Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, who is from the Netherlands, has led the UN political mission in Iraq for nearly two years. The mission includes two women deputies, one from Britain and the other from Germany. A new academic dashboard will track the UN’s executive appointments overall. UNAMI
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.
President Trump boarding Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews, Md. July 10, 2020, en route to Miami. The administration notified the UN on July 6 that the US was withdrawing from the World Health Organization, effective exactly one year later. TIA DUFOUR/WHITE HOUSE
In a final straw to the current troubles between the World Health Organization and the United States, the Trump administration notified United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres on July 6 of its withdrawal from the agency, effective July 6, 2021.
While Secretary-General António Guterres held a virtual press briefing on June 25, his spokesperson, Stéphane Dujarric, above, moderated. Guterres spoke about the 75th anniversary of the adoption of the United Nations Charter and the relentless devastation of the Covid-19 pandemic. MANUEL ELIAS/UN PHOTO
Mary Robinson, chair of The Elders, an organization of eminent leaders, attending a youth world summit in London, 2019, with Manoly Sisavanh of the Wildlife Conservation Society in Laos. What do older statespeople and those ready to inherit the earth feel about the UN on its 75th birthday? That it has averted a third world war so far, but that it must also prevent another one: climate catastrophe. THE ELDERS
On June 17, 2020, Tijjani Muhammad-Bande, left, the current president of the General Assembly, announced the results of numerous elections by webcast and to an empty Assembly Hall; Movses Abelian, a UN official, right. The UN celebrates its 75th birthday on June 26, 2020, marked by a declaration that envisions renewed “collective action,” the authors say, toward a more perfect world. EVAN SCHNEIDER/UN PHOTO
The Covid-19 pandemic’s effects on poor countries is hitting children hard, forcing some of them to work while navigating unsavory home lives. In wars, children’s status is worse than ever. Here, in Madagascar, the health system is strained and schools are closed. HENITSOA RAFALIA/WORLD BANK
The Rev. Ralph Abernathy, far left, Ralph Bunche (with glasses), the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., and Coretta Scott King in the Selma march, 1965. Bunche, a UN official, told marchers that the UN supported their cause. BRUCE DAVIDSON/COURTESY HOWARD GREENBERG GALLERY
