News stories by Sanam Naraghi

LONDON, Nov 22 (IPS) - In 1960, the Rafael Trujillo regime in the Dominican Republic assassinated the Mirabal sisters— renowned and respected for their courage and activism against dictatorship. To give their senseless violent death some meaning and to preserve their legacy, in 1999, the United Nations inaugurated November 25—the day of their assassination—as the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women (EVAW).

NEW YORK, Sep 20 (IPS) - On September 16th Iranians everywhere commemorated the first anniversary of Mahsa Jina Amini’s murder by the country’s notorious ‘guidance patrol’. Arrested for being badly covered, the 22-year-old was beaten so violently, she died from brain injuries.

WASHINGTON DC, Dec 21 (IPS) - There are two sides to the problem of Gender Parity at the United Nations.

On the one hand, member states need to appoint more women to their senior ambassadorial ranks. There is always tremendous competition for the post of UN ambassador, especially if a member state is on the UN security Council.

WASHINGTON DC, May 04 (IPS) - Sanam Naraghi Anderlini is Co-Founder & Executive Director, International Civil Society Action Network (ICAN)New York and Washington DC may be three hours apart geographically, but in global affairs, they are worlds apart. With the wars in Syria, Yemen and elsewhere unabating, at the UN in New York, terms like ‘conflict prevention' and ‘sustaining peace' are back in vogue, with world leaders attending a major summit. Meanwhile in Washington while the talks with North Korea took center stage behind the scenes the drum roll of war against Iran is revving up.

WASHINGTON DC, Nov 02 (IPS) - For those of us who ever feel conflicted about the United Nations, the past month has been an exercise in managing absurd cognitive dissonance. First, on October 21 2016, the United Nations announced that the 1940s comic book heroine, Wonder Woman would be its new mascot for promoting the empowerment of women and girls.

WASHINGTON DC, Apr 06 (IPS) - Violent extremism is the topic du jour, as government officials are busy developing plans of action on "preventing or countering violent extremism" (P/CVE). In these plans there is dutiful reference to engaging "women". The more progressive mention gender sensitivity.