Gaining a seat on the UNCSW is one of many achievements that Afghan women have made during the last two decades. Despite the threats, harassment, and attacks, Afghan women have made progress, from participating in presidential and provincial elections to winning a seat in parliament.
Category: Global
The Trump Administration Wants to Make the Global Gag Rule Even More Harmful
This week, the administration announced that it is proposing to expand the dangerous and harmful “global gag rule” even further than it already has.
The proposed expansion of the policy would, for the first time, cover all contracts that organizations have with the United States for global health work, not only grant funding.
Revisiting Bella Abzug’s Vision Post-Beijing, 25 Years Later
On September 12, 1995, Bella Abzug took to the podium at the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, China to ask: “What will we accomplish at the week’s end when the [Beijing] Platform for Action is adopted by the world’s women and its 189 governments?”
Since then, feminists have not stopped advocating for gender justice, and in facing current realities, have turned toward each other to build power, speak truth, and renew commitments to the promise of Beijing—to the promise of a just and healthy world.
UN General Assembly 75: In a Pandemic World, Where Does Gender Equality Fit In?
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to hold the world hostage, global leaders will gather at the largest annual inter-governmental meeting for the first time ever in a virtual session. The 75th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA 75) will open on 15 September, and its General Debate will focus on how to respond to the pandemic and confront its challenges through multilateral action.
A set of side-events supported by UN Women in the lead up to the High-Level Meeting will put a spotlight on the need to place women front and centre of the response against COVID-19.
Just 11 of the 196 Speakers at This Year’s UN General Assembly Are Women
The first woman scheduled to speak at this year’s opening session of the United Nations General Assembly is 53rd on the list of about 119 heads of state—President Zuzana Caputova of Slovakia—delivering her remarks on Sept. 23.
This year’s General Assembly coincides with the 25th anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women, held in Beijing. It’s therefore especially painful for some countries that so few women in total—11, it appears, so far—are scheduled to speak at the “high-level” session, from Sept. 22-29.
Cooperate on Climate Now or We’re Doomed, UN Secretary-General Warns
California endured a slew of fires caused by more than 12,000 dry-lightning strikes in August, and experts say such wildfires will become normal if major steps are not taken soon to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The United States’ “dynamic society,” rather than government policy, is driving more “climate action” measures, says the UN secretary-general.
COVID-19 Vaccine: Absolutely Everything You Need to Know
Rather than coordinating a coherent, scientifically-based national strategy to combat the global, COVID-19 pandemic, President Trump is hedging his bets solely on the quick release and acceptance of a vaccine. There are lots of questions surrounding the potential of a COVID-19 vaccine, and some warranted concern for what to expect when options come along: How far are we from a vaccine? Will the vaccine be safe and effective? Will I be able to get the vaccine once it’s approved?
Let’s tackle some of the most common ones.
Endangered in a Pandemic: The Education of Millions of Girls
COVID-19 is compromising significant recent progress made towards global girls’ education equity, as schools close and migration increases. The painful and protracted interruptions to girls’ education are a global emergency, with incalculable potential losses to follow.
Seven Indomitable Women of World War II
From Jane Vialle—such an expert at coding that the Nazis couldn’t uncover her secrets—to Nancy Wake—who killed a Nazi with her bare bands—there are so many extraordinary women of the WWII era who we have not heard enough about. These women rejected the entrenched prejudices of gender, race, disability and religion, to achieve incredible feats.
“We The Africans”: How Two U.S. College Students Are Fighting a Hunger Pandemic in Ghana and Nigeria
Mary Yeboah and Koluchi Odiegwu—two second year college students—have raised over $32,000 for remote villages in Africa whose inhabitants are facing mass hunger caused by the coronavirus.
“We saw a correlation of how COVID-19 and hunger were affecting a target demographic. We knew we had to bring attention to it.”