Latest news with #andSecurity
Jordan News
4 days ago
- Politics
- Jordan News
Jordan and Finland Discuss Efforts to Achieve Permanent Ceasefire in Gaza - Jordan News
Jordan and Finland Discuss Efforts to Achieve Permanent Ceasefire in Gaza Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Ayman Safadi held extensive talks today with Finnish Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen, focusing on bilateral relations and regional developments. اضافة اعلان Safadi and Valtonen emphasized the importance of expanding cooperation between the two friendly countries in all fields, both bilaterally and within the framework of the strategic partnership with the European Union. The two ministers also affirmed their commitment to multilateral cooperation and to upholding international law and international humanitarian law. In this context, they reviewed preparations for a high-level side event, co-hosted by Jordan and Finland, to be held during the 80th session of the UN General Assembly. The event will mark the 10th anniversary of UN Security Council Resolution 2250 on Youth, Peace, and Security — an initiative launched by Crown Prince Al Hussein bin Abdullah II. The discussions also covered ongoing efforts to reach a permanent ceasefire in Gaza and ensure the immediate and adequate delivery of humanitarian aid to the Strip. Additionally, the two ministers discussed regional and international initiatives aimed at ensuring the upcoming Saudi-French-led international conference in New York yields practical outcomes that advance the goal of a just and lasting peace based on the two-state solution. Safadi stressed the importance of more countries recognizing the State of Palestine as a reaffirmation of their commitment to the two-state solution. They also addressed the latest developments in Syria. Safadi highlighted the need to support the Syrian government in reconstruction efforts based on principles that safeguard Syria's unity, security, and stability, eliminate terrorism, and preserve the rights of all Syrians. Safadi expressed appreciation for Finland's efforts to promote security and stability in the region. Both ministers agreed to maintain ongoing cooperation and coordination in service of their countries' mutual interests.
Saba Yemen
21-05-2025
- Politics
- Saba Yemen
UN experts call on SC to protect women, girls in Gaza, restore peace, security
Geneva - Saba: A group of independent human rights experts urged the UN Security Council on Wednesday to urgently address the Israeli occupation's unprecedented expansion of its offensive against civilians in Gaza and reaffirm its commitment to the Women, Peace, and Security agenda. "Ahead of the Council's open debate on the protection of civilians, chaired by Greece, we urge a meaningful discussion of the grave implications of the ongoing genocide on women and girls in the besieged Gaza Strip," the experts said in a statement. The experts stressed that the attacks have shattered every aspect of civilian life, with clear gender consequences, and that Palestinian girls and women of all ages have suffered in overwhelming numbers, while Israel continues to prevent critical humanitarian access. They noted that "more than 28,000 women and girls have been killed, thousands injured, and nearly one million people displaced. Nearly 13,000 women are the sole breadwinners for their families. The entire population remains at risk of famine. Nearly 71,000 children and 17,000 pregnant and breastfeeding women will require urgent treatment for severe malnutrition in the near future." They continued: "Women continue to suffer devastating losses while caring for their families, who have little access to adequate water, medicine, food, sanitary products, or sexual and reproductive health care." The experts explained that women and girls with disabilities face particularly acute risks—disproportionately suffering neglect, increased exposure to violence, and significant barriers to accessing essential services. The experts said: "The destruction of civilian infrastructure and the extreme suffering endured by women and girls demand immediate and sustained action by the Security Council. The devastation inflicted on women, girls, and entire communities is not accidental, but the result of deliberate Israeli policies and actions. The killing of thousands of women and girls may constitute the deliberate imposition of living conditions designed to bring about the physical destruction, in whole or in part, of the Palestinian people." The experts noted that while Palestinian women and girls in Gaza are victims of this indiscriminate and disproportionate military assault, women—as journalists, medical workers, teachers, lawyers, and aid workers—continue to provide care, documentation, and resistance despite the devastating losses. "Girls and other children are being told to walk long distances to learn remotely, even as they fear bombardment along the way. They cling to their uniforms and books, still hoping to return to classrooms—even when those spaces are no longer safe," the experts said. They reiterated their repeated calls for a permanent ceasefire and the need for protection and accountability measures, and urged the Council to respond to the specific gender-specific impacts of the crisis. They noted that women, peace, and security commitments should not be sidelined from core peace and security discussions. The experts warned that "in Gaza, the rules of engagement and the basic protection of civilians have been deliberately, consistently, and flagrantly violated." They added, "If the Security Council fails to address this profound breakdown in compliance and accountability, and what this means for humanity and multilateralism, the very foundations of international law risk losing their meaning." Whatsapp Telegram Email Print
