UNFPA

The UN Charter’s Birthday, Guterres ‘Meets’ the Press, Israel’s Annexation Plans

June 26, 2020

Starting in June, a summary of the most important news on the United Nations’ work in New York City and worldwide will be highlighted weekly. The news will be drawn from the UN spokesperson’s briefings, our original reporting and other sources. We welcome your feedback on the new series, called This Week @UN. This …

General Assembly, Secretary-General, Security Council, This Week @UN

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COVID-19

Biden’s Toughest Task: Linking Foreign Policy to a Changed America

June 10, 2020

by Barbara Crossette

With Joseph Biden taking an unassailable lead by June 7 as the Democratic Party’s choice for president of the United States, many Americans foresee a desperate, ugly political campaign for re-election by Donald Trump coming. The magnitude of his damage to America’s role in the world will be an issue for Democrats, along with …

Covid-19, US Foreign Relations, US-UN Relations

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COVID-19

Trump’s Break-Up With the WHO and the US Push for a Vaccine

May 1, 2020

by Irwin Arieff

Just how crazy is Donald Trump’s campaign to punish the World Health Organization over its apparent “China-centric” bias in the midst of a deadly pandemic? Let us count the ways. At the top of the list: It may contribute to a big setback for Trump himself. When the United States president announced on April …

Covid-19, US Foreign Relations, US-UN Relations

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TOPIC: WOMEN

Win or Lose, Trump’s Policies on Women’s Health Inflict Damage

February 25, 2020

by Barbara Crossette

Whether or not Donald Trump will be re-elected president on Nov. 3, a tough debate is likely to begin soon in the United States Congress over the national budget for the unpredictable year ahead. Reproductive health issues rank high on the agenda for women’s rights advocates. Trump’s proposed budget would continue to restrict funds …

Gender-Based Violence, Women

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TOPIC: WOMEN

Mixing Politics and Religion, the US Stalls UN Work on Women’s Rights

November 26, 2019

by Barbara Crossette

It did not take long after the 74th General Assembly session opened this fall for the Trump team to signal that its strategy in key United Nations meetings would be to act as uncooperative and obstructive as possible, especially on human-rights agendas. The 2019-2020 UN year — September to September — is likely to be …

Health and Population, Women

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Trump’s Pick for UN Diplomat in Geneva Vows to Oppose Reproductive Rights and Put America First

June 26, 2019

by Stéphanie Fillion

“I am pro-life, I believe that all human life is sacred, and that human life begins at conception,” Andrew Bremberg told members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee recently. Asked if rape victims should have access to abortion, he replied, “I don’t believe that abortion is a moral solution to any problem.” Nominated by …

Human Rights, US Foreign Relations, US-UN Relations

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Trump’s UN Pick Softens on Climate Change, but Not on Paris Accord

June 19, 2019

by Irwin Arieff

Kelly Knight Craft, Donald Trump’s pick to be the next United States ambassador to the United Nations, raised eyebrows in her June 19 Senate confirmation hearing by putting some space between her views on global climate change and those of the president. But Trump needn’t worry that she might end up threatening her boss’s …

Security Council, The Trump Years, US Foreign Relations, US-UN Relations

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TOPIC: WOMEN

An Assault on Trump’s Global Women’s Health Policy Begins

May 28, 2019

by Barbara Crossette

With a fierce national budget battle looming in the United States Congress, Democrats on a key committee have formally proposed legislation overturning Trump policies that deny millions of women and girls in developing countries access to vital reproductive health care, including family planning. The legislative bill that emerged on May 16 from the House …

Health and Population, Human Rights, Women

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TOPIC: WOMEN

Celebrating Women’s History Month, Trump-Pompeo Style

April 2, 2019

by Barbara Crossette

Here’s how the United States government marked the 2019 monthlong celebration of the world’s women in March: Donald Trump’s Secretary of State Mike Pompeo got off to an early start on March 13 by releasing the State Department’s annual global human-rights report, scrubbed of all references to reproductive health and rights. Hewing to the …

