From Norway to South Sudan, UN Police Commissioner, Christine Fossen, speaks to Gitika Bhardwaj for International Women’s Day about her experience in policing as part of a series exploring women in international affairs. Christine Fossen, you began your career in 1990 in Norway as a prosecutor for the police in Moss, before becoming deputy police commissioner in 1995 in Vadsø. In 1998, you became the youngest police commissioner in the country. …

Major General Maureen O’Brien talks to Gitika Bhardwaj for International Women’s Day about working her way up through the army in Ireland, to becoming a leader at the UN, as part of a series exploring women in international affairs. Maureen O’Brien, born in Galway in Ireland, you joined the Irish army in 1981, shortly after women were allowed to join for the first time. You then became the first woman in the Irish army in numerous positions, including the first woman to be promoted to the rank of lieutenant…

By: Eeman Malik “We know who to contact and how to file a complaint when we become aware of incidents of sexual exploitation and abuse by United Nations personnel,” says Patience Mapenzi, a student in Bunia, located in Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Ms. Mapenzi is one of…

U.N. Assistant Secretary-General for Africa Martha Ama Akyaa Pobee reflects on several inspiring examples of women overcoming differences and leading movements for peace, gender equality and women’s rights. In 2015, I became Ghana’s first female ambassador and permanent representative to the United Nations in New York. As we celebrate International Women’s Day on March 8, I reflect on this life-changing experience.

By Hana Salama On 7th March, the Security Council will host an Open Debate on Women, Peace and Security (WPS), this time looking forward to the agenda’s 25th anniversary. Although women’s participation in peace and political processes has progressed, persistent challenges remain. For example, sexual violence in conflict was first…

By: Maya Kelly Around the world, 222 million crisis-hit children are missing out on essential classroom time. Conflict, displacement and climate disasters are robbing children of the chance to study and unlock their dreams of becoming doctors, engineers, scientists, teachers, and more. A 2022 report released by the UN global…

Story by Nataliia Emelianova and Gaëlle Sundelin Up until 15 years ago, a woman who was a victim of rape or abuse would have no one to turn to in Abyei, a disputed area nestled between Sudan and South Sudan. Then came Atoch Dau Deng. Atoch had seen her home…

By: Stephanie Lemesianou | Editor: Urjasi Rudra Working towards peace has become more important but also more complex in a world with proliferating conflicts and deepening divisions. Despite the challenges, peacekeepers and the communities they serve have persevered to find common ground and practical solutions that made lives better and…

By Ambassador Melanne Verveer As we approach Human Rights Day, I think of former First Lady Hillary Clinton’s historic pronouncement — “women’s rights are human rights” — at the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, China in 1995. Concluding this landmark event, 189 countries signed on to a Declaration…