Peg Snyder, the founding director of Unifem, now folded into UN Women, died on Jan. 26, 2021, after a brief illness while staying in Syracuse, N.Y., near her relatives and the city where she was born.
Author: Barbara Crossette
U.S. Aid Returns to UNFPA Amid Efforts to End Global Gag Rule Permanently
“UNFPA’s work is essential to the health and well-being of women around the world and directly supports the safety and prosperity of communities around the globe, especially in the context of the global COVID-19 pandemic.”
Feminists Grade U.N. Secretary-General Guterres With a ‘B’ for 2020
In 2016, the Feminist U.N. Campaign produced a six-point agenda for the incoming secretary-general that it uses as a base for annual report cards measuring Guterres’s performance since he took office on Jan. 1, 2017.
Overall, Guterres’s cumulative grade for 2017 was C+. In 2018 and 2019, he moved to B- . The report card for 2020 gives him a B.
For Women in Politics Globally, the Job Can Mean Abuse, Jail or Death
The Inter-Parliamentary Union reports increasing attacks on lawmakers globally, with women suffering more disproportionately than men.
Sometimes all it takes is a woman’s eagerness to become a political activist to put her in mortal danger—especially if she fights for women’s rights.
Rights Advocates Rejoice as the New Biden Team Is Assembled
Biden’s White House staff is falling into place, and Cabinet members are being announced: Antony Blinken will be Biden’s secretary of state; Linda Thomas-Greenfield will become the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations; Michèle Flournoy will be secretary of defense; John Kerry will focus on climate change; Alejandro Mayorkas has been nominated secretary of the Department of Homeland Security; Avril Haines has been nominated for director of national intelligence; and Jake Sullivan will be the national security adviser.
United Nations Population Fund Thriving as It Praises an American Who Kept U.S. Interest Alive
In the rubble of what’s left of American commitments to international organizations, one survivor is doing well. The United Nations Population Fund, or UNFPA, the perennial target of Republican politicians and presidents since the 1980s, is thriving.
Domestic Violence Rises Worldwide as the Coronavirus Rages
Reports of domestic violence are rising as COVID-19 races across the planet and people are ordered to stay home.
In a plea to all nations, UN Secretary-General Guterres said on April 5: “For many women and girls, the threat looms largest where they should be safest. In their own homes. I urge all governments to make the prevention and redress of violence against women a key part of their national response plans for COVID-19.”
Coronavirus Forces UN Women to Postpone Feminist Forums in Mexico City and Paris
The two sessions of the Global Equality Forum that had been planned for Mexico City in May and Paris in July will be postponed until next year.
Vast Uncertainty as Beijing+25 Moves to the Next Stage
This year was intended to be a celebratory time for women: the 25th anniversary of the momentous Beijing conference on women’s rights and how to advance them. It isn’t working out that way, however, as a global health crisis and disagreements among advocates for women rewrite the script.