UN – United Nations

Editor’s Note: This post is part of the blog series, “Her Goals: Our Future,” which highlights the connections between girls and women and the Sustainable Development Goals. Guest blogger views expressed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the UN Foundation. 12-year-old Shrity lives in one of the largest slums of Dhaka, Bangladesh, but she doesn’t want your pity. “I’m not sad,” she told me last summer after brushing her teeth and putting on her […]

Editor’s Note: This post is part of the blog series, “Her Goals: Our Future,” which highlights the connections between girls and women and the Sustainable Development Goals. This post originally appeared on the Council of Foreign Relations blog. On May 16, over 5,000 people from around the world (leaders, advocates, policymakers, journalists, and researchers) will descend upon Copenhagen for the fourth Women Deliver conference. In the world of international development, any conference that includes thousands of

Editor’s Note: This post is part of the blog series, “Her Goals: Our Future,” which highlights the connections between girls and women and the Sustainable Development Goals. Guest blogger views expressed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the UN Foundation. This is an important year for global development: It marks the first full year of global goals, which are set to be completed by 2030. The first set, the Millennium Development Goals, had immense success

Editor’s Note: Content in this post is graphic. This post is part of the blog series, “Her Goals: Our Future,” which highlights the connections between girls and women and the Sustainable Development Goals. Guest blogger views expressed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the UN Foundation. When I was growing up in Afghanistan and later in the United States, my father treated me as my brother’s equal. I received the same attention, love, respect, and

Editor’s Note: Content in this post is graphic. This post is part of the blog series, “Her Goals: Our Future,” which highlights the connections between girls and women and the Sustainable Development Goals. Guest blogger views expressed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the UN Foundation. In the face of worsening conflict, climate change, and unemployment, the youth of today are arguably unmatched in their relentless drive to affect change in the world through the

Editor’s Note: This post is part of the blog series, “Her Goals: Our Future,” which highlights the connections between girls and women and the Sustainable Development Goals. Guest blogger views expressed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the UN Foundation. In the summer of 1964, as a graduate student at Duke University, I received an invitation to join a scientific team aboard the National Science Foundation’s research vessel, Anton Bruun, for a six-week voyage to

Before last October, I hadn’t even heard of Rigonce, Slovenia. For that matter, most of the world had never heard of Rigonce, a small town of 176 residents. But when 170,000 refugees arrived in just over 45 days, Rigonce became the latest front in the continuing refugee crisis. It was a nine-second video on Instagram, showing thousands of weary refugees walking in unison through Slovenian fields, that triggered me to act. Aside from simply being a part

What happens when you bring together leading advocates from around the world for a discussion on gender equality? A powerful conversation on what we need to do to empower girls and women everywhere. On Monday May 16, the United Nations Foundation and partners including Johnson & Johnson hosted “Women Deliver +SocialGood,” an event connected to the Women Deliver conference, to talk about solutions to secure the rights and well-being of girls and women. People from

Tuesday May 17, the International Day against Homophobia and Transphobia (or IDAHOT), marks an important moment for people worldwide to unite together for LGBTI equality. By helping change hearts and minds, IDAHOT represents a key opportunity to raise awareness, start conversations, and spur collective action to address the pernicious impacts of violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, whether at home or abroad. The United Nations, under the leadership of Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has launched