The UN’s First Feminist, ‘Peg’ Snyder, Is Dead at 91 : PassBlue

Editor's Note:  The original article includes a full interview with Ms. Snyder

The UN’s First Feminist, ‘Peg’ Snyder, Is Dead at 91

By
Laura E. Kirkpatrick
passblue.com
11 min
View Original

Note: This is a short excerpt. Please read the full article by clicking the link above.


Margaret C. Snyder, the founding director of Unifem, now folded into UN Women, died on Jan. 26, 2021, after a brief illness while staying in Syracuse, N.Y., near her relatives and the city where she was born.

“Peg,” as she was known, was 91, days short of her birthday on Jan. 30. 

"My UN career began at the UN’s Economic Commission for Africa in Addis Ababa 45 years ago. I was hired to design a five-year program to implement 1960s resolutions adopted by African women at five regional conferences sponsored by the UN and the commission, with support from the Swedish development agency. I was the first to be hired. I had worked with women in Kenya on two national women’s seminars and one East African women’s seminar, where women defined how they wanted to participate in their soon-to-be independent countries."