women’s rights

• April 30, 2021

Veronique Vandegans, the United Nations chief of the French Interpretation Section, working at home in Brooklyn, N.Y., with company. The photo is part of a story for the UN Department of Global Communications on remote interpretation. MANUEL ELIAS/UN PHOTO The United States ambassador goes honest on racism; an ex-Ecuadorean head of state aims to be …

Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Latin America, Secretary-General, This Week @UN, UN Agencies, UN Special Envoys, US-UN Relations

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TOPIC: WOMEN

Rosalía Arteaga, a Short-Lived President of Ecuador, Wants to Run Against the UN’s Guterres

Stéphanie Fillion

• April 29, 2021

Rosalía Arteaga, a former Ecuadorean president, is planning to enter the race to be the first woman to lead the United Nations and beat the incumbent, Secretary-General António Guterres, through a “people-backed” campaign. The announcement by the Forward campaign, a new movement based in London that is holding open, digital global primaries to find …

General Assembly, Latin America, Secretary-General, Security Council, Women

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THIS WEEK @UN

Mass Rapes in Tigray; Burma Sinks Further; Climate, Climate, Climate

Ivana Ramirez

• April 23, 2021

The Joe Biden climate-fest; rape as a weapon of war in Tigray; Burma slides further downhill. You are reading This Week @UN, summarizing the most pressing issues facing the organization. The information is gathered from UN press briefings, PassBlue reporting and other sources. Laura Kirkpatrick, who manages our Facebook page, created an informal poll based …

Climate and Environment, General Assembly, Middle East, Myanmar, Secretary-General, Security Council, This Week @UN, US-UN Relations

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WORLDVIEWS

Tigray Can’t Wait: The UN Security Council Must Act to End Sexual Assault Now

Susana Malcorra

• April 22, 2021

As a woman who has worked for the United Nations in emergency and humanitarian operations, I am deeply shaken over what is occurring in the protracted conflict in Tigray, in northern Ethiopia, where reports of human suffering, including growing allegations of grievous gender-based violence, keep increasing. These actions are cruel and ruthless, and they …

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

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THIS WEEK @UN

Major Afghanistan Peace Talks; Spoilsport Russia; Wartime Sexual Abuse in the Pandemic

Ivana Ramirez

• April 16, 2021

Afghanistan mega-peace talks in Istanbul; Russia the spoiler; could a Latin American woman lead the UN down the road or sooner? You are reading This Week @UN, summarizing the most pressing issues facing the organization. The information is gathered from UN press briefings, PassBlue reporting and other sources. We at PassBlue are deeply saddened by …

Gender Violence, Secretary-General, Security Council, This Week @UN, US Foreign Relations, US-UN Relations

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TOPIC: WOMEN

This Feminist Is Putting Women at the Peace Table

Sonah Lee-Lassiter

• April 13, 2021

In 2010, Maria Victoria (Mavic) Cabrera-Balleza founded an organization to help and advocate for the rights of women and girls globally, but it was her childhood experiences that first politicized her. Martial law was declared by the dictator President Ferdinand Marcos of the Philippines in 1972, when she was in fourth grade. Born in …

Gender Violence, Human Rights, Peace and Security, Women

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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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THIS WEEK @UN

Myanmar’s Coup Crisis Persists; Global Bias Against Older People; Vietnam Is in Charge

Ivana Ramirez

• April 9, 2021

The Myanmar crisis isn’t going away; global bias against older people; Vietnam leads the Security Council; Chadian peacekeepers killed and wounded in Mali. You are reading This Week @UN, summarizing the most pressing issues facing the organization. The information is gathered from UN press briefings, PassBlue reporting and other sources. A huge thank you to …

General Assembly, Health and Population, Human Rights, Myanmar, Secretary-General, Security Council, This Week @UN, US-UN Relations

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COVID-19

The Pandemic Reveals the Disturbing Depths of Ageism, Especially for Women

Barbara Crossette

• April 6, 2021

During more than a year of tracking the parameters of Covid-19, medical science has made one thing clear: the virus hits the elderly hardest. Yet their vulnerability is often taken as fate. A new international study disagrees. Prejudice, institutional bias and societal discrimination against older people in both rich and poor countries, it says, …

Covid-19, Gender Violence, Health and Population, Human Rights

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THIS WEEK @UN

America’s Blinken ‘Visits’ the UN; Mexico’s Split Personality on Women’s Rights; New Secretary-General Applicants

Ivana Ramirez

• April 2, 2021

United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken dials the UN; Mexico’s dual-personality approach to women’s rights; a deadly French airstrike on a wedding in Mali; two new applicants for secretary-general. You are reading This Week @UN, summarizing the most pressing issues facing the organization. The information is gathered from UN press briefings, PassBlue reporting …

Africa, Gender Violence, General Assembly, Human Rights, Myanmar, Secretary-General, Security Council, This Week @UN, UN Special Envoys, US-UN Relations

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TOPIC: WOMEN

At the UN, Mexico Works for Women’s Rights. Back Home It’s a Different Story.

