By Seema Jalan UNFPA, the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency, is sounding the alarm on a human rights crisis that has ramifications for women, societies, and the world. Its 2022 State of World Population report, Seeing the Unseen: The case for action in the neglected crisis of unintended…

By Seema Jalan News reports of the Russian invasion of Ukraine have been harrowing: Civilians have been targeted, cities have been shelled, and life as so many knew it has been completely upended. …

By Seema Jalan Nearly half of women globally still cannot make their own decisions about whether or not to have sex, use contraception, or seek health care, according to research by UNFPA, the UN’s sexual and reproductive health agency. As UNFPA Executive Director Dr. Natalia Kanem stated: “In essence, hundreds…

By Seema Jalan For better or worse, the U.S. has an outsized influence in the world. Those of us who have worked for years to help shape U.S. foreign policy to be a force multiplier for gender equality and sexual and reproductive health, rights and justice (SRHRJ) globally recognize that…

By Seema Jalan The 2020 U.S. Presidential election was historic — in the levels of voters turning out the polls and making their voices heard; in the election of Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris as the first woman, first Black, and first South Asian Vice President in our country’s history; and…

By Seema Jalan As COVID-19 continues to surge globally, communities and countries are facing the very real health, social, and economic impacts of the pandemic, and entire industries are being upended in ways we’ve never seen before. But girls and women — the backbone of the current and future global…

By Seema Jalan While the world is focused on battling the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic, and as the U.S. has a necessary — and long overdue — national conversation on racial justice and systemic racism, it seems that our newsfeeds are overflowing with the latest data, headlines, and developments. But even…

By Seema Jalan In any context, human rights violations undercut the dignity, health, stability, and prosperity of individuals, communities, and entire countries. They are denounced by international human rights treaties and the governments that ratified them. …

By Seema Jalan An estimated four billion people globally have sheltered in place to halt the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic — an essential protective measure to flatten the curve of the virus and ease the burden on our health care systems and front line workers. For many, staying at…