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WAND
and the UN |
UN
Report: January 2007
by Sayre Sheldon, WAND representative
on the NGO Working Group for Women, Peace and Security
The major press
interest for the U.N. this month has been the new
Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. Before leaving, Kofi
Annan made several very critical statements about
U.S. policies. His tenure has been favorably judged
and his ability to challenge the world to improve
was notable. The new Secretary General arrives with
more of a low-key reputation and immediately was criticized
for seeming to tolerate the death penalty for Saddam
and then for appointing as management undersecretary,
Alicia Ibarra who is not seen as interested in making
changes.
Secretary
Ban was then highly praised by choosing a Tanzanian
woman, Asha-Rose Mtengeti-Migiro, for the U.N.'s second
highest post. Her appointment was greeted with enthusiasm
by many: the South African ambassador said."Women
are multi-tasking people. And African women are even
better. Watch out!". Also favorably commented
on so far has been the indication that Bush will send
our present ambassador to Iraq in the place of retired
John Bolton.A recent summary of U.N. peacekeeping
missions lists them as 18: we are apt tp forget how
much the U.N. is doing due to most of the attention
going to places where it has had trouble being allowed
in, such as Darfur.
Sayre
Sheldon, WAND president emerita
|
A founding member of WAND and President Emerita
of the National WAND Board, Sayre has been a
long time political and social activist. She
is a college professor of literature and an
author of several plays and articles about women's
issues and peace issues.
She
edited the anthology Her War Story: 20th
Century Women Write About War, published
in 1999 by Southern Illinois University Press.
She represents WAND as an NGO at the United
Nations. |
