United Nations (UN)

Suzan Aref, founder and director of Women Empowerment Organization in Iraq discusses a national report on implementation of the country’s first national action plan on women, peace and security, pursuant to U.N. Security Council Resolution 1325, at the United Nations in January 2019.

UN Resolution on Women, Peace, and Security Stumbles in Iraq When It’s Needed Most

Civil society fights hard to be heard above the din of war, displacement, political dysfunction and the ebbs and flows of international aid.

Oct. 31, 2020 Viola Gienger

Veronika Tsepkalo, the wife of opposition figure Valery Tsepkalo, who was barred from running for presidency, presidential candidate Svetlana Tikhanovskaya and Maria Kolesnikova, Viktor Babaryko's campaign chief, pose during a press conference in Minsk on July 17, 2020.

The Women, Peace and Security Agenda at 20: Setbacks, Progress, and the Way Forward

Two decades after the landmark UN resolution, the rise of authoritarianism and extreme rightist ideologies have generated backlash against gender equality and the idea of involving…

Oct. 30, 2020 Chantal de Jonge Oudraat and Kathleen Kuehnast

Members of the Iraqi Counter-Terrorism Forces stand guard as Iraqis flee the Old City of Mosul on July 3, 2017, during the ongoing offensive to retake the city from Islamic State (IS) group fighters.

The Necessity of Enforcing Humanitarian Law and Human Rights in the Context of Counterterrorism

International legal norms risk marginalization in the rush to embrace ill-defined counterterrorism standards in multiple settings.

Oct. 29, 2020 Fionnuala Ní Aoláin KC (Hons)

Argentinean Activist Chiarra Sacchi speaks during a press conference where 16 children from across the world, present their official human rights complaint on the climate crisis to the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child at the UNICEF Building on September 23, 2019 in New York City.

Intergenerational Co-Leadership for Global Governance Innovation

This generation is ready to move beyond street protests and play an active role in politics and governance. Thinking about youth only as the future has hindered us from recognizing…

Oct. 24, 2020 Aya Chebbi

Secretary-General António Guterres and Volkan Bozkir, President of the seventy-fifth session of the United Nations General Assembly, attends the screening of a pre-recorded concert. 22 October 2020. New York, United States of America.

National Security at the United Nations This Week (Oct. 16 – 23)

UNSMIL hails ceasefire in Libya On Friday, the parties to the nine-year Libyan war agreed to a ceasefire in Geneva. The head of the U.N. Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) Stephanie…

Oct. 23, 2020 Lyes Jalali

A Myanmar soldier guards an area at the Sittwe airport as British foreign minister Jeremy Hunt arrives in Sittwe, Rakhine state, on September 20, 2018.

We Cannot Condone the Myanmar Government’s Lies with Silence

The façade that the Myanmar government is trying to keep up is finally starting to erode, as two Myanmar Army soldiers confess to their involvement in massacres, rape, and other…

Oct. 21, 2020 Kerry Kennedy and Angelita Baeyens

A delegate wears her mask as she casts her vote during the General Assembly election of members to the Human Rights Council. The 16th plenary meeting October 13, 2020

National Security at the United Nations This Week (Oct. 9 – 16)

Russia and China elected to UN Human Rights Council; Saudi Arabia loses out The United Nations (U.N.) Human Rights Council held secret ballot elections to fill 15 vacant seats…

Oct. 16, 2020 Tim Hirschel-Burns

Pompeo on a computer screen giving a press conference.

Estrangement Over Engagement: How the Trump Administration is Bucking Bipartisan Human Rights Diplomacy at the UN

The practice of the Trump administration turning its back on rights at the United Nations goes well beyond the Human Rights Council.

Oct. 14, 2020 Ryan Kaminski and Grace Anderson

Issa Konfourou, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Mali to the United Nations, addresses the Security Council meeting on the situation in Mali.

National Security at the United Nations This Week (Oct. 2 – 9)

WFP wins the Nobel Peace Prize; new PM appointed in Mali; conflict continues in Nagorno-Karabakh; and countries split on China's human rights record.

Oct. 9, 2020 Tim Hirschel-Burns

Putin sits a desk during a video conference. A large television screen on a cart shows the other participants of the meeting.

National Security at the United Nations This Week (Sept. 25 – Oct. 2)

Security Council holds emergency meeting on Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict; tensions flare between China-US; progress and challenges in Sudan peace process; island nations warn, “Climate…

Oct. 2, 2020 Lyes Jalali

Protesters calling for a civilian government held large protests in Khartoum to commemorate those who were killed June 30, 2019 in Khartoum, Sudan.

Will COVID-19 Create a Human Rights Crisis in the Middle East and North Africa?

Emergency powers imposed to stop the spread of COVID-19 jeopardize free speech and other fundamental rights-- and they may linger long after the threat to public health recedes.

Oct. 1, 2020 Alexis Thiry

Cell room doors are seen at the Caroline Detention Facility in Bowling Green, Virginia, on August 13, 2018. - A former regional jail, the facility has been contracted by the US Department of Homeland Security Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to house undocumented adult immigrant detainees.

The U.S. Bears International Responsibility for Forced Sterilization of Women in ICE Detention

A sterilization performed without the patient’s prior, full, free, and informed consent is a human rights violation.

Sep. 29, 2020 Lisa Reinsberg and Sarah Paoletti