Government Information News

This year’s theme for the International Day, "Women in leadership: Achieving an equal future in a COVID-19 world", celebrates the tremendous efforts by women and girls around the world in shaping a more equal future and recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. The Commission on the Status of Women (15 to 26 March) will also focus on the importance of women’s leadership and call attention to women's central role in building back better. The month will culminate in the Generation Equality Forum (29 to 31 March) which represents a key moment for gender equality advocates from every sector of society to drive urgent action and accountability for gender equality.

Join the online conversation on Twitter using the hashtags #IWD2021, #GenerationEquality, #ActforEqual, #internationalwomensday, and by following @UN_Women.

For more information, please visit: https://www.un.org/en/observances/womens-day. UN Secretary-General António Guterres video message for International Women’s Day 2021: 

Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5: Gender Equality

Gender Equality (Goal 5) is the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) for the month of March. The main goal of SDG-5 is to achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls. Current progress on this SDG states that the commitment to advancing gender equality has brought about improvements in some areas, but the promise of a world in which every woman and girl enjoy full gender equality and all legal, social and economic barriers to their empowerment have been removed remains unfulfilled.

For more information, please visit: https://sdgs.un.org/goals/goal5 & https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/report/2020/goal-05/

Virtual exhibit:  I Lead by Example. I am Generation Equality

This exhibit features 13 extraordinary women leaders fighting for gender equality, whose words and stories inspired others to join "Generation Equality". It presents women leading by example to change the places of power, end violence, stop climate change, and open opportunities for all women and girls. The exhibit is organized by UN Women in connection with International Women's Day. Please view online at https://www.un.org/en/exhibits/exhibit/i-lead-by-example-i-am-generation-equality

 

 

Additional resources for conducting research on this topic:

• United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) - Guiding documents
• UN Women -  Annual reports
• Turning promises into action: Gender equality in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (Flagship report - UN Women)
• UN Women - Digital Library: https://www.unwomen.org/en/digital-library/publications
• Commission on the Status of Women CSW65 - Official Meetings / Organization of the session
• CSW65 - Official documents for the session

CONTENT FOR THIS POST WAS PROVIDED TO FSU BY THE UNITED NATIONS AND THE DAG HAMMARSKJÖLD LIBRARY.

 

GPO Celebrates 160 Years Of Keeping America Informed

The U.S. Government Publishing Office (GPO) celebrates its 160th anniversary today. The agency opened its doors on March 4, 1861, the same day President Abraham Lincoln was inaugurated, with about 350 printers and bookbinders. Those 19th century team members delivered Government information with horse and carriage. The 21st century team continues that mission today by providing the workings of our democracy on mobile devices through www.govinfo.gov. Federal depository libraries have been a big part of GPO’s mission since 1895.

 

Watch a video highlighting GPO’s top historic moments and achievements: https://youtu.be/iYUMmphdLv0

 

Senators Amy Klobuchar and Roy Blunt, Chair and Ranking Member for GPO’s Oversight Committee, sent the GPO team this congratulations letter for 160 years of service to the Government: https://www.gpo.gov/docs/default-source/news-content-pdf-files/2021/030421_rules-to-gpo-congratulatory-letter-on-160th-anniversary.pdf.

 

 

International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women

• UN Women: https://www.unwomen.org/en. UN Women is the United Nations entity dedicated to gender equality and the empowerment of women. A global champion for women and girls, UN Women was established to accelerate progress on meeting their needs worldwide.
• UN Women publications: https://www.unwomen.org/en/digital-library/publications
• Progress of the world’s women report: https://www.unwomen.org/en/digital-library/progress-of-the-worlds-women
• Convention of the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW): https://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/cedaw/cedaw.htm The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), adopted in 1979 by the UN General Assembly, is often described as an international bill of rights for women. Consisting of a preamble and 30 articles, it defines what constitutes discrimination against women and sets up an agenda for national action to end such discrimination.
• UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights:
  • Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences: https://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Women/SRWomen/Pages/SRWomenIndex.aspx
  • Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women: https://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/CEDAW/Pages/CEDAWIndex.aspx
• SDG - Goal 5: Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls: https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/gender-equality/​

CONTENTS FOR THIS POST WAS PROVIDED TO FSU BY THE UNITED NATIONS AND THE DAG HAMMARSKJÖLD LIBRARY.