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
'Biden Ruined Everything'
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth just canceled the Pentagon's Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) program saying that a 'straightforward and security focused' program was 'distorted and weaponized' by the Biden administration. In their outrage, critics say it was Hegseth who politicized the WPS Act of 2017, which was signed President Trump after unanimous bipartisan support, including some of Trump's current cabinet. Are the critics right? It turns out that Hegseth's assertion that Biden 'ruined everything' is closer to the mark. Just before the 2024 election, House Democrats and Republicans had forged an agreement to extend both the lifespan of the WPS Act's reporting requirement, which has already been fulfilled, and funding that DOD said it badly needed for its program. In exchange Congress asked for transparency on DOD WPS training required by the law and a name change for WPS staff from 'gender advisors' to 'WPS advisors.' Bipartisanship lasted until the Biden administration weighed in and said it could abide neither. The deal was off, the parties went to their corners, and the episode left a bad taste in the mouth of Republicans who felt they had negotiated in good faith despite reservations. After Trump won the election, the same WPS staff told Congress they could accept the name change after all. In December, the Pentagon published its Congressionally mandated WPS plan casting WPS as a 'gender equity' program then, after Trump took office, issued a flurry of memos and papers arguing that 'WPS is not DEI.' By then much damage had been done. One wonders what was in all those training modules Pentagon staff could not share with Congress. Did Secretary Hegseth see them before making his decision to cancel the program? As someone who implemented WPS training in DOD from 2020-2023, I know how hard it was to stay within the bipartisan mandate of the law. The Biden administration sent me long memos complaining that my curriculum did not include enough 'gender' language such as 'gender perspective,' was too focused on women and girls rather than 'gender.' They especially did not like the way we taught 'gender analysis' as the difference been men and women rather than gender identity. When I explained that the law was clear on this, a lead WPS staffer at the Pentagon told me in exasperation, 'We don't have to stay within the law.' Really? What doesn't compute is why WPS advocates in the Biden administration and Congressional Democrats would not take the bird in hand. Why risk sunsetting the law they worked hard to get and squander bipartisan goodwill? Sen. Jeanne Shaheen's office held a draft for 'WPS 2.0' to effectively replace the 2017 law but did not share it with Republican colleagues. Why all this when WPS was one of the few programs about women that had flown under the radar of the gender culture warriors? One can understand why critics on the outside looking in saw WPS advocates as partisan and hidebound ideologues who did not have national interests or those of women and girls at heart. Also puzzling: if there is so much support for WPS among DOD senior leaders, as Senator Jeanne Shaheen has stated, then why were DOD WPS staff unable, after five years of trying, to get approval of a DOD instruction? That would have set out guidance for commanders on what WPS is, who is responsible for it, and what should get done. We may come to realize that the demise of DOD WPS was an inevitable outcome of a staff's inability to navigate bureaucracy and embed a new program in an older, much larger institution—a perennial problem in many organizations, including federal agencies. Holding the bag are the practitioners doing good work in the field—and the people they serve. While subcontracted to a combatant command staff from 2023 to 2025, my company helped a partner nation build a program to end sexual violence in its military, a real problem that destroys the lives of men and women. I was proud to support that kind of WPS effort. What I know as a veteran and researcher is that most troops intuitively get it: improved lighting and separate berthing for families protects children, an all-female team could help access hard to get information, having supplies ahead of time for pregnant women and babies saves lives in resettlement camps. Better planning helps foresee all this and more. Interviewees have told me they could do without WPS lessons in feminism, queer theory, and 'gender transformative approaches.' My hope is that such conversations don't become a casualty of politicking, gatekeeping, and refusal to keep the end in mind. I have a new book on WPS in U.S. security cooperation coming out that is filled with actual cases from real practitioners. We will convene honest brokers on all sides of this debate to discuss the prospects, and, yes, the problems, with how the US has been engaging partner nations with WPS. My guess is that despite the efforts to coopt and politicize this issue, cooler heads will realize that some capabilities are worth saving. The ones that help warfighters, the military planner, and the citizens we serve; that the earth is just a little scorched and not yet salted. Susan Yoshihara, Ph.D., is founder and president of the American Council on Women Peace and Security and adjunct professor at the Institute of World Politics in Washington, D.C.
