women’s rights

Rights Advocates Rejoice as the New Biden Team Is Assembled

November 23, 2020

Advice is pouring into President-elect Joe Biden from around the United States and across the world on how to turn around the damage the Trump administration has inflicted in key policy areas. Advocates for public health, women’s rights and a semblance of restored American leadership are among those hoping for quick action starting the …

Africa, Climate and Environment, US Foreign Relations, US-UN Relations

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THIS WEEK @UN

Fed-Up Africans; Has Biden Forgotten the UN?; Don’t Sanction the Houthis

November 20, 2020

by Dulcie Leimbach

Africans are fed up with being sidelined in the Security Council; hey, Joe Biden, don’t overlook the UN; a mother of five competes against 12 men in the Burkina Faso presidential election. You are reading This Week @UN, highlighting the most important news on the world body. The information is drawn from the UN spokesperson’s …

Africa, Human Rights, Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Secretary-General, This Week @UN, US-UN Relations

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TOPIC: WOMEN

The Sole Woman Running for President of Burkina Faso Says: ‘I Will Win’

November 19, 2020

by Clair MacDougall

OUAGADOUGOU, Burkina Faso — Monique Yéli Kam’s war room is not a typical campaign headquarters for a national presidential candidate. A dusty white marquis stands next to stacked blue chairs fanning out to a balcony that leads to a room where teenage boys jostle to play a soccer video game. Upstairs in her apartment, …

Africa, Governance, Women

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THIS WEEK @UN

An Afghan Midwife Delivers; Fighting in Ethiopia Erupts; the UN Reacts to US Election Results

November 13, 2020

by Dulcie Leimbach

An Afghan midwife saving lives in her country; the UN secretary-general congratulates US president-elect Joe Biden (sort of); a new gender group with a questionable purpose. You are reading This Week @UN, highlighting the most important news on the world body. The information is drawn from the UN spokesperson’s briefings, our original reporting and other …

Africa, Caribbean, Secretary-General, This Week @UN

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TOPIC: WOMEN

The UN General Assembly President Turns His Focus on Women, but Why?

November 10, 2020

by Barbara Crossette

When it comes to power and influence in the United Nations system, the president of the General Assembly has little control beyond a procedural role in managing an often-fractious body of member nations, now numbering 193, each with policies of its own. The Assembly is forbidden by Article 12 of the UN Charter, for …

Gender-Based Violence, General Assembly, Women

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TOPIC: WOMEN

For This Afghan Woman, Midwifery Is a Labor of Love

November 8, 2020

by Lori Silberman Brauner

From a young age, Zahra Mirzaei, 32, decided to become a midwife after she encountered a kind doctor who encouraged her to pursue studies in the field. Observing the role that midwives played in her country — Afghanistan — while challenged by extremely limited educational opportunities for women and girls, Mirzaei said: “It spoke …

Health and Population, Women

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SECURITY COUNCIL PRESIDENCY

The Smallest State to Ever Lead the UN Security Council: St. Vincent and the Grenadines

November 2, 2020

by Stéphanie Fillion

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines may be the smallest country to ever sit on the Security Council, but it doesn’t mean it is intimidated by the big powers. Instead, the island nation is already amplifying the voices of Africa and the Caribbean in the UN forum. “I think that what the small state does …

Caribbean, Security Council Presidency

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Myanmar Votes in a Sea of Troubles at Home and Abroad

October 20, 2020

by Barbara Crossette

A decade after the first democratic reforms began taking shape after long years of harsh military rule in Myanmar, its citizens are preparing to vote in a national election on Nov. 8. It will be an important test for the country and its leader, Aung San Suu Kyi. Her once-shining image as she swept …

Asia, Governance, Refugees

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THIS WEEK @UN

The Rough Road to Gender Equality; a Major Message on Hunger; No Saudis on the Human Rights Council

October 17, 2020

by Dulcie Leimbach

For once, two pieces of good news from the United Nations: The World Food Program receives the Nobel Peace Prize and the Security Council begins meeting physically again in its chamber. But some reality-checking: 25 years after the Beijing conference on women, the road to gender equality is still being dug. Greetings from This Week …

Africa, Health and Population, Human Rights, Israeli-Palestinian conflict, This Week @UN, US Foreign Relations

