The world will gather at UN Headquarters in New York for the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW70)– the UN’ largest annual forum dedicated to gender equality and women’s rights. What happens here influences laws, policies, funding and accountability across countries and generations. This year’s focus is clear: rights, justice and action for all women and girls. The CSW70 will take place March 9-19. Credit: United Nations

By Shihana Mohamed
NEW YORK, Mar 9 2026 (IPS)

International Women’s Day 2026 (IWD 2026), which was commemorated March 8, under the theme, “Rights. Justice. Action. For ALL Women and Girls“, calls for action to dismantle all barriers to equal justice: discriminatory laws, weak legal protections, and harmful practices and social norms that erode the rights of women and girls. It demands an end to systemic violence and misogyny, including calls for justice for Epstein survivors.

The independent experts, who serve in their individual capacities under mandates from the UN Human Rights Council, warned that the alleged acts documented in the ‘Epstein Files’ provide disturbing and credible evidence of widespread, systematic sexual abuse, trafficking, and exploitation of women and girls.

The UN experts stated that, “So grave is the scale, nature, systematic character, and transnational reach of these atrocities against women and girls, that a number of them may reasonably meet the legal threshold of crimes against humanity.” They said, “No one is too wealthy or too powerful to be above the law.”

Article 7 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights proclaims that “All are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of the law.” However, no nation has closed the legal gaps between men and women.

While we are told that women now hold more legal rights than at any point in history, 2026 data reveals a devastating reality: women globally hold only 64 per cent of the legal rights of men.

Thus, the global crisis of women’s safety is not a failure of individual morality; it is a result of structural barriers. For survivors of systemic exploitation, the deepest betrayal lies not in the absence of laws, but in the complicity embedded within the very architecture of gender.

Architecture of Betrayal
We must call out the hypocrisy reinforcing this architecture: the “Socialite-Feminist Paradox.” The Epstein scandal exposed a troubling contradiction within elite social networks. Some influential figures build public personas on the rhetoric of “empowerment of women and girls,” yet privately maintain ties to predatory networks.

This contradiction becomes most striking when individuals who publicly champion gender equality such as high-profile participants in initiatives like HeForShe, are linked to Epstein’s social orbit.

When prominent advocates attach their “feminist” brands to the orbit of known predators, they serve as reputation shields, signaling legitimacy and safety to the outside world. Young women drawn by promises of empowerment trust these figures. They become victims of the very networks those reputations shield.

Within this gender architecture, such actors become the interior designers of impunity, dressing up a house of horrors to resemble a palace of progress.

Support Beams of Hypocrisy
The architecture of betrayal extends to the highest levels of global governance. Jeffrey Epstein maintained a vast network of elite social and financial contacts, including politicians, business leaders, and royalty, exposing how predatory networks can intersect with influential institutions.

Recent scrutiny has intensified following the release of documents connected to the Epstein investigation by the United States Department of Justice, which revealed troubling communications between Emirati diplomat Hind Al-Owais and Epstein.

In early 2026, former Norwegian prime minister Thorbjørn Jagland also faced investigation over alleged “aggravated corruption” and extensive email ties to Epstein, while Mette-Marit, Crown Princess of Norway, publicly apologized for maintaining a friendship with him after his 2008 conviction.

Figures such as Terje Rød-Larsen, former Norwegian diplomat and International Peace Institute President, likewise operated within the same elite UN-linked and international policy circles Epstein sought to access.

These are not just “lapses in judgment”; they are the structural supports that allow predatory systems to persist behind the mask of elite influence and advocacy.

Architecture of Complicity
While individuals failed, prestigious institutions provided the foundation. Major banks, Ivy League universities such as Harvard and MIT, and elite think tanks accepted Epstein’s wealth—often described as “blood money”—in exchange for social legitimacy.

These were not “bystanders”; they were the infrastructure of the abuse. By accepting donations from a known predator, these institutions provided the social cover that allowed the grooming of vulnerable girls to continue.

They signaled to the world – and to the victims – that a billionaire’s endowment was more valuable than a young woman’s safety.

Justice in Flawed Architecture
The ultimate instrument of elite impunity is the statute of limitations. Within this gendered architecture of power, justice is not defeated by evidence but by the calendar. Predators rely on the legal expiration of trauma, counting on time to erode memory, courage, and consequence.

The UN experts urged US Authorities that statutes of limitations preventing prosecution of grave crimes attributed to the Epstein criminal enterprise must be lifted.

As of February 2026, new legislation like Virginia’s Law ((named after Virginia Giuffre) has been introduced to remove these time limits for survivors of sexual abuse and trafficking.

Path Towards Accountability
The survivors of the Epstein network have broken the silence. This IWD 2026, we must break the system that allowed that silence to exist.

We know what happened. Now, we must act; our demands must be absolute:

We must urge governments to use the 70th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW70) in March 2026 to commit to tangible, measurable progress toward closing the global legal protection gap for survivors.

We must abolish statutes of limitations to ensure that time does not wash away the crimes of the powerful.

We do not want “rights” that can be bought off by a billionaire’s legal team, or “justice” that stops at a non-disclosure agreement.

We must push for legislation that bans “secret” settlements which protect unnamed co-conspirators in trafficking cases. No one – regardless of their political or social status – should be “un-indictable.”

We must stop platforming “rights advocates” who have not fully accounted for their ties to predatory networks. Influence must be earned through integrity, not proximity to power.

We must strip away the “advocate” title from anyone who traded the safety of girls for the social or financial perks of an elite boys’ club.

We must demand that any organization – be it a bank, an Ivy League University, a laboratory, or a non-profit – that knowingly benefits from the proceeds of exploitation be held legally and financially accountable as a co-conspirator.

We must institute legal requirements for institutions to disclose the sources of large private endowments, with strict “vetting clauses” regarding human rights records.

We must redirect assets seized from trafficking and exploitation networks into survivor-led healing funds and legal aid for marginalized women.

We must ensure that justice is not a privilege; it is a fundamental human right that cannot be bought, silenced, or erased by time. We demand action to ensure that ALL women – regardless of the status of their abuser – are equally protected under the law.

The theme of IWD 2026 “Rights. Justice. Action.” is not a request for a seat at the table; it is a demand to dismantle the table where elite impunity is served.

Shihana Mohamed, a Sri Lankan national, is President of Asia Global Network and a US Public Voices Fellow with The OpEd Project and Equality Now on advancing the rights of women and girls. She is also a founding member and Coordinator of the United Nations Asia Network for Diversity and Inclusion (UN-ANDI). She is a dedicated human rights activist and a strong advocate for gender equality and the advancement of women.

IPS UN Bureau

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General Assembly President Annalena Baerbock of Germany addresses the high-level meeting of the General Assembly on the thirtieth anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women. Only the fifth woman to preside over the UN General Assembly in its 80-year history, she praised the courage of those “who fought for every phrase, every word in the Beijing Declaration,” marking the 30th Anniversary of the pivotal international conference on women’s empowerment. Credit: UN Photo/Loey Felipe

By Shihana Mohamed
NEW YORK, Sep 29 2025 (IPS)

In her opening statement, Annalena Baerbock (Germany), President of the 80th UN General Assembly, only the fifth female to hold this position over 80 years, stated, “Our future as an institution will also be shaped by the selection of the next Secretary-General. And here we must pause and reflect. In nearly eighty years, this Organization has never chosen a woman for that role. One might wonder how out of four billion potential candidates, there could not be found a single one. … Like 80 years ago, we are standing at a crossroads.”

As the United Nations approaches its next appointment of a Secretary-General in 2026, the world is rallying behind a long-overdue milestone: the possibility of a woman leading the UN for the first time in its 80-year history. The momentum is undeniable.

Civil society campaigns like “1 for 8 Billion” are gaining traction, and 92 Member States have expressed strong support for a woman Secretary-General, with 28 of them formally called for female candidates. This is more than a symbolic gesture—it is a chance to reshape global leadership.

This moment is not just politically significant — it is foundational. The UN Charter, adopted in 1945, enshrines gender equality at its core, pledging “faith in fundamental human rights… and the equal rights of men and women.” That promise must now be fulfilled not only in principle but in practice.

But as the spotlight intensifies on the quest for a female Secretary-General, another critical issue risks fading into the shadows: the dilution of the UN Women mandate. This paradox must be addressed head-on. Because, while breaking the glass ceiling at the top is vital, it means little if the institution responsible for advancing women’s rights across the globe is quietly losing its power.

Empowering Women globally: UN Women’s Unique Mandate

The creation of UN Women was the culmination of years of negotiations among Member States and advocacy by the global women’s movement. In July 2010, the UN General Assembly unanimously voted to establish a new, dynamic UN Entity – UN Women – to strengthen, accelerate, and elevate the UN’s efforts in promoting women’s empowerment and gender equality. Then UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon welcomed the decision, calling it “a truly watershed day”.

UN Women was formed by consolidating four UN entities dedicated to gender equality: the UN Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), the Division for the Advancement of Women (DAW), the Office of the Special Adviser on Gender Issues (OSAGI), and the UN International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women (UN-INSTRAW).

UN Women was designed to be a force multiplier—mainstreaming women’s rights across peace building, development, and human rights.

Over 15 years, UN Women has brought unmatched expertise and coordination to the global stage—supporting inclusive policies, empowering grassroots movements, and embedding gender equality across UN initiatives. From ending gender-based violence to advancing women’s leadership, it has become a driving force for transformative change.

Yet today, it faces chronic underfunding, limited political influence, and a shrinking mandate. In many cases, it is treated as a symbolic entity rather than a strategic one.

