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PassBlue perseveres in its coverage of women’s rights globally especially as the second Trump administration strives to pull some rights to the ground. Since Jan. 20, 2025, the American president’s policies have directly and indirectly affected women’s well-being in a wide variety of ways at the UN. That includes trying to diminish their rights at the annual women’s conference in March and US diplomats insisting that language on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) in UN documents be dropped.
For our occasional newsletter of stories related to gender equality so far this year, the most popular is our report on Finland’s struggle to stem its rapidly declining birth rates. It is an issue that many Western countries and Japan try to address. On politics, our story on Mexico’s first female president, Claudia Sheinbaum, proves that a cool head is best used when dealing with difficult male leaders. As always, we welcome your comments and ideas. – Dulcie Leimbach, editor
Dear readers, Our reporting this week concentrated, once again, on the selection process of the next UN leader. Damilola Banjo, our staffer, not only covered the General Assembly public dialogue with the latest entry in the race, Lana Nusseibeh of… Kelechukwu Ogu Read More → UAE Candidate Showed Mixed Results in Latest UN Security Council Poll Rebeca Grynspan of Costa Rica maintained a firm lead in the latest informal straw poll held by the United Nations Security Council on Friday to select the next secretary-general. There are only nine weeks left until António Guterres, the leader… Damilola Banjo Read More → The First Female UN Chief Must Put Women at the Peace Table The United Nations Security Council’s most recent straw poll, held on Oct. 16, showed both a possible breakthrough and the old order’s power to block it. Rebeca Grynspan of Costa Rica led the sixth informal ballot to select the next… Opinion by Indai Sajor and Tamao Chika Read More → Rights Groups Scorn UAE’s Candidate as She Faces the UN General Assembly Just hours before Lana Nusseibeh of the United Arab Emirates was scheduled to defend her candidacy for the post of United Nations secretary-general before the General Assembly, human rights experts held a media briefing to assert why she is not… Damilola Banjo Read More → Heat-Wave Effects on Pregnant Women to Be Part of the COP31 Agenda In the ramp-up to the United Nations annual climate change conference in November, alarming and under-reported statistics on the effects of climate change on maternal health and pregnancy are being pushed to the fore of discussions. Pregnancy and birth are… Maria Luisa Gambale Read More → [UN: Oct. 23] Editors’ Picks: UAE’s SecGen Nominee, US Undersea Mining & Lots More Dear readers, Another hectic week, but at least it’s Friday and here is our weekly Editors’ Picks, featuring PassBlue’s originally reported stories and other must-read news curated from the daily briefings of the spokesperson for the UN secretary-general. We also… Kelechukwu Ogu Read More → US Proposes Radical Changes for UN Mission in Western Sahara The US has made radical proposals in its Security Council draft resolution on resolving the decades-long conflict in the Western Sahara, endorsing without ambiguity a Moroccan autonomy plan as the “only” option and prompting an immediate threat by the Polisario… Anton Ferreira Read More → UAE Candidate Is Likely to Be Asked About Her Nation’s Controversies Abroad The United Arab Emirates has nominated Lana Nusseibeh for United Nations secretary-general, according to a report from the state-owned Emirates News Agency. Nusseibeh, the country’s first female ambassador to the UN, has been rumored for months as a potential candidate… Dulcie Leimbach Read More → Showdown as US and Cuba Clash in UN Headquarters As Mike Waltz, US envoy to the United Nations, walked out with his entourage after a meeting he held in a windowless room in the first-basement level of the headquarters, he was greeted by rowdy chants led by the Cuban… Damilola Banjo Read More → American Samoa Is Resisting US Plan to Mine Nearby Seabed About 32 million acres of South Pacific seabed off American Samoa are to be auctioned in November in the world’s first competitive lease sale for offshore critical minerals. The winning bidders will secure the rights to develop the zone’s minerals… Alexandra Rauscher Read More → [UN: Oct. 16] Editors’ Picks: SecGen Race Tightens, Refugee Agency Troubles & Lots More Dear readers, What a week! Welcome back to our newly designed weekly summary, Editors’ Picks, featuring PassBlue’s originally reported stories and other must-read news curated from the daily briefings of the spokesperson for the UN secretary-general. We also include the… Kelechukwu Ogu Read More → Powerful Council Members Reject A-Baki in First Color-Coded Poll The five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council roundly rejected the candidacy of Tonga-nominated Ivonne A-Baki for secretary-general in the members’ first secret color-coded straw poll, on Oct. 16. The ballots differentiate the preferences of the Council’s five… Damilola Banjo Read More → A Tribute to Benon Sevan, UN Civil Servant for 40 Years He and his wife, Micheline, who died 10 years ago and was also a civil servant at the UN, gave a combined 70 years of service to the organization. Sevan leaves behind what he regarded to be his greatest legacy… Friends and Colleagues Read More → The UN Corridor Rumors Hanging Over the Secretary-General Race The United Nations Security Council is expected to soon move into a more decisive stage of the selection process of the next secretary-general by introducing color-coded ballots for the next round of straw polls. The informal polls by the 15-member… Damilola Banjo Read More → Europe Seeks a Lasting UN Security Council Role on AI As rotating president of the Security Council in October, Greece is planning to draw attention to a topic close to Athens’ heart: Artificial intelligence and maritime security. Latvia, which holds the Council presidency of the 15-member body in November, is… Damilola Banjo Read More → The UN Refugee Agency Is Reckoning With an ‘Unprecedented Weakness’ “The status quo is untenable, unsustainable, and genuinely, truly, inhumane,” the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Barham Salih said about the world’s refugees to the UN Security Council recently. To better manage their plight, he added, the Geneva-based UN… Opinion by Jeff Crisp Read More → [Podcast] A ‘Just Transition’ for Two Market Stalls in Nigeria Every crisis presents an opportunity. For the European Union and India, Russia’s war on Ukraine and the high oil and gas prices that followed was a chance to deepen their energy independence. They used direct and indirect subsidies, as well… Kelechukwu Ogu Read More → [UN: Oct. 9] Editors’ Picks: Nobel Peace Prize Winner; UN SecGen Race & Lots More Dear readers, Welcome to our new Friday summary, featuring our stories of the week and other must-read news at the UN as well as an ICYMI category, or In Case You Missed It. In our new format, Editors’ Picks, we… PassBlue Editors Read More → Big Shakeup in Latest Security Council Votes on UN SecGen Race The fifth straw poll of the United Nations Security Council, conducted on Oct. 7, reveals no apparent candidate for UN secretary-general to lead the organization for the next five years, starting on Jan. 1, 2027. Rebeca Grynspan, nominated by her… Damilola Banjo Read More → Will Powerful Countries Back the UN Chief the World Needs? As the United Nations continues its search for a new leader, Binaifer Nowrojee, president of the nonprofit Open Society Foundations, described the kind of secretary-general that the world wants. But is it the same person that the five permanent members… Damilola Banjo Read More → Categories: Spotlight , Women We would love your thoughts. Please comment:
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