Article shared by Niloufar Pourzand
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Summary
The hope of electing the first female United Nations Secretary-General in 2025 has been undermined by the election of U.S. President Donald Trump and his administration’s stance against diversity initiatives. During negotiations for the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), the U.S., aligned with Russia and other conservative nations, pushed to weaken language supporting gender parity and female leadership at the U.N.
Quotes
“Candidates should not be selected based on sex but only if qualified,” said a U.S. official, urging delegates to water down language encouraging member states to nominate female candidates for the top U.N. job, according to notes of the confidential proceedings. Russia, which has aligned increasingly with the U.S., asked that the provision on the race for U.N. leader be stripped out altogether.
“It’s a wake up call for us as feminists and for us as human rights defenders,” Ishaan Shah of the Young Feminist Caucus wrote in a text message. “We knew this was coming; it’s just that seeing it play out is devastating. If you look at how much has been done [to roll back agreements on women’s rights] in the first few months of this year, it’s a signal that we need to push forward stronger over the next four years to ensure we don’t roll back hard won and fought progress.”
Click here for the article
Summary
The hope of electing the first female United Nations Secretary-General in 2025 has been undermined by the election of U.S. President Donald Trump and his administration’s stance against diversity initiatives. During negotiations for the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), the U.S., aligned with Russia and other conservative nations, pushed to weaken language supporting gender parity and female leadership at the U.N.
Quotes
“Candidates should not be selected based on sex but only if qualified,” said a U.S. official, urging delegates to water down language encouraging member states to nominate female candidates for the top U.N. job, according to notes of the confidential proceedings. Russia, which has aligned increasingly with the U.S., asked that the provision on the race for U.N. leader be stripped out altogether.
“It’s a wake up call for us as feminists and for us as human rights defenders,” Ishaan Shah of the Young Feminist Caucus wrote in a text message. “We knew this was coming; it’s just that seeing it play out is devastating. If you look at how much has been done [to roll back agreements on women’s rights] in the first few months of this year, it’s a signal that we need to push forward stronger over the next four years to ensure we don’t roll back hard won and fought progress.”
This is worse than I imagined or feared before Trump's election:
ReplyDeleteThese sweeping statements and "guidelines" issued by the Trump administration's apparatchik diplomats are shocking and frightening.
opposition to SDGs
opposition to gender equality
denial of the climate crisis
vague references to "anti-American" policies
etc. etc.
Are we in the 21st century or making a great leap backward to the medieval era of chauvinism?