Blog - Soroptimist International

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Solidarity of NGOs facing the pandemic: Education

SI UN Representative, Evelyne Para, brings us the next instalment in her series of blogs about how NGOs are responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. This blog focuses on education and distance learning. The great solidarity of civil society and UNESCO's partner NGOs are helping populations in the field, especially the

Artificial Intelligence: A Regression for Gender Equality?

Blog by Marie-Christine Gries, SI UN Representative in Paris. On 8 March, International Women's Day, UNESCO and the World Economic Forum organised a webinar focused on women in digital technologies, called "Girl Trouble: Breaking through the bias in AI". Gabriella Ramos, Sustainable Development Goals sector for Human Social Sciences at

Amplifying The Voices On Ending Female Genital Mutilation

Blog by Dawn Marie Lemonds, SI Newport Harbor Area. Dr. Nina Smart 'smartly' moderated a fascinating panel at the NGO CSW Forum, Co-sponsored by Soroptimist International and the North American and Europe CSW Caucus. Speakers included survivors, researchers, advocates and educators, all aimed at revealing the centuries old cultural practice

Liechtenstein to Ratify the Istanbul Convention – President of General Assembly’s Special Event at CSW65

Blog by Francesca Fletcher Williams, SI Global Policy Coordinator. The Special Event of the President of the General Assembly’s event, a CSW65 Side Event, “Political Leadership and Violence Against Women and Girls: Prevention First” was held on 23 March 2021. A highlight of the meeting was that the Representative from

2021 is the Critical Turning Point to Make Peace with Nature

Mary Muia, SI UN Representative in Nairobi, brings us the highlights of the Fifth Session of the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA). The virtual Fifth session of UNEA, which ended on Tuesday 24 February concluded that the planet is in crisis and nature must be at the heart of global

Top Takeaways from the 14th Session of the UN Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice

Soroptimist International (SI) Advocacy Advisor, Linda Witong, and Soroptimist International of Americas (SIA) President Elect, Kazuko Morita, share their top takeaways from the 14th United Nations Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice held in Kyoto, 7-12 March, 2021. Photo: Sachiko Inoue (left), Kazuko Morita (right) A key session for

Women’s Health and Gender Inequalities: Lessons and emerging priorities 25 years after the Beijing Platform for Action

Report by Siren Fadler, SI UN Representative CSW 65 Side Event by United Nations University International Institute for Global Health The 25 years since the visionary Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action for Women have seen dramatic changes globally. While there has been important progress on some fronts, new challenges

General Assembly: High-level Meeting on Water 18 March, 2021

Report by Linda Witong, SI Advisor to Advocacy In a somber but riveting session, our audience learned about how challenging our future is in relation to the water crisis. H.E Mr. Volkan Bozkir, the President of the 75th session of the United Nations General Assembly, began by relating how we

CSW Civil Society Briefing: Making Soroptimist Voices Heard

by Francesca Williams, Global Policy Coordinator “CSW is the best representative of how much women and young people believe in the United Nations (UN). I emphasise the importance of this year’s theme during COVID, given that women have demonstrated such leadership – but much of the leadership is informal, and

CSW65 Side Event: Digital Gender Gaps and Opportunities

Blog by Siren Fadler and Maria Fornella-Oehninger, SI UN Representatives, New York. Siren and Maria report on the CSW65 Side Event, "Digital Gender Gaps and Opportunities – Fostering equal participation and ending violence against women in a connected age", organised by Germany and the Council of Europe. Accelerated by COVID-19