Merging at a Cost: Diluting UN Women’s Mandate

Now, a new proposal within the broader UN80 reform agenda threatens to further dilute the impact of UN Women: the potential merger of UN Women with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).

While both agencies work on overlapping issues, particularly around reproductive health and women’s rights, their mandates are distinct. UN Women focuses on systemic change, policy advocacy, and institutional reform towards advancing the status of women and girls across the world. UNFPA, by contrast, centers on sexual and reproductive health and population dynamics.

A merger could offer some operational benefits such as streamlined programming, reduced administrative overhead, and stronger coordination in areas like gender-based violence. It might even amplify advocacy efforts where reproductive health and women’s rights intersect. But these gains come with serious risks and irreversible consequences.

This merger proposal has raised concerns among civil society groups and gender equality advocates like me, who fear that merging UN Women with a more service-oriented agency like UNFPA could dilute its policy leadership and weaken its systemic mandate.

If the merger is rushed or imposed from the top, decades of institutional knowledge, technical expertise, and trusted partnerships— built separately by UN Women and UNFPA—could be lost. It risks sidelining UN Women’s policy leadership, weakening its accountability role, and shifting resources from structural change to service delivery. In short, it could turn a transformative agenda into a technocratic one.

Consolidating mandates could increase political vulnerability, leaving contentious issues like abortion and comprehensive sexuality education more exposed to donor-driven political interference and budget cuts.

Women-led organizations, already under strain from funding challenges, could face further instability. Additionally, while aimed at improving efficiency, the merger risks increasing bureaucracy and coordination costs.

This is not just an internal UN issue — it is a global one. Women’s rights are foundational to solving the world’s most pressing challenges, from climate change to conflict resolution.

Championing a female Secretary-General while weakening UN Women sends a dangerous message: that representation at the top is enough, even when institutions lack the power to drive real change.

Beyond Rhetoric: Toward Real Change

At the opening of the 69th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women in March 2025, the UN Secretary-General António Guterres acknowledged the urgency of the moment, warning: “Women’s rights are under siege. The poison of patriarchy is back—and it is back with a vengeance.

Slamming the brakes on action; tearing-up progress; and mutating into new and dangerous forms. But there is an antidote. That antidote is action. Now is the time for those of us who care about equality for women and girls to stand up and to speak out.”

This call to action should not be ignored. The antidote is not only symbolic leadership—it is institutional strength. To ensure that the UN’s commitment to women’s rights is not reduced to symbolism, the following steps are essential:

Safeguard UN Women’s Autonomy

Any restructuring must preserve UN Women’s distinct mandate. Mergers that dilute its policy leadership or reduce its visibility must be rejected. Women’s empowerment is not a subset of health—it is a global priority.

Strengthen Funding and Influence: Member States must increase core funding for UN Women and support its integration across all UN agencies. Political backing must match rhetorical support.

Institutionalize Feminist Leadership: The next Secretary-General—especially if she is a woman, as we strongly hope—must champion feminist principles in practice. That means elevating UN Women, embedding gender analysis across UN operations, securing its resources, and holding the system accountable for tangible results.

Mobilize Civil Society: Feminist movements and grassroots organizations must remain vigilant to ensure that women’s empowerment is not reduced to optics or absorbed into narrower agendas. They are the watchdogs and visionaries of global gender justice. Their voices must shape reform—not be sidelined by it.

Demand Transparency in Reform: The UN80 Task Force and other reform bodies must engage openly with stakeholders. Decisions affecting UN Women’s future must be transparent, inclusive, and grounded in human rights—not just cost-efficiency.

The UN was founded on the promise of dignity and equality for all. That promise cannot be fulfilled by elevating one woman while sidelining the institution meant to empower millions.

The appointment of a female Secretary-General would be historic — but it must be matched by a commitment to strengthen UN Women. Its mandate must be protected, not merged, or diluted.

UN Women must lead. It must set the agenda, hold agencies accountable, and speak with authority and conviction for women and girls worldwide. The UN has a choice: treat women’s empowerment as transformative—or reduce it to a footnote.

Headlines make history visible. Institutions make it real. Now is the time to act. UN Women must be empowered.

Shihana Mohamed, a Sri Lankan national, is a founding member and Coordinator of the United Nations Asia Network for Diversity and Inclusion (UN-ANDI) and a US Public Voices Fellow with The OpEd Project and Equality Now on Advancing the Rights of Women and Girls. She is a dedicated human rights activist and a strong advocate for gender equality and the advancement of women.

The author expresses her views in this article in an entirely unofficial, private, and personal capacity. These views do not reflect those of any organization.

IPS UN Bureau

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Women at the CSW session at the UN headquarters. Credit: UN Women/Ryan Brown
 
The annual UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) meets in March each year to address the widespread inequalities, violence and discrimination women continue to face all around the world. The sixty-ninth session of the CSW will take place in New York from 10 to 21 March 2025.
 
Meanwhile, this year’s International Women’s Day, March 8, will be celebrated under the theme, 'Accelerate Action': a worldwide call to acknowledge strategies, resources, and activities that positively impact women's advancement, and to support and elevate their implementation.

By Shihana Mohamed
NEW YORK, Mar 6 2025 (IPS)

The United Nations has chosen “For ALL Women and Girls: Rights. Equality. Empowerment.” as the theme for International Women’s Day on March 8, 2025. This theme emphasizes the importance of equal rights, power, and opportunities for all women and girls, urging action to create a feminist future where no one is left behind.

The UN has long been a champion of gender equality, advocating for women’s rights and empowerment across the globe. However, despite its strong stance on gender issues, the UN has yet to elect a female Secretary-General in its nearly 80-year history.

This paradox highlights significant issues regarding the organization’s internal dynamics and the broader challenges of achieving gender parity in global leadership. It emphasizes the need for continued efforts to remove systemic barriers that prevent women from attaining top leadership positions.

Entrenched Selection Process

The UN Secretary-General is appointed by the General Assembly, but only upon the recommendation of the Security Council, in accordance with Article 97 of the UN Charter. The selection process is both complex and politically charged.

The Security Council, where the five permanent members — China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States — hold major influence, also has the power to veto candidates. This structure has historically favored individuals with strong political backing and extensive diplomatic experience, most of whom have been men.

Of the five permanent UN Security Council members, only France and the United Kingdom have had a female head of state or government, while China, Russia, and the United States have not. This contributes to an estimated 40% probability of selecting a female UN Secretary-General in 2026.

To be chosen as the Secretary-General, a candidate must secure at least nine votes (60%) from the Security Council’s members, with no vetoes from the permanent members. Of the current ten non-permanent members of the Security Council, only Denmark, Pakistan, and the Republic of Korea have had a female head of state. Without any vetoes from permanent members, the chances of selecting a female Secretary-General are about 33%.

As of November 2024, only 30 women were serving as Heads of State and/or Government in 28 countries, reflecting a significant gender disparity in global leadership. This represents a small fraction of the 193 member states of the UN General Assembly. Based on current trends, there is only about a 15% chance of selecting a female UN Secretary-General.

Historical Precedents

All nine UN Secretaries-General to date have been men, reflecting a historical pattern where candidates with strong political backing and alignment with the interests of the permanent members of the Security Council have been favored.

The historical dominance of men in the UN’s highest office creates a challenging legacy to overcome. This precedent can shape perceptions and biases, making it more difficult for female candidates to be seen as viable options.

Based on historical precedents of selecting only men, the possibility of having a woman as the next Secretary-General is close to zero.

Gender Disparity in Political Leadership

Men hold the majority of positions of power and influence worldwide. This is because global power predominantly has a male face.

Historically, leadership roles have been shaped by masculine norms and values, which continue to influence the structures and practices of power today. For example, international politics often mirrors masculine traits such as dominance, conflict, and hegemony.

Globally, women remain under-represented in political and diplomatic roles. As of January 1, 2024, women represented 23.3% of Cabinet members heading ministries and leading policy areas. Only 15 countries have women holding 50% or more of the Cabinet Minister positions in leading policy areas.

As of January 2025, women represent approximately 28.2% of the U.S. Congress, despite comprising 51% of the U.S. population.

This global under-representation of women extends to the pool of candidates for UN Secretary-General, where political and diplomatic experience is key. This significantly lowers the chances of a female candidate, with the likelihood estimated to be around 20%.

Geopolitical Interests

The geopolitical interests of the Security Council’s permanent members heavily influence the selection process, with their veto power often used to block candidates who do not align with their priorities.

The need for consensus among these powerful nations often results in the selection of candidates who align with their geopolitical interests, rather than prioritizing gender equality. These dynamics can overshadow the push for gender equality, leading to the selection of male candidates who are perceived to better serve the strategic interests of these nations.

The interplay of international politics and gender considerations creates a challenging environment for female candidates.

Regional Rotations

Historically, the office of the Secretary-General has been held by individuals from various regions, including Africa, Asia, Latin America, and Western Europe. This practice aims to balance regional influence within the UN and promote leadership diversity.

Regional rotation plays an important, though informal, role in selecting the UN Secretary-General, as candidates typically need support from their regional groups to gain wider acceptance.

However, the final selection is still subject to the approval of the Security Council, where any of the five permanent members can veto the choice.

The practice of regional rotation has not yet resulted in the selection of a female Secretary-General. In 2016, there was a significant push to select the first female Secretary-General, with several female candidates from Eastern Europe being considered. However, António Guterres from Portugal was finally selected.

