News

To commemorate the Global Parent Day, the International Gender Champions (IGC) and U.N. Parents held a workshop on parental leave in the U.N. on 2 June 2022. The webinar brought together around 100 UN staff and non-staff alike and provided space to discuss parental leave in a safe and secure environment.

On the occasion of the International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict observed on June 19th, the UN Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict Pramila Patten highlighted that it is time to ‘address the underlying causes and invisible drivers of sexual violence… as well as harmful social norms related to honour, shame, and blaming victims’.

The IGC Secretariat has listed for you over 30 free self-paced online courses related to GBV. Expand your knowledge of different types of violence, sectors and levels, and discover levers of action.

In this podcast, IGC-Vienna warms-up for its 5th-anniversary celebration. Listen in to this conversation with the Troika Group Champions Amb. Barbara Žvokelj of the Republic of Slovenia, Amb. Alejandro Solano Ortiz of Costa Rica and Amb. Laura S.H. Holgate of the United States of America, talking about the history of the IGC Vienna Hub, its spirit, current status and mission, and future vision.

Ambassador Leigh Turner served as Ambassador of the United Kingdom to Austria from 2016 to 2021 and served as a Vienna-based International Gender Champion throughout his tenure. As Ambassador, he promoted a strong focus on gender equality in all aspects of his work at the Embassy and within the international organizations. While serving, he also published several books - his most recent is the Istanbul thriller "Palladium", published on 17 May 2022. Since becoming an alumnus of the International Gender Champions network, Ambassador Turner has gone on to write more books, the next of which – “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to Diplomacy”, to be published by Czernin Verlag in spring 2023 – draws from his experience as a diplomat. This is an excerpt about fostering the empowerment of women in the diplomatic world from "The Hitchhiker's Guide to Diplomacy," exploring Leigh's 42-year career and what it tells us about diplomacy and life. You can read more about his books and writing at rleighturner.com.

On 21 April 2022, the Council of Women World Leaders and International Gender Champions co-hosted a leadership exchange with the former Prime Minister of New Zealand and a member of the Council of Women World Leaders, H.E. Helen Clark, on the role women play in developing successful climate policies.

Anne-Sophie Lois of Plan International and IGC Global Board sits down with Nanako, a youth advocate from the YWCA of Japan and Steasy in Kenya connected to Plan International’s She Leads programme. Listen to hear the two young leaders' reflections from this year’s CSW66 and how they work towards feminist climate justice in their communities.

The COVID-19 pandemic has created conditions making it easier for vulnerable people to become victims of sexual exploitation and trafficking.