Natalie Samarasinghe
Natalie Samarasinghe is a co-founder of the 1 for 8 Billion campaign and adviser to the Global Challenges Foundation. Previously, she was global director of advocacy for the Open Society Foundations; chief of strategy for the UN's 75th anniversary; speechwriter for the 73rd president of the General Assembly; and chief executive of the United Nations Association-UK, the first woman appointed to this role.
Friday marks the launching of the 1 for 8 Billion campaign for a fair and inclusive process to select the next United Nations secretary-general in 2026. As the UN prepares to hold the Summit of the Future on Sunday, our …
- Categories: General Assembly, OPINIONS, Secretary-General, Security Council
Nearly a quarter of women and girls cannot escape unwanted sex. Eleven percent are unable to make decisions on contraception. The recent report from the United Nations Population Fund is the latest source of grim statistics on women’s rights. It …
- Categories: Gender Violence, Human Rights, OPINIONS
It is a cliché, but true, to say the United Nations is needed more — and under more duress — than ever. Overstretched and constrained, it has struggled to keep up with the scale and challenges facing humanity, from the …
- Categories: Development, General Assembly, OPINIONS, Peace and Security, Security Council
Inaction on climate. The grossly unequal response to Covid-19. Bailing out banks instead of helping the least-developed countries. The different and disproportionate approaches to conflicts in Africa and the Middle East. The failure to prevent atrocities in Palestine, Myanmar, Sri …
- Categories: General Assembly, OPINIONS, Secretary-General, Security Council, Ukraine-Russia War
“The United Nations is dead,” said the Catholic Herald in 1947, two years after the UN was founded. Reports of its demise are perennial, but they seem to have reached a crescendo this year, with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine considered …
- Categories: Africa, General Assembly, OPINIONS, Secretary-General, Security Council
LONDON — Since Donald Trump took office as president of the United States, numerous satirical videos have emerged, apparently from European states vying to be “second” to America’s “first.” The German spoof cites the country’s experience of walls. Luxembourg’s boasts …
- Categories: OPINIONS, US Foreign Relations, US-UN Relations
Twitter proved more effective than papal smoke signals in getting out the results of the first straw poll of candidates aspiring to be the ninth secretary-general of the United Nations. This is one reason that although some confidentiality is desirable …
- Categories: OPINIONS
THIS WEEK'S MOST POPULAR