Lack of Concrete Actions and Commitment

In November 2024, during the debate on revitalization of the work at the 79th Session of the UN General Assembly, delegates overwhelmingly urged the appointment of a female Secretary-General, supported by a joint statement by 78 Member States.

In February 2025, during the thematic debate at the Ad Hoc Working Group on the Revitalization of the General Assembly, around 90 Member States called for greater women’s representation in the UN leadership, including in the selection of the next Secretary-General.

Although many Member States have expressed support for a female Secretary-General, the lack of concrete steps to reform the selection process means that this support remains largely symbolic. Without specific actions and commitments, the chances of achieving this outcome remain slim.

Growing Advocacy

Advocacy for appointing a female Secretary-General as the UN’s 10th Secretary-General in 2026 is gaining momentum. Various organizations and influential figures are calling for gender equality in the UN’s highest office.

This advocacy underscores the need to address the historic gender imbalance and ensure that the UN genuinely represents and champions gender equality. Breaking this glass ceiling will be a significant step towards true gender equality, both within and outside the organization.

The advocacy campaign for a female Secretary-General needs not only strong individual candidates but also a concerted effort to address systemic barriers that prevent women from reaching top leadership positions. Without substantial reforms and concrete actions, this goal remains distant.

Conclusion

Electing a female Secretary-General would send a powerful message about the UN’s commitment to gender parity and set a precedent for gender equality in global governance.

While it is challenging to assign a precise probability of having a female Secretary-General for the next term, a reasonable estimate is around 20-30%. This takes into account the historical lack of female Secretaries-General, balanced by the increasing advocacy for a female Secretary-General and potential shifts in political support.

Women have yet to achieve the rights, power, and opportunities needed to hold the UN’s highest office.

Shihana Mohamed, a Sri Lankan national, is a founding member and Coordinator of the United Nations Asia Network for Diversity and Inclusion (UN-ANDI) and a US Public Voices Fellow with The OpEd Project and Equality Now on Advancing the Rights of Women and Girls. She is a dedicated human rights activist and a strong advocate of gender equality and advancement of women.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/shihana-mohamed-68556b15/

IPS UN Bureau

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The AKASA safe house is seen in Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka. August 2023. Credit: UN Women/Ravindra Rohana

By Shihana Mohamed
NEW YORK, Nov 25 2024 (IPS)

A woman’s right to live free from violence is upheld by international agreements like the 1979 Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and the 1993 UN Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women.

The International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, observed on November 25th, 2024, serves as a significant platform to raise awareness about gender-based violence. Globally, one in three women experiences physical or sexual violence, mostly by an intimate partner.

In his message for the 2024 International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, UN Secretary-General António Guterres stated, “The epidemic of violence against women and girls shames humanity. Every day, on average, 140 women and girls are killed by someone in their own family.

Around one in three women still experience physical or sexual violence. Almost 30 years since the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action promised to prevent and eliminate violence against women and girls — it’s beyond time to deliver”.

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a serious public health and human rights concern and affects millions of women worldwide, often remaining underreported and behind closed doors. IPV is particularly acute in South Asia where 35% of ever-partnered women reported experiencing IPV in their lifetime, compared to 20% in Western Europe and 21% in high-income Asia Pacific.

The reasons are complex and include a combination of socio-economic structures, patriarchal attitudes, and prevalent social norms that define gender roles. IPV remains a largely hidden and stigmatized issue, with many women suffering in silence in South Asia.

IPV in Sri Lanka is a significant and pervasive issue. An estimated 40% of women aged 15 years or older reported experiencing physical, sexual, emotional, and/or economic violence or controlling behaviors by a partner in their lifetime. Disturbingly, 21% of the population, or about 4.6 million women, are affected by IPV, given that women constitute 52% of Sri Lanka’s 23.1 million population.

These figures reflect reported cases, but IPV is significantly underreported due to fear of stigma, lack of awareness about available support services, and reluctance to involve authorities in family matters. Many women fear retaliation from their abusers or social ostracism if they speak out.

The Prevention of Domestic Violence Act (PDVA), passed in 2005, provides legal protection for victims of domestic violence in Sri Lanka, allowing them to obtain protection orders against their abusers. The PDVA defines domestic violence as “physical or emotional harm done by a spouse, ex-spouse, or cohabiting partner.” However, its effectiveness has been criticized due to issues with enforcement and limited awareness among both victims and law enforcement.

Despite high levels of educational attainment, 73.5 per cent of Sri Lankan women of working age are out of the labor force, compared to just 26.5% of men. This is mainly due to their engagement in household duties, including care work. Aggravating this situation, women on average earn 27 per cent less than men for one hour of work.

Consequently, many women economically depend on their partners, making it hard to leave abusive relationships. Especially in rural areas, they may lack financial resources or social support to escape violence. This financial vulnerability is a key barrier to addressing IPV in Sri Lanka. Empowering women economically and socially can reduce their dependency on abusive partners.

Among Sri Lankan faith-based communities such as Buddhists, Muslims, Hindus, and Christians, religious leaders are influential authorities on behavior and sources of guidance on proper conduct in relationships, including family and marriage. Therefore, they can play a crucial role in motivating men to cede power and reduce IPV.

This approach, guided more by principles of peace and social justice than by a rights agenda, cannot replace rights-based solutions to end IPV. Therefore, it is necessary to encourage and promote collaboration between faith-based and rights-based organizations to address and end violence against women and girls in Sri Lanka.

Various research shows that the ethnic dimensions of the civil war and the continuing ethnic tensions post-war have worsened the situation for Tamil and Muslim women in Sri Lanka, creating conditions that are likely to keep them entrapped in abusive relationships.

There are also strong associations between IPV and suicidal behavior in Sri Lanka, signaling the need to prioritize violence reduction both on its own and within national suicide prevention strategies.

Empowering women, educating communities, and involving men in the conversation are essential steps toward reducing IPV in Sri Lanka. NGOs like the Women’s Education and Research Centre and international organizations run awareness campaigns to educate people about IPV, its harmful effects, legal rights, and available support services.

These campaigns also engage men and boys in discussions about gender equality and the unacceptability of IPV. The goal is to change societal attitudes that contribute to IPV and make men active partners in promoting non-violent relationships.

In Sri Lanka, several support systems are in place for victims of IPV. Various community organizations and NGOs provide localized support, including shelters and legal aid. The Ministry of Women and Child Affairs operates a toll-free helpline (Dial 1938) that offers counselling and legal support to victims of violence.

Health-sector responses to support women experiencing IPV in Sri Lanka are evolving and currently include two models of integration: GBV desks with facility-level integration, and Mithuru Piyasa, a modified One-Stop Crisis Centre model with some system-wide integration. Additionally, the Ministry of Health has implemented training programs for public health midwives to improve their ability to identify and assist IPV victims.

IPV remains a critical issue in Sri Lanka, influenced by socio-cultural, economic, and legal factors. An effective coordination and information sharing mechanism among the ministries of Health, Women and Child Affairs, and Public Security, at both state and local levels is essential to provide immediate support and empower women experiencing IPV.

Traditional cultural norms in Sri Lanka often view gender roles as rigid, expecting women to be submissive and take on domestic responsibilities. These norms can contribute to the normalization of IPV and limit women’s ability to seek help.

IPV is often seen as a private matter, with victims frequently facing pressure to stay silent. By tackling the economic, political, social, cultural, and other systemic factors that enable IPV, we can create a safer and more equitable environment for all women in Sri Lanka.

Sri Lankan women deserve the fundamental right to a violence-free home life. Achieving this necessitates a unified approach to challenge and transform harmful social norms, enhance the availability and accessibility of support services, and rigorously enforce existing laws.

Only through these coordinated efforts can we create a safer and more equitable society for all women in Sri Lanka.

Shihana Mohamed, a Sri Lankan national, is a founding member and Coordinator of the United Nations Asia Network for Diversity and Inclusion (UN-ANDI) and a US Public Voices Fellow with The OpEd Project and Equality Now on Advancing the Rights of Women and Girls. She is a dedicated human rights activist and a strong advocate for gender equality and the advancement of women.

The author expresses her views in this article in an entirely unofficial, private, and personal capacity. These views do not reflect those of any organization.

IPS UN Bureau

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Racism is “an evil infecting countries and societies around the world” the UN chief said in his message marking the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination on 20 March 2024 ---but it impacts communities differently. Credit: Unsplash/Clay Banks. UN News

By Shihana Mohamed
NEW YORK, Jun 12 2024 (IPS)

As we commemorate the 103rd anniversary of the Tulsa Race Massacre this month, organizations and communities should focus on white privilege as it is a critical but often overlooked component of effective racial justice change processes. White privilege, rooted in European-led colonization, provides unearned advantages to white individuals, often unnoticed due to their perception as universal experiences.

In 1988, American scholar and activist Peggy McIntosh famously defined white privilege as: “The unquestioned and unearned set of advantages, entitlements, benefits and choices bestowed upon people solely because they are white. Generally, white people who experience such privilege do so without being conscious of it.”

Operating within institutions, policies, and societal norms, white privilege perpetuates racial disparities on interpersonal and systemic levels. These structures, ingrained in globalization, sustain racist mindsets, enabling economic, political, and cultural hierarchies that benefit white communities. Dismantling such systemic privilege is complex as it is deeply embedded in modern societal structures.

White privilege is a concept that extends beyond the borders of the United States and Europe. Recognizing how white privilege operates worldwide is essential for meaningful change within organizations, social structures and communities. Discussions of global governance often omit race.

