Gender Equality

Florencia Giordano

• March 29, 2015

How much does the economic environment of a country generate inequalities for women? A new report on wage gaps says that disparities are only partly explained by differences in experience, education and/or occupation, proving there is much more work to be done before the world offers both genders equal pay for equal work. The …

Gender Violence, Migration, Women

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In Eastern Ukraine, Questions Abound Regarding Violence Against Women

Laura E. Kirkpatrick

• March 10, 2015

A recent cease-fire seems to be holding in eastern Ukraine, promising relative relief in the region from the incessant, percussive beat of heavy artillery from Howitzers, tanks and rocket launchers with a backbeat provided by Kalashnikov AK-74s. Fighting in Ukraine’s civil war has kept people in the embattled zones on a razor’s edge since …

Gender Violence, Human Rights, Women

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At the UN’s Yearly Meeting on Women, Scrutinizing the Slow, Patchy Gains on Equality

Dulcie Leimbach

• March 8, 2015

Two decades after the world’s largest gathering of women adopted an ambitious plan to improve if not legalize gender equality, women are marginally better off in many walks of life, depending on the country and urban versus rural regions. Progress has been documented across a range of categories, but setbacks have spoiled overall advances. …

Gender Violence, Women

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In 2014, a Year of Catastrophes, Women Still Made Some Gains

Barbara Crossette

• December 26, 2014

Amid the horrors that women and girls have suffered around the world in 2014 — including being forced to flee their homes by the hundreds of thousands in Syria, the sexual enslavement of Christians and Yazidis in Iraq and the kidnapping and forced conversion to radical Islam of girls from schools in northern Nigeria …