Maurizio Guerrero

• March 29, 2021

Mexico and France are hosting a United Nations forum that aims to accelerate the agenda laid out 26 years ago at the landmark Beijing women’s conference: securing equal rights and equal opportunities for half the population of the world. Beginning in Mexico City on March 29-31 and culminating in Paris in early July, the …

Gender Violence, Human Rights, Women

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THIS WEEK @UN

Anti-Asian Threats; Troubles in the UN Humanitarian Aid Agency?; Yes, the UN Still Matters

Ivana Ramirez

• March 26, 2021

Anti-Asian violence; the closing window for a woman secretary-general; a UN expert threatened by Saudi Arabia; the UN’s humanitarian-aid agency cries out for changes. You are reading This Week @UN, summarizing the most pressing issues facing the organization. The information is gathered from UN press briefings, PassBlue reporting and other sources. Barbara Crossette, who …

Development, Gender Violence, Health and Population, Human Rights, Sustainable Development Goals, This Week @UN, UN Special Envoys, US-UN Relations

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TOPIC: WOMEN

The Chances for a Woman Leading the UN Soon Are Fading Fast

Sonah Lee-Lassiter

• March 24, 2021

Unless a strong candidate backed by an influential member state comes forward soon, it looks unlikely that Secretary-General António Guterres will be denied a second term and that a woman could be elected to succeed him, starting in 2022. Any challengers for the United Nations’ top leadership post will need to step up in …

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

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WORLDVIEWS

The Audacity of Change: A Specific Example of How the UN Can Still Make a Difference

Alan Doss

• March 23, 2021

GENEVA — One of the quiet pleasures of life is an early-morning cappuccino in the company of a good newspaper. That was before Covid-19 came along. The pandemic and resulting disruption of newspaper deliveries and shuttering of cafes has obliged me to suspend my habits of a lifetime. Pending the resumption of normal service, …

Development, Sustainable Development Goals, WORLDVIEWS

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The UN’s Humanitarian Aid Agency, Ready for a New Boss and Possibly a New Management Style

Laura E. Kirkpatrick

• March 22, 2021

The United Nations’ top agency for humanitarian aid is poised for a new boss to arrive, one who could instill a management style far removed from what some of its staffers call a “neocolonial mind-set” under the outgoing head, Mark Lowcock, a Briton. As Secretary-General António Guterres decides on who will next lead the …

Humanitarian Aid, Secretary-General, UN Agencies

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WORLDVIEWS

She Had a Front-Row Role in the Early Days of the UN, but Is Forgotten Now

Erwin R. Tiongson

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women’s rights

The US Envoy on Racism; ‘Apartheid’ in the Mideast; UK’s Cuts to UN Agencies

Rosalía Arteaga, a Short-Lived President of Ecuador, Wants to Run Against the UN’s Guterres

Mass Rapes in Tigray; Burma Sinks Further; Climate, Climate, Climate

Tigray Can’t Wait: The UN Security Council Must Act to End Sexual Assault Now

Major Afghanistan Peace Talks; Spoilsport Russia; Wartime Sexual Abuse in the Pandemic

This Feminist Is Putting Women at the Peace Table

Russia, the Current Big Spoiler in Advancing Global Gender Rights

Myanmar’s Coup Crisis Persists; Global Bias Against Older People; Vietnam Is in Charge

The Pandemic Reveals the Disturbing Depths of Ageism, Especially for Women

America’s Blinken ‘Visits’ the UN; Mexico’s Split Personality on Women’s Rights; New Secretary-General Applicants

At the UN, Mexico Works for Women’s Rights. Back Home It’s a Different Story.

Anti-Asian Threats; Troubles in the UN Humanitarian Aid Agency?; Yes, the UN Still Matters

The Chances for a Woman Leading the UN Soon Are Fading Fast

The Audacity of Change: A Specific Example of How the UN Can Still Make a Difference

The UN’s Humanitarian Aid Agency, Ready for a New Boss and Possibly a New Management Style

This Week's Most Popular

On the Campaign Trail for the World’s ‘Most Impossible’ Job

China’s Agenda for May: Less on Myanmar, More on Tech, Peace and Security

Six Latin American Women Who Could Be the UN Leader Down the Road

The US Envoy on Racism; ‘Apartheid’ in the Mideast; UK’s Cuts to UN Agencies

UN-Scripted, Passblue's UN podcast series

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