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This Belarusian great-grandmother is one of Lukashenko’s fiercest critics
Belarusian president Lukashenko dismissed his female opponent's campaign because, he said, society was "not mature enough to vote for a woman." The weight of the presidency, he added, "would cause her to collapse, poor thing." In fact, women have emerged as the protest movement's greatest force, taking over the streets wearing white and carrying flowers and colorful umbrellas. One 73-year-old great grandmother has become a symbol of the protest movement: Nina Baginskaya, who has fearlessly stood up to police during Lukashenko's brutal crackdown.
Watch the episode of GZERO World with Ian Bremmer: The fight for democracy in Europe's last dictatorship
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
The fight for gender equality
A look at the impact the pandemic has had on women's equal rights globally. How much progress in gender equality has been eroded in the wake of job losses and a rise in gender-based violence and economic inequality? And how can that trend be reversed as societies rebuild?
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
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- 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.
Europe copes with terrorism; Poland's massive abortion rights protest
Carl Bildt, former Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Sweden, with the view from Europe:
What is going on with the recent terrorist attacks in Europe?
Well, there have been both the attacks in - one in Paris, the awful beheading, the subsequent attack in Nice, and the attack in Vienna. They've all been evidently acts by individuals without any planning, without any coordination, without any sort of major other thing behind it. That's the good news. The bad news is, of course, that these things happen. And it's very difficult for the security authorities to deal with. I mean, the Vienna case, it's obvious that there had been warnings about this particular individual, and I'm quite certain that will be quite a number of questions to be answered about that later on.
Why are there massive demonstrations in Warsaw, Poland?
Well, that's really massive in Warsaw, if you've seen the pictures. Polish women are revolting against the government that now severely, severely, severely nearly takes away abortion rights. And that is, of course, seen as an affront by the vast majority of women in Poland. You will hear more about this, I believe.
The Graphic Truth: 100 years of women's suffrage
August 18th was the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th amendment to the US Constitution, through which American women won the right to vote in federal and state elections. After New Zealand pioneered universal suffrage in 1893, almost all other countries followed suit — although in many cases, the right to vote was not extended to all women in society until many years later. Here's a historical look at women's voting rights over the last century.
The Future (of Global Leadership) is Female
On the show this week, Ian previews UN General Assembly Week and tells you why it's more than blustery speeches and traffic headaches for New Yorkers. Then, Georgetown University's Melanne Verveer talks about how global leadership for women is changing in a #MeToo era. And on Puppet Regime, it's game show time