However, it is imprudent to ignore how racist views influence major decisions, including acts of aggression against perceived inferiors and vulnerable communities. Having white privilege and recognizing it is not racist as white privilege exists because of historic, enduring racism and biases.

During the General Assembly’s observance of the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination on 21 March 2024 United Nations (UN) Secretary-General António Guterres emphasized that, “Racism is an evil infecting countries and societies around the world – a deeply entrenched legacy of colonialism and enslavement. The results are devastating: opportunities stolen; dignity denied; rights violated; lives taken and lives destroyed. Racism is rife, but it impacts communities differently.” He highlighted the persistence of racism globally, stemming from centuries of colonialism, enslavement, and discriminatory practices.

The establishment of the UN in 1945 occurred during a time when much of the world was under European colonial rule, leading to a dominant influence of colonial and former enslaving powers in its creation. This is reflected in the composition of the UN Security Council (UNSC) that plays a central role in maintaining global peace and security.

Particularly, the five permanent members, known as the P5, are the victors of World War II: the United States, United Kingdom, France, Russia, and China. Among them, three are Western nations, and four are majority-White countries, while China is the only non-Western, non-majority-White member.

The P5 holds veto power, enabling it to block any significant resolution, regardless of widespread support from other member states. This privileged status originates from the post-World War II era, positioning the P5 members as the primary decision-makers in global security matters.

While the UN, as an international organization, employs a diverse workforce from various countries and backgrounds, white privilege still manifests within the UN system. The composition of staffing within the organizations of the UN system mirrors a pattern as in the UNSC.

Among the professional staff in UN organizations, there is a visible disproportionate parity between the West and the rest of the world. Out of five regional groups of the UN member states — Western European and Other States, African States, Asia-Pacific States, Eastern European States, Latin American and Caribbean States — staff from Western European and Other States (including the United States of America and Canda) constitute more than half of the population of professional staff in the UN system. This disparity, directly and indirectly, contributes to the current organizational culture that enables racism and racial discrimination within the UN.

The JIU review on racism and racial discrimination found that staff from predominantly non-white countries in the global South tend to occupy lower-paid positions and wield less decision-making authority compared to their counterparts from predominantly white countries. Personnel identifying as Black/African descent, South Asian, or Middle Eastern/North African face prolonged career advancement timelines, contrasting with quicker progress for those identifying as white.

This racial discrimination in seniority and authority has emerged as a macro-structural issue to be addressed. The survey conducted by the UN Asia Network for Diversity and Inclusion (UN-ANDI) on racism and racial discrimination highlighted that discrimination, both subtle and overt, further divides staff from developed and developing nations within the UN, perpetuating notions of superiority and privilege. These dynamics, rooted in historical legacies of slavery and colonialism, impact recruitment, promotion, performance evaluation, and workload distribution within the organization.

Acknowledging white privilege is a crucial step toward addressing racism within the UN. It involves recognizing the inherent advantages that white individuals have due to the color of their skin and understanding that white privilege exists within the UN organizations.

This can be achieved by staff those identifying as white through learning, self-reflection, listening to marginalized voices, promoting empathy, challenging the status quo, collaborating with diverse groups, becoming an ally, and advocating for organizational change. While discussions around white privilege may be uncomfortable, the focus should be on implementing structural changes within the organization.

In the collective endeavor to eradicate racism within the UN, acknowledging white privilege stands as a fundamental component of the solution. The UN organizations must develop strategies to utilize white privilege to promote equality and dismantle systemic racism and biases within their institutions. Leveraging white privilege can be a powerful tool in creating a fairer and more just environment within the UN.

Shihana Mohamed, a Sri Lankan national, is one of the Coordinators of the United Nations Asia Network for Diversity and Inclusion (UN-ANDI) and a Public Voices Fellow with The OpEd Project and Equality Now on Advancing the Rights of Women and Girls. She is a dedicated human rights activist and a strong advocate of gender equality and advancement of women. https://www.linkedin.com/in/shihana-mohamed-68556b15/

IPS UN Bureau

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Growing Hope Across Borders: The Great Green Wall, Africa's Epic Response to Global Challenges led by Senegalese Women. Credit: Makewaves – UNCCD
 
“Women hold a vital stake in the health of the land. Their hands have shaped and nurtured life on our planet. Yet, their contribution to the health of the land is often uncompensated, and they commonly lack access to and control over the very land they cultivate” --Tarja Halonen, former President, Finland (2000-2012), Member of the Council of Women World Leaders and United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) Land Ambassador.

By Shihana Mohamed
NEW YORK, Mar 22 2024 (IPS)

At the opening of the 68th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) on March 11, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said, “Your gathering this year is focused on how tackling poverty and strengthening institutions and financing with a gender perspective are critical to accelerate gender equality. The reason is simple: globally, poverty has a female face. Women have less access to land, natural resources and financial assets. They suffer the impacts of climate change more than men. And they are more likely to be food insecure. Many women and girls are also facing a war on their fundamental rights at home and in their communities.”

Today one in every 10 women in the world lives in extreme poverty. Among the 690 million people who are food insecure in the world right now, 60 percent are women and girls. The UN report on “Progress on the Sustainable Development Goals: The gender snapshot 2023” highlights poverty and lack of economic opportunities as one of the major challenges remaining for global gender equality. Over 340 million women and girls may still live in extreme poverty by 2030.

Land is an important asset for reducing poverty and boosting shared prosperity at the country, community, and family levels. Thus, the significance of women’s land rights is recognized as a catalyst to ending poverty (Goal 1); seeking to achieve food security and improved nutrition (Goal 2); and achieving gender equality and women’s empowerment (Goal 5) by the global goals set by the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Women’s equal rights to land and property are grounded in core human rights instruments, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. As established by international standards, women have the right to equality in the enjoyment of all their rights, including the right to access, use, inherit, control, and own land.

Women own less than 20% of the world’s land while half of the world’s population is women,. Women do not have equal ownership rights to property in 15 countries and customs inhibit women’s access to land in 90 countries. Approximately 100 million women live in countries where they can’t own, inherit, or manage land. Nearly half of the global agricultural workforce is female but less than one in five landholders worldwide are women.

For women who are living in poverty, land is not just property; it is their home, survival and income and a chance to feed, clothe, house, and educate their children. When women farmers have access to their own land, they grow more and so do their communities and countries. Hence, strengthening women’s land and property rights increases food security and reduces malnourishment. If more women owned land, more people might be fed.

Throughout history, land has been a primary source of wealth, social status, and power. Owning land is a powerful pathway for women towards improving social and economic stability, increasing autonomy from their husbands/partners and other relatives, and fostering dignity and improved wellbeing. Ownership of land and property empowers women, providing income and security.

Without resources like land, women have limited say in household decision-making and no recourse during emergencies and crises. Land is also a source of fostering self-reliance for women as secure land rights provide women with an asset base that can be used to obtain credit for business investments and home mortgages, avoiding risky loans with higher interest rates and debts.

At the Global Land Forum in Jordan on May 24, 2022, Sima Bouse, Executive Director of UN Women, the agency promoting gender equality and women’s rights, said, “We must address the barriers to women’s land rights across the life cycle. Young, working age, and older women face particular discrimination. Laws alone are not enough to solve this. Deeply rooted traditional and social norms strongly affect women’s access to and ownership of land and property, including being denied rightful inheritance.”

Much of the land in Africa is still under customary tenure agreements, in which men are considered the owners and custodians of land while much of the contributions made in terms of labour, and knowledge comes from women. All countries in the Middle East and North Africa, and most countries in South Asia (i.e. Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal and Maldives) do not provide for equal inheritance rights for sons and daughters.

In Bangladesh, strict religion-based personal laws prevent women from owning land and property. Women who are single, divorced, or household heads are deprived of inheritance property, and in addition, there is a strong tendency for households not to put women’s names on the land deed. In India, land ownership is highly skewed in favour of men, with women constituting barely 14 per cent of all landowners.

With 73 percent of women in the agriculture sector, Nepal managed to increase the number of female landowners in the country through discounts on land registration fees for women and joint land registration fees for husbands and wives. However, their husbands make the major property decisions due to cultural norms.

In Sri Lanka, only 16% of all privately owned land belongs to women despite constitutional provisions that are non-discriminatory regarding land ownership. It is because there is no uniform law governing women’s land rights as the complex legal framework of Sri Lanka is a mix of Roman-Dutch civil law, English common law, and customary laws based on region, ethnicity, and religion (Kandyan, Thesawalamai, and Muslim laws).

In order for women to be able to enjoy their land rights in practice, countries must eliminate those laws which impose barriers to women’s land rights in more than half the world. However, eliminating legal barriers is only a starting point towards guaranteeing women’s land rights.

Even when women have legal rights to land, social norms and patriarchal attitudes embedded in many cultures and societies supported by customary practices and inequitable gender norms often limit their ability to own, access, inherit, control and dispose land. In some countries, women face opposition from within their own families, including from men and women, when exercising their land rights.

Nearly 30 years ago, in 1990s, I became a landowner for the first time in Sri Lanka when my father transferred his share of the land that he co-owned with my mother. At that time, I was not aware of the status of land ownership by women in Sri Lanka or the significance of my father’s decision. Looking back, I now realize that I was exceptionally fortunate to have a father with a progressive mindset who immensely empowered me from my childhood.

The gender gap in land ownership can only be closed by changing the mindsets of men and women in our families and communities. While it is important to educate women about their own rights, men must be an essential part of this change process. It begins with recognizing the inherent and incalculable value of a woman and her limitless contribution to her family, children, community, country, and the overall growth of humankind.

This change starts from our homes.

Our grandfathers, fathers, uncles, brothers, and sons have bigger roles to play in reversing the gender gap in land ownership rights. We also need the support and solidarity of our grandmothers, mothers, aunts, sisters, daughters, and friends to fully enjoy women’s right to land ownership as equally as any man.

Together we must inspire inclusion and break down traditional, social, cultural and gender barriers to women’s land rights.

Shihana Mohamed, a Sri Lankan national, is one of the Coordinators of the United Nations Asia Network for Diversity and Inclusion (UN-ANDI) and a Public Voices Fellow with The OpEd Project and Equality Now on Advancing the Rights of Women and Girls. She is an international gender expert and has been contributing to the cause of gender equality and advancement of women for over 20 years.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/shihana-mohamed-68556b15/

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By Shihana Mohamed
NEW YORK, Mar 6 2024 (IPS)

Recently “Days of Our Lives” star Arianne Zucker sued former co-executive producer Albert Alarr, accusing him of sexual harassment on the set of the long-running daytime show.

The complaint, filed 7th February 2024 in California Superior Court, alleges Alarr repeatedly subjected Zucker and other “Days” employees to “severe and pervasive harassment and discrimination, including sexual harassment, based upon their female gender.”

Since the #MeToo movement began in 2017, workplace sexual harassment has received a great deal of media attention, but attention towards the diversity of the women victimized by sexual harassment is greatly lacking.

Sexual harassment survivors most often sourced in #MeToo-related stories by the media are wealthy white (Caucasian) women who made complaints against senior male executives in the entertainment industry or in politics—think of high profile coverage of Harvey Weinstein’s long history of sexual assault and harassment of women, including actresses Rose McGowan, Ashley Judd, Angelina Jolie, and Gwyneth Paltrow, as well as the news about Gretchen Carlson’s sexual harassment claim against Fox News.

However, these cases are neither relatable to the average American woman’s experience of workplace sexual harassment nor representative of the reality and the severity of sexual harassment as a widespread social problem.

In contrast, the women of color sexually assaulted by Weinstein, including Kenyan-Mexican actress Lupita Nyong’o and Mexican-American actress Salma Hayek, did not receive the same media coverage or public response as white women who made similar allegations. The result is that the public perception of sexual harassment is predominantly associated with white women from middle- and upper-class identities.

This perception was mainly created by the media with its focus on stories of white women, in addition to the lack of diversity in the movement.

Approximately 81% of women have faced sexual harassment in their lives. Despite these high numbers, the overwhelming majority (99.8%) of people who experience sexual harassment at work never file formal charges. Women of color are more likely to experience sexual harassment, yet less likely to report it.

There’s a long way to go until women feel comfortable reporting sexual harassment in the workplace and feel confident in their employers that repercussions will occur.

Historically, the media stereotyped women of color and created a public perception that the impact of sexual harassment on them was not as severe as on white women. To some extent, this perception has to do with the historical context of how women of color endured through slavery, colonization, world wars and conflicts throughout history and how they were portrayed by the media.

During the period of slavery in America, white society overtly believed black women to be innately lustful beings. After the Philippine-American War, World War II, and the Korean and Vietnam Wars, the US occupation of Asian countries propelled local sex industries and sex trafficking rings to serve soldiers.

The media has repeatedly represented East Asian women in a harmful way through its exaggerated portrayal of the China Doll and Dragon Lady to further exoticize and dehumanize East Asian women, ensuring the dominance of the West. Latinas historically endured rape as part of European colonialization of Latin American countries by Spaniards.

The stereotypical depictions of hyper-sexual Latinas in the media suggest that Latinas have a higher tolerance for sexual advances in the workplace. Meanwhile, historically, white women were portrayed as models of self-respect, self-control, modesty, and even sexual purity.

Media stereotypes have a direct impact on cultural perceptions of women of color. This aspect is further aggravated by how the media objectifies women of color in TV shows, movies, and advertisements. These stereotypes tend to justify sexual harassment of women of color in real life.

Racial bias in the media attention on sexual harassment is very harmful to women of color and women from minority groups. The US media’s lack of committed reporting on sexual harassment cases of women of color contributes to the silencing of its existence as well as preventing from tackling it.

This biased, non-inclusive approach of the media creates an environment that is conducive to continuing sexual harassment of women of color. It also silences those affected women of color and discourages them from reporting sexual harassment or asking for support through any available mechanisms.

During the period from 2018 to 2021, women filed 78.2% of the 27,291 sexual harassment charges received by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). Of the 1,945 sexual harassment charges filed concurrently with a race charge, 71.2% designated Black/African American and another 4.8% designated Asian as the relevant race. Data from the EEOC reflects that 56% of sexual harassment charges are filed by women of color; yet women of color only make 37 percent of women in the workforce.

According to the survey by the National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum (NAPAWF) in 2022, overall, in the last 12 months, a staggering 74% of AAPI women personally experienced racism and/or discrimination, 38% experienced sexual harassment, and 12% reported experiencing gender and/or race-based physical violence.

There is also another factor why the media is paying more attention to white women through #MeToo movement. This is because white women (and men) are far better represented in the US media than women (and men) of color. For instance, the proportion of all journalists who are white men and white women is 52.12% and 31.04%, respectively.

The comparable figure for black men and black women, respectively, is 3.02% and 2.62%, while the overall figure for non-white men and women (i.e. Black, Hispanic, American Indian, Asian, Hawaiian Pacific Islanders and others), is 8.58% and 7.95%, respectively.

One in five people in the US is a woman of color (i.e. women who identify as non-white) as women of color were 20.3% of the US population in 2021. However, their stories are rarely told in the media while women of color are underrepresented in the media.

It is now more than thirty years since Kimberlé Crenshaw critiqued anti-discrimination law for its failure to recognize intersectionality, the compounding nature of race and gender subordination. Despite this, the US media still considers the issue of sexual harassment as an individualized problem of inappropriate behaviour rather than a systemic issue of inequalities of gender, race, and power.

This is why the media sees that the sexual harassment cases of white women survivors are more newsworthy than those of women of color.

The media should be part of the solution rather than a problem in addressing and preventing sexual harassment in the workplace. The combined influences of race and gender on sexual harassment should be identified and addressed immediately by the media with greater attention to the experiences of women of color and women from minority groups.

The media has the power to implement changes in whose stories are told. The US media should demonstrate a conscious and continued effort to provide equal representation in covering sexual harassment cases that is inclusive of all types of survivors, including women of color.

Shihana Mohamed is one of the Coordinators of the United Nations Asia Network for Diversity and Inclusion and a Public Voices Fellow with The OpEd Project and Equality Now on Advancing the Rights of Women and Girls.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/shihana-mohamed-68556b15/

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Excerpt:

A view of the UN Security Council as members voted in favour of a draft resolution on the crisis in Gaza, on 22 December 2023. The resolution was adopted, 13 votes in favour, with the US and Russia abstaining. The resolution, among other things, demanded immediate, safe and unhindered delivery of humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian civilian population throughout the Gaza Strip. Credit: UN Photo/Loey Felipe

By Shihana Mohamed
NEW YORK, Jan 8 2024 (IPS)

Since October 9 2023, Israel’s war on Gaza has displaced over 1.8 million, according to UN estimates and killed almost 22,000 people in Gaza as of 2 January 2024, most of them women and children, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry. Hamas’ October 7 surprise attacks on Israel killed 1,200 people.

As gruesome as the war has been, the Israel-Hamas war has created an opportunity for the Israelis, Palestinians and the US as well as for the peace-loving global, regional and local players to advance peace prospects for solving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

In their open letter delivered to US President Joe Biden in mid-November 2023, The Elders, an international non-governmental organization of public figures founded by Nelson Mandela, said that, “You have a historic opportunity to help end the Israel-Palestine conflict permanently. As polarization increases, the world needs you to set out a vision for peace. That vision must give hope to those who reject extremism and want the violence to end. We urge you to do two things: set out a serious peace plan and help build a new coalition for peace to deliver it.”

Today there are three solutions to the Israel-Palestine conflict. The Israelis and Palestinians can kill each other; they can separate by creating two separate nations; or they can create one nation made up of two people.

On 1 November 2023, President Biden said that “when this crisis is over, there has to be a vision of what comes next, and in our view it has to be a two-state solution,” creating a sovereign Palestinian nation alongside the state of Israel.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called on 8 December 2023 for an immediate end to the war in Gaza and an international peace conference to work out a lasting political solution leading to the establishment of a Palestinian state.

People clamour for food in the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip. Continuing airstrikes were reported across Gaza last week and “intense ground battles” between Israeli forces and Palestinian fighters in refugee camps in central areas that have reportedly left many dead. Credit: UNICEF/Abed Zagout

Presently, the only solution being discussed in depth is a two-state solution. This solution is based on separating both people into two separate and sovereign nations. The peace process during the Clinton administration (“Oslo agreement”) and the Bush administration (“The Road Map”) was based on this two-state solution, but ended in total failure. The Obama administration’s approach to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was the same as past US administrations, and that effort also did not come close to bringing about a two-state solution. Perhaps, what caused the failure of these peace talks may be the solution itself rather than the involved parties.

The consequences of creating two separate nations by dividing Israel and Palestine were and still are difficult to accept for both Israelis and Palestinians. Currently, the perspectives have even further changed with the ongoing Israeli-Hamas war. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said during a press conference on 16 December 2023 that, he was “proud’ he had prevented the establishment of a Palestinian state and took credit for “putting brakes” on the Oslo peace process.

From the point of view of many Israelis, the two-state solution is difficult because they would have to give up their religious and historical attachments to the West Bank and Gaza which they call Judea and Samaria. From the point of view of the Palestinians, the two-state solution is difficult because they have historical, religious and emotional attachments not only to the West Bank and Gaza but also to Israel which they call the lands of 1948 after the year they lost it to present day Israel. It is a fact that both Israelis and Palestinians have religious, historical and emotional attachments to every square inch of the land that includes Israel and Palestine.

In light of the attachments that both parties have for the same territory, the solution is not in separating but in coming closer together. Many Israelis and Palestinians seem to agree that the land they call Israel/Palestine is indivisible.

Thus, the solution lies in keeping the land that Israelis and Palestinians call home as one nation while at the same time providing each side with the security and the individuality the parties would have if they had their own separate nations.

Since the Palestinian and Israeli populations are so intermingled and about 1.8 million Palestinians live throughout Israel, the feasibility of a bi-national state, with the two peoples living in a kind of federation, seems workable. Given this “reality” on the ground, the most practical solution seems to be a united democratic state offering equal citizenship for all: One Person, One Vote. Palestinians and Israelis would be in a unified state, relying on historic precedents like South Africa and Northern Ireland.

Therefore, a Two State-One Nation solution based on equality, freedom and civil rights for both Israelis and Palestinians is the most practical and suitable approach to resolve the conflict between Palestine and Israel. The idea behind this solution is that there will be two sovereign states similar to New York and New Jersey that together make one nation similar to the United States of America.

However, rather than being a federation it would be a confederation. The main difference between a federation and a confederation is that the states in a confederacy have much more sovereignty than in a federation.

The proposed Two State-One Nation solution should be negotiated through a “democratic” model which uses public, multiparty negotiating forums to conduct negotiations. The only firm rule is that the forum will exclude any party that has not ended or at least suspended efforts to achieve its political objectives through violence. The “democrat” model was used successfully in the talks that brought about the end of apartheid in South Africa in the early 1990s, and which ended the “troubles” in Northern Ireland in the late 1990s.

This solution may not be perfect. However, this proposed solution may be the only solution that will give the Palestinians and Israelis most of what they want while at the same time allowing both people to keep their individual identities and live as one nation. The prospect of a unitary democratic state offers integration, security, development and a mode of life far more conducive to the modern world.

The birth of the non-racial democracy in South Africa and the implementation of the power sharing arrangement in Northern Ireland have strengthened the belief that portioning is not the inevitable, nor necessarily the most desirable resolution to the conflict. Hence, the proposed Two State-One Nation vision is not only desirable but an achievable solution to end the conflict between Palestine and Israel.

The technical know-how of Israel, the available capital in the Arab world and a geography that is at the intersection of three continents can produce an economic powerhouse that is second to none on a per capita basis. This solution will enable all people in the Middle East to enjoy peace, stability and full security.

Of course, it is difficult to see the possibility of a Two State-One Nation solution now with the ongoing Israel-Hamas war. Before it happens, many more people are going to be killed. But like every other war, this one will end too.

And there would be a day after this war. So, it is time to end this century-old conflict between the Palestinians and Israelis.

Shihana Mohamed, a Sri Lankan national, is one of the Coordinators of the United Nations Asia Network for Diversity and Inclusion and a Public Voices Fellow with The OpEd Project and Equality Now. She has done extensive research on current issues in the Middle East.
The views expressed in this article represent the personal views of the author.

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Credit: UN Staff News

By Shihana Mohamed
NEW YORK, Nov 20 2023 (IPS)

In the midst of the Israel-Hamas conflagration, a significant anniversary at the United Nations –October 24th was the 78th year since its founding–went unremarked by the larger world. But the work of–and significant problems with–the UN continues. Among the problems is embedded institutional racism. It’s time that it be deeply addressed–not just by lip service.

The UN was founded in the aftermath of World War II to prevent the recurrence of such catastrophic events, with a commitment to “reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, the dignity, and worth of the human person” and, proclaiming “the right of everyone to enjoy all human rights and fundamental freedoms, without distinction as to race, sex, language or religion.”

Marking International Day on Eliminating Racial Discrimination on March 21, 2023, the UN Secretary-General António Guterres said, “Racial discrimination is a deeply damaging and pervasive abuse of human rights and human dignity that affects every country. It is one of the most destructive forces dividing societies, responsible for death and suffering on a grotesque scale throughout history. Today, racial discrimination and the legacies of enslavement and colonialism continue to ruin lives, marginalize communities and limit opportunities, preventing billions of people from achieving their full potential.”

There are visible contradictions in how the UN addresses racism and racial discrimination that go against the stipulations of the UN Charter. Some of this is attributable to systemic issues that date back to the founding of the UN.

The UN was established in 1945 as a solution for countries of European descent as they looked for a stable new international (and European) order. At that time, most parts of the world remained under European colonial domination, so the creation of the UN was led by those colonial and former enslaving powers.

The wave of decolonization between 1945 and 1960 changed the face of the world order as well as the World Body. The membership of the UN grew from 51 founding members in 1945 to 127 by 1970, and currently there are 193 member states. This aspect contributed towards altering the balance of power within the UN. These new member states were not from Europe and not white.

These new members persuaded the UN to embrace the change in the world order and brought new ideas to the General Assembly, the main deliberative body of the UN, which now practices the noble principle of “One Nation One Vote” and with five Regional Groups of member states – Africa, Asia – Pacific, Eastern Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Western Europe and Other Group (including North America).

However, a similar transformation did not take place within the staffing of the organizations of the UN system.

In UN organizations, the staff experience or witness workplace discrimination largely on the basis of national origin, race, or skin color, according to the findings of several recent surveys. Most mentioned their lack of trust and confidence in the system, including existing recourse mechanisms and believed that the organization would offer no recourse if they complained about the racism they experienced.

The JIU review on racism and racial discrimination confirms that racism and racial discrimination are widespread throughout the system and the magnitude is high, based on evidence of prevalence, form, and effects of racism and racial discrimination. It further revealed that the “likelihood of experiencing racism and racial discrimination is higher” among black/African descent, Indigenous, South Asian and Middle Eastern/North African respondents.

The review of the JIU found that one in every five surveyed respondents (20 per cent) had experienced racial discrimination or harassment while the 2020 UN Secretariat survey on racism found that one in every three respondents (33 per cent) had experienced discrimination. The recently released findings of the survey conducted by the UN Asia Network for Diversity and Inclusion (UN-ANDI) revealed that three in every five respondents (61 per cent) experienced racism and bias, as well as the distress caused to them in terms of health, career and well-being.

More than half of the staff in the Professional and higher categories in the UN organizations are from Western countries or European descent. Hence, there is disproportionate representation among the five regional groupings. This disparity, directly and indirectly, contributes to the current organizational culture that enables racism and racial discrimination.

All organizations in the UN system should implement measures to reduce the proportion of the most highly represented regional groups and to increase the proportion of less represented regional groups, thereby reducing the overall imbalance among regional groups and making the UN organizations more representative of the populations they serve, including at decision-making levels.

Tackling systemic racism and racial discrimination within the UN system is not only an ethical issue but also a business issue. Racism and racial discrimination cause significant financial losses for all parties. Staff members suffer from loss of income, health, morale, enthusiasm and job satisfaction during their career span, while organizations suffer in terms of loss of time, resources, talent, committed staff, quality of work, timely delivery, productivity and reputation, among others.

It is therefore important to assess the tangible impacts of racism, in monetary terms, on staff, organizations and their capacities for programme delivery, especially the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Such an exercise is critical if the UN organizations are genuinely committed to eliminating racism within.

The world urgently needs the UN leadership to fight systemic racism. Hence, the organizations of the UN system do not have time to spend another year on internal discussions and dialogues. Immediate implementation of the Secretary-General’s Strategic Action Plan on Addressing Racism and Promoting Dignity for All in the UN Secretariat would be a starting point, and similar action plans should follow urgently in all other UN organizations.

The time is now for the UN to act to fully eradicate racism and racial discrimination within its organizations.

Shihana Mohamed, a Sri Lankan national, is a founding member and one of the Coordinators of the United Nations Asia Network for Diversity and Inclusion (UN-ANDI) and a Public Voices Fellow with The OpEd Project and Equality Now.

UN-ANDI is a global network of like-minded Asians of the United Nations system who strive to promote a more diverse and inclusive culture and mindset within the UN system. UN-ANDI is the first-ever effort to bring together a diverse group of personnel (staff, retirees, consultants, interns, diplomats, and others) from Asia and the Pacific (nationality/origin/descent) in the UN system. Please contact via email at UnitedNationsAsiaNetwork@gmail.com to connect or/and collaborate with UN-ANDI.

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There will be no sustainable development without equality for all women and girls. It is no secret that the world is falling behind on the ambitions of the 2030 agenda and the promise of the SDGs. Geopolitical tensions are exacerbating the progress made on women's rights—Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed September 18.

By Shihana Mohamed
UNITED NATIONS, Sep 19 2023 (IPS)

In 2015, the UN’s 193 member states adopted 17 goals for the health of the world that together comprise the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to be reached worldwide by 2030.

The UN hosted a SDG Summit 2023 on September 18-19 to review progress toward those goals. Among the aims is to “achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls.” On this, progress is not going well.

As UN Secretary-General António Guterres warned in July, “Halfway to the 2030 deadline, the Sustainable Development Goals are dangerously off track. Gender equality is almost 300 years away.”