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TOPIC: WOMEN

Women’s Rights Are Human Rights: How Equality Became a US Foreign Policy Priority

October 14, 2020

by Rebecca Turkington and Melanne Verveer

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Twenty-five years ago this month, tens of thousands of women (and some men) gathered in Beijing for the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women. It was a profound moment in the history of women’s rights, convening 5,000 official delegates from nearly every country in the world and more than 30,000 …

Development, Gender-Based Violence, Human Trafficking, US Foreign Relations, US-UN Relations, Women

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TOPIC: WOMEN

Five Months Before UN Security Council Resolution 1325, the Seminar That Set the Scene

October 8, 2020

by Barbara Crossette

In a year of anniversaries at the United Nations, one stands out of special interest to women in peacekeeping and humanitarian work in conflict zones and other arenas of crisis where civilian rights are trampled on and families and societies severely disrupted. On October 31, 2000, the Security Council passed a breakthrough resolution 1325 …

UN Peacekeeping, Women

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SECURITY COUNCIL PRESIDENCY

Russia Brings Human Contact Back to the UN Security Council

October 4, 2020

by Stéphanie Fillion

From the very moment that the United Nations decided to work online, after the pandemic hit, Russia has been the strongest and loudest opponent of going virtual at the world body. For its Security Council presidency, in October, Russia finally got its way: the Council will be meeting once again in its chamber, sitting …

Africa, Middle East, Security Council Presidency

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THIS WEEK @UN

Where Are the Women Leaders?; War Sparks in the Caucasus; Sadness and Hope at the Beijing+25 Event

October 3, 2020

by Dulcie Leimbach

The annual debate of world leaders at the United Nations General Assembly ended on Sept. 29, after a weeklong screening of prerecorded video speeches by 190 member states. The numbers were impressive: videos by 102 heads of state, 1 vice president, 55 heads of government, 1 deputy prime minister and 26 ministers. Startling, however, …

General Assembly, This Week @UN

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TOPIC: WOMEN

25 Years After the Beijing Accord, Women Across the Globe Ask: Where Is the Equality?

October 2, 2020

by Barbara Crossette

The 25th anniversary of the landmark global action plan that was adopted to expand the equality and rights of women and girls was jinxed from the start. The celebratory event, long scheduled for March, was hastily postponed as the Covid-19 virus spread. When the commemoration finally took place on Oct. 1, it was virtual, with …

Gender-Based Violence, General Assembly, Women

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TOPIC: WOMEN

Leadership of UN Missions: Halting Progress on the Road to Gender Parity

September 30, 2020

by Foteini Papagioti and Paul von Chamier

It has been a banner year for the long-overdue push to appoint women to the notoriously male-dominated leadership ranks of United Nations peacekeeping and political missions. Five out of six mission-leadership jobs in the first half of 2020 went to women. That includes all-female leadership teams not only in Cyprus but also in Iraq, …

Secretary-General, UN Careers, Women

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women’s rights

Rights Advocates Rejoice as the New Biden Team Is Assembled

Fed-Up Africans; Has Biden Forgotten the UN?; Don’t Sanction the Houthis

The Sole Woman Running for President of Burkina Faso Says: ‘I Will Win’

An Afghan Midwife Delivers; Fighting in Ethiopia Erupts; the UN Reacts to US Election Results

The UN General Assembly President Turns His Focus on Women, but Why?

For This Afghan Woman, Midwifery Is a Labor of Love

The Smallest State to Ever Lead the UN Security Council: St. Vincent and the Grenadines

Myanmar Votes in a Sea of Troubles at Home and Abroad

The Rough Road to Gender Equality; a Major Message on Hunger; No Saudis on the Human Rights Council

Women’s Rights Are Human Rights: How Equality Became a US Foreign Policy Priority

Five Months Before UN Security Council Resolution 1325, the Seminar That Set the Scene

Russia Brings Human Contact Back to the UN Security Council

Where Are the Women Leaders?; War Sparks in the Caucasus; Sadness and Hope at the Beijing+25 Event

25 Years After the Beijing Accord, Women Across the Globe Ask: Where Is the Equality?

Leadership of UN Missions: Halting Progress on the Road to Gender Parity

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