United Nations

Global Water Goal Met; Now Let’s Push Sanitation

By Lisa Schechtman ● Politics ● March 14, 2012

The UN’s target for access to drinking water was reached ahead of time. Great news for girls and women, but Lisa Schechtman is still watching the off-target goal of improved sanitation. What’s the point of water if we can’t keep it clean?

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Women’s Human Rights: From Slogan to Global Agenda

By Charlotte Bunch ● Arts & Culture ● March 9, 2012

“The Unfinished Revolution: Voices From the Global Fight for Women’s Rights” tells the origins of the struggle to secure basic rights for women and girls. The following is an essay adapted from the chapter, “How Women’s Rights Became Recognized as Human Rights.”

By Aiding Bangladesh Women, CARE Cuts Child Hunger

By Hajer Naili ● Politics ● March 7, 2012

The antipoverty group CARE finds in a March 8 report that investments in Bangladeshi women’s health and social mobility correlated to a 28-percent drop in childhood malnutrition.

Souid Opens Lingo of Lawmaking in New Tunisia

By Hajer Naili ● Commentary ● February 7, 2012

Karima Souid, a foreign-born deputy in Tunisia’s constituent assembly, has broadened the language of lawmaking to include dialectical Arabic, the common tongue. The first of three profiles of women playing active roles in post-revolutionary Tunisia.

‘Whistleblower’ Screening Disturbs Peace at U.N.

By Amy Lieberman ● Politics ● October 24, 2011

A “Whistleblower” screening at U.N. headquarters recently turned heated. When the secretary-general cast the problem of peacekeeper abuse as a “dark period” in the past, the movie’s director took issue, saying more movies are to be made.

UN Women Wraps Up Far-Flung Listening Tour

By Amy Lieberman ● Politics ● June 2, 2011

For months, the U.N.’s new superagency for women has been tapping advocates and academics around the globe for advice about how to shape the group’s first strategic plan, due out in June.

Male Domination in Egypt is Only Half a Revolution

By Nadya Khalife ● Politics ● March 13, 2011

Egyptian women fought for the overthrow of Mubarak alongside men. But now the male-domination of transitional politics is like going backwards, writes Nadya Khalife of Human Rights Watch.

U.N. Squad Starts Work in Mass Rape Zones

By Amy Lieberman ● Politics ● March 9, 2011

A U.N. rapid-response team for mass outbreaks of sexual violence is pulling together. Here, its leader describes his first assignment to the DRC and warns that the four-person unit, which works by government invitation, can only do so much.

Bias Against Female Farmers Shrinks Food Harvests

By Katherine Rausch ● Employment ● March 5, 2011

A gender gap in agriculture leaves female farmers with harvests that are 20 to 30 percent less than male counterparts. Closing that gap could rescue hundreds of millions of people from undernourishment claims a U.N. report released today.

U.N. Women Superagency Opens, But Just Barely

By Amy Lieberman ● Politics ● January 12, 2011

U.N. Women opened its doors on Jan. 3 without any fanfare. The new “superagency” still lacks a budget, staff completion and detailed programs. Observers are now eyeing a delayed, formal launch in late February.