20 Years of Women, Peace and Security

For more information, please visit: https://peacekeeping.un.org/en/20-years-of-women-peace-and-security & https://peacekeeping.un.org/en/promoting-women-peace-and-security

International Day on the Eradication of Poverty

By adopting resolution 47/196 on December 22, 1992, the General Assembly declared October 17 as the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty and invited all States to devote the Day to presenting and promoting, as appropriate in the national context, concrete activities with regard to the eradication of poverty and destitution. The resolution further invites intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations to assist States, at their request, in organizing national activities for the observance of the Day, and requests the Secretary-General to take, within existing resources, the measures necessary to ensure the success of the Day's observance by the United Nations.

October 17th presents an opportunity to acknowledge the effort and struggle of people living in poverty, a chance for them to make their concerns heard, and a moment to recognize that poor people are the first ones to fight against poverty. Participation of the poor themselves has been at the center of the Day's celebration since its very beginning.

For more information about the International Day on the Eradication of Poverty, please visit: 

• https://www.un.org/en/events/povertyday/
• https://www.un.org/development/desa/socialperspectiveondevelopment/international-day-for-the-eradication-of-poverty-homepage.html

United Nations Resources on Poverty

Third United Nations Decade for the Eradication of Poverty 2018-2027: https://www.un.org/development/desa/socialperspectiveondevelopment/united-nations-decade-for-the-eradication-of-poverty/third.html The theme of the Third Decade, to be reviewed at its seventy-third sessions, is “Accelerating global actions for a world without poverty”, in line with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Report on the Implementation of the Third United Nations Decade for the Eradication of Poverty (2018–2027): https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/1640259?ln=en

SDG Goal 1: End poverty in all its Forms Everywhere: https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/poverty/

SDG Goal 1: https://sdgs.un.org/goals/goal1: This website maintained by UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs provides information about SDG 1, including the targets and related indicators, infographics, progress reports and key publications.

Topic page: Poverty Eradication: https://sdgs.un.org/topics/poverty-eradication: This website provides a brief account of the UN’s work in the area of poverty eradication and highlights major reports on the topic.

Why it Matters: No Poverty: https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/1_Why-It-Matters-2020.pdf

Global Issues - Ending Poverty: https://www.un.org/en/sections/issues-depth/poverty/

The 2019 Global Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI): http://hdr.undp.org/en/2019-MPI
The 2019 Global Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) data and publication "Illuminating Inequalities" released on 11 July 2019 shed light on the number of people experiencing poverty at regional, national and subnational levels, and reveal inequalities across countries and among the poor themselves. Jointly developed by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI) at the University of Oxford, the 2019 global MPI offers data for 101 countries, covering 76 percent of the global population.

Special Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty and Human Rights: https://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Poverty/Pages/SRExtremePovertyIndex.aspx

CONTENTS FOR THIS POST WAS PROVIDED TO FSU BY THE UNITED NATIONS AND THE DAG HAMMARSKJÖLD LIBRARY.

International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons

The General Assembly declared 26 September as International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons in December 2013 by adopting resolution 68/32 as a follow-up to the high-level meeting of the General Assembly on nuclear disarmament held on 26 September 2013 in New York. 

In resolution 68/32, the General Assembly called for the “urgent commencement of negotiations in the Conference on Disarmament of a comprehensive convention on nuclear weapons to prohibit their possession, development, production, acquisition, testing, stockpiling, transfer and use or threat of use, and to provide for their destruction.”

