President Zuzana Caputova of Slovakia spoke at last year’s opening session of the General Assembly, and is the first woman to speak at this year’s, albeit 53rd on the list. RICK BAJORNAS/UN PHOTO
Secretary-General António Guterres and Dr. Denis Mukwege, founder and head of Panzi Hospital in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and a Nobel Peace Prize recipient, Feb. 1, 2019. The UN peacekeeping mission in Congo has been providing security to Dr. Mukwege, as he has been receiving death threats for years, but the UN also waffled recently on ensuring such protection. EVAN SCHNEIDER/UN PHOTO
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.
The first lady of the United States, Hillary Clinton, addressing the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, China, Sept. 5, 1995. Twenty-five years later, a prominent American feminist asks in an essay, where do women stand now? (Hint: She’s optimistic.) MILTON GRANT/UN PHOTO
The 25th anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing; the United States sanctions the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court; dissecting the failed ambitions of the US effort to force the UN mission in Lebanon to be more aggressive.
Prime Minister Sanna Marin of Finland, June 15, 2020, in Helsinki. One major gain for women since the 1995 Beijing conference on gender equality has been a rise in female representation in national legislatures. Only 21 countries, however, have female national executives, the author notes. LAURI HEIKKINEN/GOVERNMENT OF FINLAND
Tlaleng Mofokeng, the just-appointed UN special rapporteur for physical and mental health. Dr T, as she’s known, is a reproductive health expert as well as an advocate for legalizing prostitution, a stance that has alarmed global opponents of decriminalization.
A performance at a photo show in El Fasher, Sudan, 2018. The new transitional government of Sudan criminalized female genital mutilation this spring, but the practice has not ended. MOHAMAD ALMAHADY/UNAMID
Public elementary school 29, in the Cobble Hill section of Brooklyn, N.Y., displays photos of its students who graduated in June in a virtual ceremony. The UN secretary-general is pushing schools globally to reopen, when local transmission of Covid-19 is managed. JOHN PENNEY
Secretary of State Pompeo during a question-and-answer session about his new report by the Commisson on Unalienable Rights, unveiled at the National Constitution Center, Philadelphia, July 16, 2020. Mary Ann Glendon, right, presided over the event and led the commission that wrote the report. FREDDIE EVERETT/STATE DEPARTMENT
Vassily Nebenzia, Russia’s ambassador to the UN, addressing the Security Council in its first physical meeting at New York City headquarters since March 12. It is unclear when the Council will meet again in the UN building.
As the number of Covid-19 cases skyrockets globally — and the United States remains the epicenter with nearly 3.6 million confirmed cases — the United Nations Security Council met physically on July 14 for the first time since March 12.
