Important piece from Isabel Choat in the Guardian on the proposed merger of UN Women and UNFPA. The risks of a merger cannot be understated. When both gender equality and sexual and reproductive health and rights are under attack, it threatens to set back the UN's work on these issues.
US aid cuts: $45bn
UK aid cuts: $8.2bn
EU aid cuts: $2.5bn
France aid cuts: $2bn
German aid cuts: $2bn
Canada aid cuts: $675m
Aid has dropped by over 50% in the last two years. So it’s a good job the world is a lot safer now and there are definitely no major humanitarian crises brewing!
Chanting activists hang banners from Cannon House Rotunda
Chanting activists hang banners from Cannon House Rotunda
Chanting activists hang banners from Cannon House Rotunda
Chanting activists hang banners from Cannon House Rotunda
#BREAKING: 13 arrested in Cannon House Rotunda demanding immediate release of $977 million in PEPFAR funding illegally impounded by Vought, read: bit.ly/PEPFARSlowDown
and press release: healthgap.org/press/activi... @housingworksnyc.bsky.social @treatmentactiongroup.org
Listen to Nina. And if you are in NY-12, vote for her.
Missiles fired by US, Israel hit two schools near Tehran: Iranian media
Missiles fired by US, Israel hit two schools near Tehran: Iranian media https://aje.news/3kck8y
Anyway, if you want to do something about it in the US, Unchained At Last, a survivor-led organization, is working to change laws that allow it to continue in many states and support women and girls who have experienced it.
The right was recently up in arms because UN Women released an infographic for a campaign against child marriage that pictured a white girl. The truth is, child marriage happens far too often in the United States, often due to adolescent pregnancy and the policies that they espouse.
FT comments section this morning - saying what everyone else is thinking, right?
Tell me again why we can’t have nice things?
This is devastating and a direct consequence of the US/Israel war against Iran.
I didn't know Yanar, but many of my friends and colleagues did. Her courageous leadership made it possible for others in Iraq, and the region, to advocate for women's rights.
Rest in Power Yanar.
@profsophieharman.bsky.social nails it.
As out turns out, the “civilization“ spread by the western powers was always repression, plunder, & mass death disguised under the language of universal rights.
I had a vague hope that the rest of the world would denounce the illegal attacks by the US Israel against Iran. To see North leaders falling over themselves to signal their approval is just something else. They are just completely lacking any moral leadership at this point.
“The victims were between seven and 12 years old, according to Iran's Tasnim and Fars news agencies.”
Evil, pure and simple
Finally. Justice.
I think I saw the same advertisement and thought the same thing, but was also disturbed by the very minimal benefits. We don't need to devalue our own work... there are plenty of others who will do that for us...
After 2 years of work, our special issue in @contraceptionjl.bsky.social on "Emergency of FemTech in the SRH Landscape" is out!
It includes 14 papers on fertility tracking, contraception, and abortion in the digital age, plus our summary Editorial.
A 🧵on what we found; please help us share!
1/8
💯, so many good albums from that era but Live Through This was one of the best.
So the White House withdrew from the WHO, only to propose spending billions to try and replicate its functions in a much more inefficient and ineffective system. Ridiculous.
Rest in power, Virginia Giuffre.
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
This. 100% this.
Sometimes I wish I was a lawyer just so I could work for an organization as awesome as @ifwhenhow.bsky.social. If you are a lawyer, check this out.
This is devastating precisely because when we need other donors to counter the weaponization of foreign assistance by the US as a tool against gender equality, human rights and equity, they are all jumping ship...
Torture and all other forms of cruel, inhuman, degrading, or humiliating treatment are universally prohibited everywhere and under all circumstances. This absolute ban underscores that no political, economic, security, cultural, or religious arguments can ever justify such practices. The suffering that these practices cause on their victims can last for years.
It doesn't matter how.
It doesn't matter who.
It doesn't matter where.
It doesn't matter why.
Torture is never acceptable and always illegal.
it's hard to process this level of cruelty to children
🚨 New from @hrw.org: #UN member states should select a champion of #HumanRights as the next UN Secretary-General as the UN faces a crisis amid a global retreat on rights & democracy. - by Widad Franco
There's so much that middle powers like Canada, could do to actually build strong alliances with other countries and hold the line against the further consolidation of power and resources by great powers.
Or, they could do this....
You are describing the entire multilateral system here Andrew. For a moment, I thought you were describing the EB of UNDP/UNOPS/UNFPA, which I was listening in on this morning...
Abuse of women and children is the ultimate offence that horrifies everyone in theory. It's sensational and abhorrent
In reality, abuse of women and children is mundane and boring. When carried out by powerful men, it's an inconvenience that detracts from serious issues like money or security