Human Rights, US Foreign Relations, US-UN Relations, Women

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TOPIC: WOMEN

Heather Nauert, Trump’s Nominee for UN Envoy, Faces Heated Opposition

December 12, 2018

by Dulcie Leimbach and Laura E. Kirkpatrick

The nomination of Heather Nauert to succeed Nikki Haley as United States ambassador to the United Nations has quickly enraged some international women’s rights groups and a major Islamic advocacy organization based in the United States, portending a tense confirmation hearing in the US Senate for Nauert. The announcement of her nomination last week …

Human Rights, LGBT, US Foreign Relations, US-UN Relations, Women

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TOPIC: WOMEN

US Congress Strikes Back at Trump’s Goals to Curtail Family Planning

March 25, 2018

by Barbara Crossette

In a rare act of legislative sabotage, the Trump administration’s plan to starve international family planning of funds has been killed for now as committees in both the United States House of Representatives and the Senate slipped hundreds of millions of dollars to support reproductive health programs into a 2,232-page, $1.3 trillion US budget …

Gender-Based Violence, LGBT, US Foreign Relations, US-UN Relations, Women

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TAKE A LOOK

With US Funds Gone, UN Population Fund Faces Brutal Choices in Helping Women

August 27, 2017

by Barbara Crossette

It will soon be two years since the United Nations adopted a new 15-year development policy encapsulated in the 17 Sustainable Development Goals. This sprawling, ambitious agenda was designed partly to address the shortcomings of the Millennium Goals, the most disheartening of which for women was the failure to meet promises of improved maternal …

Development, Gender-Based Violence, Health and Population, Sustainable Development Goals, Take a Look, US Foreign Relations

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NIKKI HALEY WATCH

‘I Don’t Go Rogue on the President’: Nikki Haley’s Contradictory Testimony to Congress About the UN

June 28, 2017

by Barbara Crossette

Five months into her stint as United States ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley faced two days of often-sharp questioning on June 27 and 28 by influential panels of the United States Congress. They demanded justification for the Trump administration’s decision to slash funding to the United Nations, particularly cuts to the UN …

Nikki Haley Watch, Security Council, Syria, UN Agencies, UN Peacekeeping, US Foreign Relations, US-UN Relations

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GOINGS-ON

Babatunde Osotimehin, UNFPA Head Since 2011, Dies Suddenly at 68

June 5, 2017

by Barbara Crossette

The death on June 4 of Babatunde Osotimehin, executive director of the United Nations Population Fund, UNFPA, and a Nigerian, was not only a personal tragedy and a shock to the staff of the fund but also another blow for an agency that had recently lost all its United States financial support. Osotimehin, a …

Africa, GOINGS-ON, Health and Population, UN Agencies

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GEOPOLITICS

The Debate on Trump’s Budget Ignores Serious Global Cuts

May 29, 2017

by Barbara Crossette

When the White House sent its proposed 2018 budget to the United States Congress on May 23, it was apparent that not only would a hawkish, nationalistic focus on military expenditures come at the cost of international aid and support for the United Nations. Worse, the Trump plan would also sideline discussions on global …

Africa, Gender-Based Violence, Geopolitics, Health and Population, Humanitarian Aid, Peace and Security, UN Peacekeeping, US-UN Relations

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UNFPA

The UN Charter’s Birthday, Guterres ‘Meets’ the Press, Israel’s Annexation Plans

Biden’s Toughest Task: Linking Foreign Policy to a Changed America

Trump’s Break-Up With the WHO and the US Push for a Vaccine

Win or Lose, Trump’s Policies on Women’s Health Inflict Damage

Mixing Politics and Religion, the US Stalls UN Work on Women’s Rights

Trump’s Pick for UN Diplomat in Geneva Vows to Oppose Reproductive Rights and Put America First

Trump’s UN Pick Softens on Climate Change, but Not on Paris Accord

An Assault on Trump’s Global Women’s Health Policy Begins

Celebrating Women’s History Month, Trump-Pompeo Style

Heather Nauert, Trump’s Nominee for UN Envoy, Faces Heated Opposition

US Congress Strikes Back at Trump’s Goals to Curtail Family Planning

With US Funds Gone, UN Population Fund Faces Brutal Choices in Helping Women

‘I Don’t Go Rogue on the President’: Nikki Haley’s Contradictory Testimony to Congress About the UN

Babatunde Osotimehin, UNFPA Head Since 2011, Dies Suddenly at 68

The Debate on Trump’s Budget Ignores Serious Global Cuts

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