Among the furthest behind is the Asia-Pacific. Although a dynamic region, at this point the Asia-Pacific should have made half the progress needed to achieve the goals but its progress has reached only 14.4%.

According to the UN Women report on Women’s Leadership in Asia-Pacific, women’s representation in parliament is at 20% in the Asia-Pacific, below the global average of 25%. Women are underrepresented among chairs of permanent committees in charge of finance and human rights.

Women’s participation in peace negotiations — as negotiators, mediators and signatories — is notably rare. Women hold managerial positions at only 20%. This lack of progress exists at the UN as well.

The Asia-Pacific is home to around 4.3 billion people — 54% of the world population — and more than half of the world’s women. Yet only 18% of women are from the region among women in professional and higher categories of staff in UN organizations.

Among the professional staff in UN organizations, there is a visible disproportionate parity between the West and the rest of the world. Out of five regional groups of the UN member states — Western European and Other States, African States, Asia-Pacific States, Eastern European States, Latin American and Caribbean States — women from Western European and Other States, including North America, constitute just more than half of the population of professional women (51%) in the UN system.

Women from the Asia-Pacific constitute only 6% of senior or decision-making posts in UN organizations. The majority of these posts (about 53%) are held by staff from Western European and Other States.

The recent review of racism in UN organizations by the Joint Inspection Unit, the UN’s external oversight body, confirmed that UN staff from countries of the Global South, where the population is predominantly people of color, tend to be in lower pay-grades and hold less authority than those from countries where the population is predominantly white or from the group of Western European and Other States. This racial discrimination in seniority and authority has emerged as a macro-structural issue to be addressed.

At the opening of the 61st session of the Commission on the Status of Women, the Secretary-General Guterres declared: “We need a cultural shift — in the world and our United Nations. Women everywhere should be recognized as equal and promoted on that basis. We need more than goals; we need action, targets and benchmarks to measure what we do. But for the United Nations, gender equality is not only a matter of staffing. It relates to everything we do.”

If the UN is serious about definitive advancement in the status of women, its organizations should focus exclusively on necessary measures to increase the representation of women from Asia-Pacific countries.

These measures should include, but not be limited to, establishing targets for balanced regional diversity in UN organizations, ensuring recruitment and selection assessments are free from biases, and conducting audits of Asia-Pacific women’s career progression to identify and eliminate barriers. It is equally essential to ensure that women from the region are placed in decision-making positions.

UN organizations must faithfully reflect the diversity and dynamism of staff from all countries and regions of the world, including at senior and decision-making levels. This aspect is critical if the organizations are to implement mandates to help deliver the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.

At the event organized by the UN Asia Network for Diversity & Inclusion to commemorate the 77th UN Day, Ambassador Anwarul Chowdhury, former Permanent Representative of Bangladesh to the UN and former UN Under Secretary-General, noted that the UN Charter “is the first international agreement to affirm the principle of equality between women and men, with explicit references in Article 8 asserting the unrestricted eligibility of both men and women to participate in various organs of the UN.”

“It would therefore be most essential for the UN to ensure equality, inclusion and diversity in its staffing pattern in a real and meaningful sense,” he said.

“Leave no one behind” is the central, transformative promise of the Agenda for Sustainable Development and its Sustainable Development Goals adopted eight years ago. Fulfilling this promise for all women and girls requires addressing the rights, needs and concerns of marginalized groups.

Leaders of UN organizations need to ensure that they meet their goals at home and in their own organizations, while calling for their achievement worldwide.

Shihana Mohamed is one of the Coordinators of the United Nations Asia Network for Diversity and Inclusion (UN-ANDI) and a Public Voices Fellow with The OpEd Project and Equality Now.

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By Shihana Mohamed
UNITED NATIONS, Jun 13 2023 (IPS)

The United Nations system has an agreed leadership framework that is inclusive and respectful of all personnel and stakeholders, embracing diversity and rejecting discrimination in all its forms.

It is collaborative, reflecting the interdependent imperatives of the UN Charter and seeking collective “as one” thinking. It is self-applied, so that UN principles and norms are embedded in all areas of work of the UN system by staff at all levels and in all functions and locations to foster broader cultural change within UN system organizations.

The parameters of this inclusive leadership have already been clearly prescribed by the UN Charter.

Article 1 (3) of the UN Charter asserts that one of the purposes of the UN is to promote and encourage respect for human rights and for fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language, or religion.

Racism and racial discrimination are against the principles expressed in the UN Charter, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and many international instruments. However, the issue of racism in the UN system is deep-rooted with many forms and dimensions.

The report of the Secretary-General’s Task Force on Addressing Racism agrees that UN staff perceive national or ethnic origin as the primary grounds for racism and racial discrimination. Staff are reluctant to report or act against racial discrimination when they witness it because they believe nothing will happen, lack trust, or fear retaliation, suggesting a low level of solidarity with those who experience racial discrimination and a lack of faith in the mechanisms established to address this issue.

Surveys reveal that UN personnel of Asian descent face specific forms of bias and discrimination.

The recent review of racism and racial discrimination in the UN by the Joint Inspection Unit (JIU) – the UN’s external oversight body – finds that while there has been progress in certain parts of the UN system, racism and racial discrimination are major and under-recognized problems that require urgent system-wide responses.

Racism and racial discrimination are widespread throughout the system and the magnitude is high, based on evidence of the prevalence, form, and effects of racism and racial discrimination.

Article 101 (3) of the UN Charter affirms that due regard shall be paid to the importance of recruiting the staff on as wide a geographical basis as possible.

The Asia-Pacific region is home to around 4.3 billion people, which is equivalent to 54 percent of the total world population. In the UN organizations, however, staff from Asia and the Pacific constitute only about 19 percent of staff in the Professional and higher categories.

There is a significant lack of diversity in senior managerial positions (P-5, D-1, and D-2 levels) at the UN. The majority of senior and decision-making posts are held by staff from the global North.

Among staff in senior positions, only 16 percent were from Asia-Pacific States as of 31 December 2020. Among promotions to senior positions, only 14.5 percent were from Asia-Pacific States during the period 2018–2020.

The JIU review on racism found that UN staff from countries of the global South, where the population is predominantly of color, tend to be in lower, less well-paid grades and, therefore, hold less authority in decision-making than those from countries where the population is predominantly white and from the group of Western European and other States.

This finding was corroborated by the JIU’s system-wide survey, and this issue of discrimination in seniority and authority for decision-making in the UN system emerged as a major macrostructural issue to be addressed.

Article 8 of the UN Charter stipulates that the UN shall place no restrictions on the eligibility of men and women to participate in any capacity and under conditions of equality in its principal and subsidiary organs.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights also states that there can be no distinction or discrimination on the basis of gender (articles 2, 7 and 23). The Fourth World Conference on Women in 1995 in Beijing adopted a Platform for Action, including the goal of achieving overall gender equality in the staff of the UN system by 2000.

The gender goals that were set by the Beijing Declaration 28 years ago are not being realized.

With regard to regional representation of women in the UN system, women from Western European and other States constitute a little more than half of the population of women in the Professional category (51 percent), while women from Africa, Asia-Pacific, Eastern Europe, and Latin America and the Caribbean combined represent only 49 percent.

Among them, 18 percent are from the Asia-Pacific region. This disparity demonstrates the inconsistencies in the balance of objectives regarding meeting gender targets and geographical representation and emphasizes that there should be a correlation between these two goals.

Taking part in collective leadership: Role of staff interest groups

The role of staff resource groups is most helpful in the journey towards creating a more diverse and inclusive work environment at the UN. All staff resource groups in the UN organizations are voluntary and mostly organized around the mission, purpose, mandates and objectives of the UN.

There are many staff interest groups focusing on anti-racism, gender equality, diversity and inclusion. Such groups build bridges between staff and management as well as make connections between inequities and policies, and they play a significant role in bringing about effective change in the organizational culture.

Towards addressing racism in the UN, the tone set by the Secretary-General António Guterres and the space presented to the UN staff interest groups to work towards driving organizational culture change are commendable.

This approach is especially important in developing “inclusive” or “collective” leadership as established in the UN leadership model, which demands that all stakeholders play interdependent roles to achieve a collective impact system-wide.

The JIU review on racism also promotes the importance of “collective” leadership that provides a high level of support for personnel resources and special interest groups and whereby such groups are able to leverage support for actions to address racism and racial discrimination.

It further notes that the UN is in the initial stages and has a long way to go to develop the kind of effective leadership coalition that is critical to driving reforms to address racism and racial discrimination.

Taking part in collective leadership: Advice to my younger self

The UN Charter, the founding document of the UN, is an inspiring document that was signed 77 years ago. It made promises to respect each and every one of us, to reaffirm our fundamental rights and to value men and women equally. While we have achieved some progress in many areas, we still have a long way to go towards realizing the ideals enshrined in the UN Charter. Hence, I would tell my younger self that:

• I should not be surprised when I am not treated equally by the UN and the world.
• I should learn as early as possible to speak up if I am not treated fairly, if I am disrespected, or if my rights are violated.
• I should talk to colleagues to share my experiences and identify any patterns of unfair treatment in the workplace.
• I should understand that merit, along with hard work, commitment and credentials, is not enough to get into senior positions in the UN.
• I should be taking initiative as an individual to address any discriminatory actions.
• I should focus on more concrete and specific initiatives that would bring change in the UN.

The sum of my experiences in the UN, together with learning that many colleagues in the UN system were also having similar experiences, led me to realize the importance of a staff interest group for personnel from Asia and the Pacific, even though this took years to come into being.

Taking part in collective leadership: Solutions to overcome barriers to Asian talent

It is important to take part in the collective leadership approach in order to explore solutions to support overcoming barriers to Asian talent in the workplace, within and outside the UN system.

(1) If there is no staff resource group representing the Asian community in the Organization, we should create one immediately.

UN-ANDI, established in 2021, is the first ever effort to bring together a diverse group of personnel from Asia and the Pacific (nationality/origin/descent) in the UN system.

(2) We must speak up loudly and proudly as Asians, as members of an interest/resource group or network. It should be done in a focused way, with facts, trends, and patterns to bring global, regional, national, and local attention to our issues and concerns. This was emphasized by Ambassador Anwarul Chowdhury, former Permanent Representative of Bangladesh to the UN and former UN Under-Secretary-General, at UN-ANDI’s first public event on 2021 UN Day.

UN-ANDI is currently finalizing its report on racism and racial discrimination in the UN system faced by personnel of Asian descent or origin based on its survey conducted in summer 2022.

(3) Once we have a staff interest/resource group, it is important to explore and/or create opportunities to collaborate and complement our mutual goals towards creating a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive organizational culture.

UN-ANDI works closely with the UN Staff Union in its efforts towards combating racism. It also promotes a collaborative spirit with other networks and institutions with similar objectives, within and outside the UN. Since its inception, UN-ANDI has been collaborating with Asia Society to promote mutual understanding and stronger partnerships among peoples and cultures within and outside Asia.

Shihana Mohamed, a founding member, one of the Coordinators of UN-ANDI and a Sri Lankan national, is a Human Resources Policies Officer at the International Civil Service Commission (ICSC).

Please email UnitedNationsAsiaNetwork@gmail.com to connect and/or collaborate with UN-ANDI.

This article is based on the presentation made by the author, in her personal capacity, as a panelist in the discussion on “State of the AAPI Community in the U.S. and the Need and Impact of Proactive, Inclusive Leadership” at Asia Society’s 2023 Global Talent, Diversity and Inclusion Symposium on 17 May 2023.

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By Shihana Mohamed
UNITED NATIONS, Dec 15 2022 (IPS)

To commemorate the seventy-seventh UN Day, the United Nations Asia Network for Diversity & Inclusion (UN-ANDI) held a panel discussion on the topic “Making the UN Charter a reality”. The discussion took place virtually on 27 October, and the event was attended by diverse participants from around the world.

The keynote speaker, Ambassador Anwarul Chowdhury, former Permanent Representative of Bangladesh to the United Nations (1996–2001), highlighted the need for the UN to be “proactive in oversight, accountability and transparency” and the importance of “practically ensuring gender diversity”.

UN-ANDI is a network of like-minded Asians of the UN system who strive to promote a more diverse and inclusive culture and mindset within the UN. This interest group was created in May 2021 after several years of groundwork.

UN-ANDI is the first ever effort to bring together the diverse group of personnel (i.e., current and former staff, consultants, interns, diplomats, etc.) from Asia and the Pacific (nationality/origin/descent) in the UN system.

Gender, geographical and regional diversity

“Keeping in mind the event’s theme, ‘Making the UN Charter a reality’, I would underscore that the UN Charter is the first international agreement to affirm the principle of equality between women and men with explicit references in Article 8 asserting the unrestricted eligibility of both men and women to participate in various organs of the UN.

It would therefore be most essential for the UN to ensure equality, inclusion, and diversity in its staffing pattern in a real and meaningful sense”, said Chowdhury, former Under-Secretary-General and High Representative of the UN (2002–2007).

Antonia Kirkland, who is the Global Lead on Legal Equality and Access to Justice at Equality Now, said “to keep the noble purpose of the UN and its Charter alive – encouraging respect for human rights and for fundamental freedoms for all – we must continue to hold the UN accountable to do even more to cultivate a culture of equality and non-discrimination internally and externally, including by ensuring a work environment free of sexual harassment and abuse”.

“As we celebrate UN Day, we are hoping to inspire, raise awareness, and fight for a more inclusive, just, and transparent Organization. One of the UN core values is respect for diversity. It is important to have UN staff and personnel from different backgrounds (i.e., nationality, ethnicity, culture, religion/faith, etc.)”, declared Yuan Lin, one of the UN-ANDI coordinators.

“However, the UN hierarchy and staffing currently do not reflect this reality. UN personnel of Asian nationality, origin, or descent are not properly represented, especially at the senior management level. This glass ceiling has deprived the Organization of meaningful contribution from our community and created an unjust and discriminatory work environment”, said Lin, who is serving in the UN peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo as Chief of the Business Relationship Management Unit.

In November this year, the world’s population reached 8 billion. The Asia-Pacific region is home to around 4.3 billion people, which is equivalent to 54 percent of the total world population.

Article 101 (3) of the UN Charter affirms that “due regard shall be paid to the importance of recruiting the staff on as wide a geographical basis as possible”.

In the organizations of the UN common system, however, staff from Asia and the Pacific constituted only about 19 percent of staff in the Professional and higher categories, according to the 2021 annual report of the International Civil Service Commission.

The largest numbers of unrepresented (17) and underrepresented (8) countries were in Asia and the Pacific. In 10 or more organizations with no formal guidelines for geographical distribution, 25 countries in Asia and the Pacific were not represented among staff.

The majority of senior and decision-making posts are held by staff from the global North. Most internships and JPO programs favor the global North, and this contributes to the issue further, as these are entry points to regular jobs in the UN system.

The report of the Secretary-General’s Task Force on Addressing Racism and Promoting Dignity for All in the United Nations Secretariat confirms that there is a significant lack of diversity in senior managerial positions (P-5, D-1, and D-2 levels) at the UN. Among staff at the P-5, D-1, and D-2 levels, only 16 percent were from Asia-Pacific States as of 31 December 2020.

Among promotions to the P-5, D-1, and D-2 levels, only 14.5 percent were from Asia-Pacific States during the period 2018–2020.

Racism and racial discrimination

The issue of racism in the UN system is deep-rooted with many forms and dimensions. There are also structural issues in the policies of the UN system enabling this situation.

Article 1 (3) of the UN Charter asserts that one of the purposes of the UN is to promote and encourage respect for human rights and for fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language, or religion.

Aitor Arauz, President of the UN Staff Union and General Secretary, UN International Civil Servants Federation (UNISERV), pointed out that “creating an actively anti-racist work environment is not a passive gain – it requires active engagement and daily work to understand each other, value the cultural wealth that our differences bring to the UN, and overcome the biases we all inevitably have. Surveys and direct interaction with constituents reveal that UN personnel of Asian descent face specific forms of bias and discrimination that must be actively addressed.”

He renewed the Staff Union’s commitment to the cause of anti-racism.

Tamara Cummings-John, Steering Committee member of the UN People of African Descent, who is a Senior Human Resources Officer at the World Food Programme in Kinshasa, said, “There is still so much for us to do – and there is so much for us to learn from the outside world, particularly the private sector and above all by listening to our personnel to address the issues relating to racism and racial discrimination in the UN system.”

The report of the Secretary-General’s Task Force on Addressing Racism and Promoting Dignity for All in the United Nations Secretariat agrees that UN staff perceive national or ethnic origin as the primary grounds for racism and racial discrimination.

Staff are reluctant to report or act against racial discrimination when they witness it because they believe nothing will happen, lack trust, or fear retaliation, possibly suggesting a low level of solidarity with those who experience racial discrimination and a lack of faith in the established mechanisms in addressing this issue.

Efforts towards making the UN Charter a reality

Tanya Khokhar, who is Consultant of Gender Racial and Ethnic Justice – International at Ford Foundation, said, “Invisible and hidden power seeks to challenge certain norms and practices of who gets preferential treatment, who is promoted, when trying to build a transparent, inclusive and equitable culture in an organization. This is the hardest to do and it takes years of innovative practices both at the team and institutional levels”.

She further noted, “Going back to the work you all are doing through the network, it’s important to recognize the history, cultures, and rich diversity of the regions you represent and build a strong community, to advocate for one another, to align on agendas and lift each other up”.

UN-ANDI supports the initiatives implemented by the Secretary-General on addressing racism and promoting dignity for all in the UN. It works closely with the UN Staff Union in its efforts towards combating racism. It also promotes a collaborative spirit with other networks and institutions with similar objectives, within and outside the UN.

UN-ANDI contributed to the current review of measures and mechanisms for preventing and addressing racism and racial discrimination in the UN system organizations conducted by the Joint Inspection Unit.

In the summer of 2022, UN-ANDI conducted its first survey on racism and racial discrimination in the UN system faced by personnel of Asian descent or origin, offered in five languages. The purpose of the survey was to capture data and pertinent information, reflecting the Asian perspective, and identify the root causes of racism in the UN system.

UN-ANDI will issue a report on the survey findings to address many critical issues of racism and racial discrimination in the UN system.

Lin proclaimed that “as members of UN-ANDI, with our talent, education, experience, and diversity, we can make a difference and contribute immensely to the UN by engaging our community members in a variety of pressing issues facing the UN!”

UN-ANDI believes that its perspectives and observations will facilitate the journey towards the paradigm that is ingrained in the UN Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Shihana Mohamed, a founding member and one of the coordinators of UN-ANDI and a Sri Lankan national, is a Human Resources Policies Officer at the International Civil Service Commission.

The opinions quoted in this article represent the personal views of the individuals who expressed them. Please contact via email at UnitedNationsAsiaNetwork@gmail.com to connect or/and collaborate with UN-ANDI.

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