United Nations
The Girl Who Silenced The World For 5 Minutes
This is 12-year-old Severn Cullis-Suzuki, speaking at the 1992 UN Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro. As the world population surpasses 7 billion, we need to heed this wise young girl's words more than ever.
Why the International Climate Negotiations in Durban Matter for Women
Who bears the brunt of the increasingly steep costs of “global weirding” as the world’s weather goes haywire? Women and their children. And who may be the key to stopping global warming, and to helping communities around the world adapt to the damage that has already been done? Yes, women too.
Keeping Health Systems Accountable: A Critical Component of the Every Woman, Every Child Campaign
October 19, 2011 - 7:03am (Print)
Poor quality maternity care, abuse by health workers, and health systems that are unaccountable to pregnant women and mothers all can subvert efforts brimming over with resources and political will.
"This One Will Not Be Cut:" How A Movement to End Female Genital Mutilation is Spreading Through Senegal
by Jodi Jacobson, Editor in Chief, RH Reality Check
October 17, 2011 - 9:21am (Print)
A campaign to eradicate female genital mutilation has taken off in Senegal. What if, with the incredibly small sums of money needed by the United Nations campaign to fund these strategies across a continent, we could end FGM within the next ten to 15 years? Both UNICEF and UNFPA work to end FGM, though the GOP-led House of Representatives is seeking to eliminate funding for both.
Follow Jodi Jacobson on Twitter, @jljacobson
Believe It. Do It.
Supporting Family Planning Abroad: A Sound Investment for the US and a Way to Save Lives
by Maureen Greenwood-Basken, United Nations Foundation (UNF)
July 12, 2011 - 12:40pm (Print)
Currently, more than 215 million women around the world want access to quality reproductive health care but don’t have it. Global investment in international reproductive health and voluntary family planning is one of the best ways to save maternal and infant lives, and build sustainable communities. But on a recent trip to Ethiopia, I saw firsthand how limited financial resources, inadequate systems and supply chains, and poor coordination often keep contraceptives from getting into the hands of those who desperately want and need them.
UNICEF Executive Board Eyes Gender Equality, Child Protection and Urban Safety
Getting to Zero: Young People Mobilizing to End the Spread of HIV
June 14, 2011 - 9:16am (Print)
The involvement of women and girls, sex workers, persons who use drugs, men who have sex with men (MSM), and young people is crucial to the achieving the goal of zero new HIV infections by 2015.
UN Vote Restores "Sexual Orientation" to Resolution on Extrajudicial, Summary Executions
by Jodi Jacobson, Editor in Chief, RH Reality Check
December 22, 2010 - 8:21am (Print)
On Tuesday (12-21-10), the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) voted overwhelmingly in favor of restoring reference to "sexual orientation" in a high-profile resolution condemning extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions. The reference to sexual orientation had been removed by an earlier amendment at the committee level by governments opposed to ensuring protection for individuals targeted because of their actual or perceived sexual orientation.
Follow Jodi Jacobson on Twitter, @jljacobson
Rights Group Calls for Urgent Action to Protect LGBT People from Extrajudicial Execution
by Jodi Jacobson, Editor in Chief, RH Reality Check
December 16, 2010 - 12:54pm (Print)
This Monday, 20th December, the United Nations General Assembly will vote on whether to include protection for LGBT people in a crucial resolution on extrajudicial executions and other unlawful killings. Our colleagues at the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission are asking for your help to ensure sexual orientation is not stripped from the resolution.
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