gender equality

In the cyclone-hit city of Beira, Mozambique, the World Food Program springs into action, 2019. A new external survey of the agency’s workplace found a range of grievances, including sexual harassment. DEBORAH NGUYEN/WFP
The World Food Program may be receiving millions of more donations from the Trump administration than under past presidencies, but its management is skidding around amid complaints of sexual harassment, retaliation, abuse of authority and, most startling, rape, according to a new external survey.

Vassily Nebenzia, Russia’s top diplomat to the UN, briefing the media, Oct. 16, 2019. Russia and Iran have been vigorously protesting US visa denials to dozens of their diplomats. Our new podcast episode explains their strategy. LOEY FELIPE/UN PHOTO
While Turkey has carried out its plan to invade northeast Syria and the United Nations Security Council has failed to react in a unified way, Russia and Iran have been making their own moves in the UN headquarters in New York, to achieve a political goal: disrupting crucial General Assembly committees.

A new free dedicated hotline in Britain for women to report sexual harassment at work has been inundated with calls from women of all ages, suggesting the problem may be pervasive. 
A new hotline is offering free, confidential legal advice to women in England and Wales who are experiencing sexual harassment at work. Launched in August, it is the only hotline of its kind dedicated to addressing a problem affecting women from all walks of life.

A coalition of civil society organizations is petitioning UN Women, which is devoted to promoting gender equality worldwide, to think twice about supporting the decriminalization of prostitution, as UN preparations begin to mark the 25th anniversary of the Beijing women’s rights conference in 2020. 
A group of civil society organizations is warning that a growing global movement to decriminalize and rebrand prostitution as “sex work” could lead to more, not less, violence against the world’s most vulnerable women and girls.

Hillary Clinton, the former US secretary of state, speaking on Oct. 15, 2019, about China, Syria/Turkey, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia and other current US foreign policy points. Moderating is William Burns of the Carnegie Endowment for Peace. CARNEGIE CORPORATION OF NEW YORK
Hillary Clinton glided onto a stage in Manhattan with the luxury of now being a cool-eyed outsider who can sharply question foreign policy decisions being made by the Trump administration on such controversial places as China, Syria, Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan.

An ambitious plan to guide the new Sudanese government’s transition to democracy has been presented by a Darfuri women’s rights group to Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok, who is also brand-new to office. Kindergarteners, above, performing in El Fasher, North Darfur, organized by the UN’s peacekeeping mission. MOHAMAD ALMAHADY/UNAMID

Ambassador Jerry Matthews Matjila of South Africa speaking to reporters outside the UN Security Council, Oct. 9, 2019. As president of the Council for the month, he is taking its members on a trip to Ethiopia and South Sudan. STEPHANIE FILLION

The Trump administration and its allies in the US Congress have again refused to end their severe restrictions on aid to health programs for women globally, including a repeal of the global gag rule. A protest in the US, above, to protect women’s reproductive rights. CREATIVE COMMONS
For the third year, the Trump administration and its Republican allies in the United States Congress are refusing to abandon their harsh restrictions on aid to health programs for women around the world.

António Guterres, the UN secretary-general, and Angela Merkel, the chancellor of Germany, at the VIP luncheon during the annual UN General Assembly opening session, Sept. 24, 2019. It was Merkel’s first time to the UNGA, as it is called, in four years and may be her last. EUROPANEWSWIRE/UNCA POOL
This year’s opening session of the United Nations General Assembly stood out for revealing the stark divide now defining international relations: the split between globalists and patriots.

A historic first at the UN General Assembly high-level debate: an all-female bench from Norway. From left front row: Prime Minister Erna Solberg; Foreign Minister Ine Marie Eriksen Soreide; Ambassador Mona Juul; and parliamentarians in the back row. NORWAY MISSION TO THE UN
How women’s issues could be more prominent at the United Nations General Assembly’s annual opening session remains an enigma. The topics of women’s rights and gender equality pop up in speeches by world leaders, including those by women, but their remarks just don’t stand out — especially this year.