Subsequently, the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons was adopted on 7 July 2017 by the United Nations Conference to Negotiate a Legally Binding Instrument to Prohibit Nuclear Weapons, Leading Towards their Total Elimination (UN doc. A/CONF.229/2017/8).  The Treaty has been ratified by 45 signatory states and is not yet in force (50 ratifications are required for that to happen).  For more information about the Treaty please visit:  http://disarmament.un.org/treaties/t/tpnw

The International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons has been observed annually since 2014.  For more information about this international day, please visit:  https://www.un.org/en/observances/nuclear-weapons-elimination-day

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Key resources for conducting research on this topic:

• United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA):  https://www.un.org/disarmament/
• United Nations Disarmament Yearbooks Collection (1945 present): https://www.un.org/disarmament/publications/yearbook/
• Disarmament Treaties:  http://disarmament.un.org/treaties/
• UNODA Documents Library:  https://www.un.org/disarmament/publications/library/
• Resources for Learning - Disarmament Education:  https://www.un.org/disarmament/education/index.html
• Disarmament in the General Assembly:  https://www.un.org/disarmament/general-assembly/
• United Nations Conference on Disarmament (UNCD):  https://www.unog.ch/80256EE600585943/(httpPages)/2D415EE45C5FAE07C12571800055232B?OpenDocument
• United Nations Disarmament Commission (UNDC):  https://www.un.org/disarmament/institutions/disarmament-commission/
• Fact Sheets on Disarmament Issues: https://www.un.org/disarmament/factsheets/
• Disarmament: a basic guide, fourth edition (2017) - available in Arabis, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish: https://www.un.org/disarmament/publications/basic-guide/disarmament-a-basic-guide-fourth-edition-2017/
• United Nations Institute on Disarmament Research (UNIDIR):  https://www.unidir.org
• Library research guide on disarmament documentation: https://research.un.org/en/docs/disarmament

Research guide on nuclear weapons (Library and Archives Geneva): https://libraryresources.unog.ch/nukes

List of Ask Dag FAQs on disarmament: https://ask.un.org/search/?t=0&q=Disarmament

Documents and publications in the UN Digital Library:

• All content about nuclear disarmament:  https://digitallibrary.un.org/search
• Latest reports on nuclear non-proliferation:  https://digitallibrary.un.org/search
• Latest reports on disarmament:  https://digitallibrary.un.org/search

Contents for this post was provided to FSU by the United Nations and the Dag Hammarskjöld Library.

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted by all United Nations Member States in 2015, provides a shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future. At its heart are the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which are an urgent call for action by all countries - developed and developing - in a global partnership. They recognize that ending poverty and other deprivations must go hand-in-hand with strategies that improve health and education, reduce inequality, and spur economic growth – all while tackling climate change and working to preserve our oceans and forests.

To find out more about all the Sustainable Development Goals, please visit: https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/

On the occasion of the opening of the 75th session of the UN General Assembly– and on the 5th anniversary of the Sustainable Development Goals – a 30-minute film titled “Nations United” will feature leading thinkers and activists, data visualizations, testimonies, and performances to highlight the solutions and actions we can take to create a world where no one is left behind. The first transmission was on 19 September, 2020, and can be found on YouTube live stream.

The United Nations has created a detailed advertisement of this monumental broadcast which includes a general overview, production details, and a list of famous activists that are being approached to host and contribute to this event. To view, click the link below: "Nations United": SDG Global Broadcast

Already available is the "Do you know all 17 SDGs?" Video, in eight languages on UN Web TV website (webtv.un.org):

• English: http://webtv.un.org/watch/english-do-you-know-all-17-sdgs/5827347434001/
• English (YouTube): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0XTBYMfZyrM

Other online resources available:

• Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Sustainable Development: https://sdgs.un.org
• SDG Indicators Global Database: https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/indicators/database/
• 2020 Sustainable Development Goals Report: https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/report/2020/
• Other UN Publications on Sustainable Development and SDGs: https://sdgs.un.org/publications
• UN System SDG Implementation online database: https://sdgs.un.org/UNSDGimplementation

Additional research resources from the United Nations/Dag Hammarskjöld Library website: