For those of us who ever feel conflicted about the United Nations, the past month has been an exercise in managing absurd cognitive dissonance. First, on October 21 2016, the United Nations announced that the 1940s comic book heroine, Wonder Woman would be its new mascot for promoting the empowerment of women and girls.
The news naturally sent serious women around the world into a collective swirl, and then a reach for their golden lassoes, to capture the attention of an institution that seems perpetually tone deaf on the issue of basic equality and respect for half the world’s population. It also prompted female staff at the UN to protest in silence, through literally turning their backs on the occasion.
Then, on October 25th the UN Security Council held its annual open debate on the groundbreaking ‘Women, peace and security agenda’, now in its 16th year of existence – still full of promise, and yet barely realized. So what’s going on?
Recent Op-Eds
- To Address Extremisms In The New Decade, Do What The Women Say
- Despite the Challenges, Donors Must Continue to Support Struggling Nonprofits in Afghanistan (The Chronicle of Philanthropy)
- What Happened in Afghanistan Isn’t Staying in Afghanistan (Common Dreams)
- Where are the Women Peacemakers? (Le Monde Diplomatique)