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GZERO celebrates International Women's Day
On International Women's Day, we’re proud to showcase just a few of the exceptional women we’ve interviewed on “GZERO World with Ian Bremmer,” our weekly program on US public television. The accomplishments of these remarkable women have made them role models globally. Click to watch our interviews with:
- Masih Alinejad, an Iranian journalist and women's rights activist, known for her campaign against the Iranian government
- Jennifer Granholm, the former Governor of Michigan and current US Secretary of Energy
- Alina Polyakova, a political scientist and foreign policy expert
- Nikole Hannah-Jones, a journalist and author who led the 1619 Project
- Jean Lee, a journalist who extensively covered North Korea and currently serves as the director of the Korea Program at the Wilson Center
- Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, a Belarusian politician and human rights activist who challenged the authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko in the 2020 presidential election.
- Phumzile Mlambo Ngcuka, a South African politician and women's rights advocate and former Executive Director of UN Women
- Nancy Mace, the first woman to graduate from The Citadel military college and a Republican congresswoman from South Carolina
- Christine Lagarde, a French lawyer and politician who is currently serving as the President of the European Central Bank
- Maria Ressa, a Filipino-American journalist and CEO of the news website Rappler, known for her coverage of press freedom and the Philippine government's war on drugs
- Kaja Kallas, Estonia's popular centre-right prime minister, who won a sweeping election victory, receiving more personal votes than any politician in the country's history
"Women fell between the cracks" during COVID — former UN Women chief
During the pandemic, former UN Women chief Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka says many women were "caught up in the crossfire that is not of their own making," accounting for two-thirds of jobs lost due to COVID. What's more, she adds, women forced into the informal job market to make ends meet had a hard time returning to formal jobs once lockdowns ended. And since government incentives didn't target them enough, "women fell between the cracks."
She spoke during "Measuring what matters: How women are critical to pandemic recovery," a livestream conversation on October 28, 2021, hosted by GZERO Media in partnership with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
The "global obsession" with controlling women’s bodies
When asked what most surprised her when she became the UN's top global advocate for gender equality, UN Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka didn't hesitate. "The obsession about controlling women's bodies is really something that also shocked me when I got to the UN." The constant objections she fielded around women's rights and reproductive rights, regardless of where in the world they were coming from, was not something Mlambo-Ngcuka was prepared for. And that's especially true, she says, for the United States.
Mlambo-Ngcuka's conversation with Ian Bremmer is part of the latest episode GZERO Word, which began airing on US public television stations nationwide on Friday, March 19. Check local listings.
Watch the GZERO World with Ian Bremmer episode: Why the pandemic has been worse for women: UN Women's Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka
How education has improved women’s lives around the world
What has been the driving force for improving women's lives around the world in the last decade? It's education, says UN Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka. "The macroeconomic policies of most countries are not gender-responsive," says Mlambo-Ngcuka, but "women have been increasingly graduating at the top of their classes, and in many countries doing better than boys." She joined Ian Bremmer to discuss how the global fight for gender equality has progressed over the past decade and how the pandemic has turned back the clock on so much of that fight.
Their conversation is part of the latest episode of GZERO World, which began airing on US public television stations nationwide on Friday, March 19. Check local listings.
Watch the GZERO World with Ian Bremmer episode: Why the pandemic has been worse for women: UN Women's Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka
- Women in power — Canada's Chrystia Freeland - GZERO Media ›
- Women's movements to watch right now - GZERO Media ›
- Why COVID-19 will widen the global digital gap - GZERO Media ›
- US women soccer team’s fight for equal pay "because we're clearly the dominant team" - GZERO Media ›
- Afghanistan’s next generation: a student shares her perspective on the US withdrawal - GZERO Media ›
- How to get students back on track after the Great Education Disruption - GZERO Media ›
Why the pandemic has been worse for women: UN Women's Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka
The global fight for gender equality wasn't a resounding success before the pandemic hit, but progress was being made. In many corners of the world, however, COVID-19 turned back that clock significantly. Violence against women—especially in the home—has been skyrocketing over the past year, says Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, Executive Director of UN Women and the UN's top advocate for gender equality. And the toll on girls has been just as severe, says Mlambo-Ngcuka, with the UN estimating that as many as 11 million girls who left school during the pandemic will never return. At the same time, it has been women who have shepherded the world through the worst pandemic, as they occupy the majority of frontline healthcare jobs. Mlambo-Ngcuka joins Ian Bremmer on GZERO World.
Podcast: Why the pandemic has been worse for women: insights from UN Women's Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka
Listen: Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, Executive Director for UN Women, joins Ian Bremmer on the GZERO World podcast to discuss the toll COVID-19 has taken on the global fight for gender equality, especially on girls. In fact, the UN estimates that as many as 11 million girls who left school because of the pandemic will never return. At the same time, it is women who occupy the majority of frontline and healthcare jobs.
Subscribe to the GZERO World Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, or your preferred podcast platform to receive new episodes as soon as they're published.
How the pandemic has increased violence against women and worsened inequality
This week's horrific Atlanta shooting, which took the lives of six women of Asian descent, stirred outrage and fear across the US at a time when Asian and Asian American women are facing an onslaught of verbal and physical violence. But violence against women has been skyrocketing across the world since the start of the pandemic, says Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, Executive Director of UN Women. Mlambo-Ngcuka joined Ian Bremmer on GZERO World to talk about how COVID-19 has turned back the clock on the global fight for gender equality and the toll that it has taken on girls, in particular.
In fact, the UN estimates that as many as 11 million girls who left school because of the pandemic will never return. At the same time, it is women primarily who have been getting the world through the worst pandemic, as they occupy the majority of frontline and healthcare jobs. You can catch Mlambo-Ngcuka's interview on the latest episode of GZERO World, which starts airing on public television stations nationwide starting Friday, March 19. Check local listings.