violence against women

• November 25, 2022

This week, we focus on climate commitments made at the just-concluded COP27 as well as the UN Environment Program honoring activists. You are reading This Week @UN, summarizing the most pressing issues before the organization. The information is gathered from UN press briefings, PassBlue reporting and other sources. This week, the UN Secretary-General António …

Africa, Climate Change, Gender Violence, General Assembly, Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Middle East, This Week @UN, Ukraine-Russia War

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Will the General Assembly and the Human Rights Council Send a Strong Message to Iran?

Kourosh Ziabari

• November 22, 2022

Leaders of major democracies are intensifying their denunciations of the Iranian government for its continued brutal crackdown on the protests in the country, which are moving into their third month as Iran has issued four death sentences so far linked to demonstrations. Not only are countries levying new sanctions on individuals and entities implicated …

Asia, General Assembly, Human Rights, Middle East, Security Council

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THIS WEEK @UN

Trending UN News: Week Ending Nov. 11

Damilola Banjo

• November 11, 2022

This week, world leaders are gathering in Egypt to renew their commitments to sustainable climate conditions. You are reading This Week @UN, summarizing the most pressing issues before the organization. The information is gathered from UN press briefings, PassBlue reporting and other sources. This week, we look at conversations led by UN Secretary-General António …

Africa, Asia, Climate Change, Gender Violence, Secretary-General, Security Council, This Week @UN, Ukraine-Russia War

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Saeid Iravani: What to Expect From Iran’s New Ambassador to the UN

Kourosh Ziabari

• November 9, 2022

Iran’s new ambassador to the United Nations stunned journalists recently when he read a contentious statement to them in response to an informal Security Council meeting on the current protests in Iran. The envoy delivered his remarks to reporters just before the Council met on Nov. 2 to discuss in particular women’s rights …

Gender Violence, Middle East, UN Diplomats, US Foreign Relations

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WORLDVIEWS

The Decline of Women’s Rights Is Inciting More Gender-Based Violence. Solutions Exist.

Susana Malcorra

• November 7, 2022

The deterioration of women’s rights across the world is enabling more gender-based violence. Even those who strive to defend and even expand their privileges at the exclusion of others recognize that half the global population suffers inequalities and injustice. This reality was recognized 27 years ago by the 189 countries that signed the Beijing …

Gender Violence, WORLDVIEWS

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The UN Security Council Sanctions Haitian Gang Leaders, but Has Not Moved on a Strike Force Yet

Damilola Banjo

• October 24, 2022

After weeks of negotiations and delayed voting, the United Nations Security Council overwhelmingly agreed to sanction Jimmy Cherizier and other gang leaders accused of raping and terrorizing Haitian people. The sanctions were approved on Oct. 21 in a resolution led by the United States and Mexico, one week after a report by the Office …

Caribbean, Gender Violence, Secretary-General, Security Council

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THIS WEEK @UN

Trending UN News: Week Ending Oct. 21

Damilola Banjo

• October 21, 2022

This week, a United Nations agency released a damning report on how plastics are damaging our world and harming the people in it. You are reading This Week @UN, summarizing the most pressing issues before the organization. The information is gathered from UN press briefings, PassBlue reporting and other sources. This week, Deputy Secretary-General …

Gender Violence, International Justice, Secretary-General, Security Council, This Week @UN, Ukraine-Russia War

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TOPIC: WOMEN

Faulty DNA Testing and Politics Continue to Fail South Africa’s Rape Victims

Nyasha Bhobo

• October 17, 2022

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa — When news that a mob of men raped eight young women last summer during a music-video production set in an abandoned mining site in Krugersdorp, Sipehle wasn’t optimistic that the culprits would be prosecuted. “My rapist walked free,” Sipehle said, explaining that it was because of a delay in DNA …

Africa, Gender Violence, Women

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THIS WEEK @UN

Trending UN News: Week Ending Oct. 14

Damilola Banjo

• October 14, 2022

This week, we celebrate the International Day of the Girl Child amid various restrictions on and violations of girls’ rights globally. You are reading This Week @UN, summarizing the most pressing issues before the organization. The information is gathered from UN press briefings, PassBlue reporting and other sources. This week, Russia escalated its war …

Africa, General Assembly, LGBT, Migration, Peace and Security, Secretary-General, This Week @UN, Ukraine-Russia War, US-UN Relations

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TOPIC: WOMEN

Margot Wallstrom, the Original Feminist Foreign Policy Advocate, Says Countries Need It Now ‘More Than Ever’

Stephanie Liechtenstein

• October 1, 2022

VIENNA — Margot Wallstrom, a former Swedish foreign minister, clinched her reputation in 2014 for boldly coining the concept of the world’s first “feminist foreign policy.” While having left active politics only five years later, in 2019, she remains firmly behind the policy and defends it passionately today. “The feminist foreign policy is needed …

Gender Violence, Nuclear Disarmament, Peace and Security, Women

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THIS WEEK @UN

Trending UN News: Week Ending Sept. 30

Damilola Banjo

• September 30, 2022

This week, we are excited about Cuba’s historic moment as it legalizes same-sex marriage and protects other vulnerable groups. You are reading This Week @UN, summarizing the most pressing issues before the organization. The information is gathered from UN press briefings, PassBlue reporting and other sources. This week, we also look at the continued …

Peace and Security, Secretary-General, This Week @UN, Ukraine-Russia War

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WOMEN AS CHANGEMAKERS

Born Under Apartheid, Navi Pillay Has Climbed to Global Heights in Promoting Human-Rights Law

Barbara Crossette

• September 12, 2022

Nations of the world have taken giant steps in recent decades to build international structures and strengthen institutions to deal with mass human-rights abusers. At almost every stage, Navi Pillay, a South African lawyer, was there, advancing the rights of political detainees and the protection and status of women. Pillay, 80, is a descendant …

Africa, Gender Violence, Human Rights, Women as Changemakers

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This Belarusian Activist Has One Goal: To See Lukashenko Out and Democracy In

Anastasiia Carrier

• August 30, 2022

When a Belarusian official presented the country’s flattering self-assessment at a forum on sustainable development held at the United Nations in July, Anastasia Kostyugova was there to push back. “[The government] blindly manipulates statistics to portray Belarus as a happy and prosperous country,” Kostyugova read from her statement. “How can a civil society address …

Gender Violence, Human Rights, Peace and Security, Ukraine-Russia War

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WORLDVIEWS

The Afghanistan We Long to See: A Place Where the Rights of Women and Girls Are Restored

Geraldine Byrne Nason

• August 14, 2022

Today marks a dark anniversary — one year since Kabul fell to the Taliban. As Ireland’s ambassador to the United Nations, I have always said I will judge the Taliban by their actions, not by their words. Their actions in the last year speak of absolute contempt for the rights of the Afghan people, …

Asia, Gender Violence, Human Rights, Security Council, WORLDVIEWS

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TOPIC: WOMEN

Fleeing Mariupol, a Ukrainian Refugee’s Life Is Pained by War and Uncertainty

Dawn Clancy

• August 8, 2022

WARSAW, Poland — Olena’s journey begins in the smoldering shadow of the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol, Ukraine, but whether her escape to safety will end in a suburb of Warsaw, Poland, or thousands of miles away in Dublin, Ireland, remains unknown and reflects the unsettling nature of life as a war refugee. Olena’s …