USA Today
08-05-2025
- Politics
- USA Today
I asked Team Trump why they now hate a 'woke' bill he himself signed into law
I asked Team Trump why they now hate a 'woke' bill he himself signed into law | Opinion Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth attacked a 'woke' law that came from Trump's first term. Somehow it's still Biden's fault. Show Caption Hide Caption Hegseth calls for 20% cut in four-star generals and admirals Defense Sec. Pete Hegseth announced a plan to cut 20% of active duty senior generals and admirals. President Donald Trump's Cabinet members during his second term are so dedicated to pitting Americans against Americans in their war on "woke" that they don't mind if Team Trump trashes Team Trump to accomplish that. Case in point: Pete Hegseth, the guy who instilled so much confidence in America by vowing to give up drinking if he was approved as Trump's secretary of Defense, has expressed some strong feelings on the topic of "Women, Peace, and Security." Hegseth posted on social media on April 29 that he had "proudly" ended that program at the Department of Defense, which he derided as "yet another woke divisive/social justice/Biden initiative" that had been "pushed by feminists and left-wing activists." Hegseth added "GOOD RIDDANCE WPS," while acknowledging that he would still execute "the minimum of WPS required by statute." I guess we should pause here to appreciate that a member of Trump's Cabinet is saying publicly that he will obey a federal law, even if all Hegseth can muster here is the minimum. That's a tall order for most on Team Trump these days. We should also note that Trump signed into law the Women, Peace, and Security Act of 2017 during his first term in office, after that legislation was sponsored by Rep. Kristi Noem (now Trump's secretary of Homeland Security) and cosponsored by Sen. Marco Rubio (now Trump's secretary of State). However, the messaging of Trump's second term, that "woke" is evil and any effort to address diversity, equity and inclusion is somehow anti-American, is so strident that it doesn't matter that those attacks target Trump's first term. Why does Team Trump now disagree with itself? I asked. The point of the law: to make it a priority of the U.S. government to include women around the world in efforts to prevent and resolve conflicts. But that was eight years ago, before efforts at DEI in things like war and peace became a key element in Trump's war on woke hysteria. I wondered: Did Hegseth let Trump, Noem and Rubio know that he was torpedoing a federal law they all had a hand in crafting? I got some answers, sort of. Let's start where this started. I sent that question to the Pentagon, where a spokesperson told me, "We have nothing further to add above and beyond what the secretary posted here," while sending me the same link to Hegseth's post that I had asked about. Responsive? Yes and no, right? They got back to me to point me at the thing I had just pointed at for them. The White House wasn't much better. An "administration official" – that's what they asked to be called – didn't even try to answer when I asked if Trump shares Hegseth's assessment of the Women, Peace, and Security Act. Instead, the "administration official" noted that former President Joe Biden's administration linked the program to climate security while also taking an "inclusive, intersectional approach." Opinion: Musk leaves Washington with his credibility and brand in self-inflicted shambles That's code for daring to acknowledge that the world's climate is linked to security issues, and that people of various races, genders, classes and sexual orientations live on the same planet. The Department of State was even more vague when I asked whether Rubio agreed with Hegseth's assessment. A "senior State Department official" – that's what they asked to be called – ducked that question while saying that the Women, Peace, and Security Act was "a noteworthy initiative aimed at empowering women and girls" that the previous administration "exploited to push progressive causes." The Department of Homeland Security didn't respond when I asked whether Noem agrees with Hegseth about the program. She might have been busy cosplaying as a commando or posing for selfies in a foreign prison. Noem, speaking as a member of the U.S. House in June 2017 as her colleagues prepared to pass her legislation, said she was "confident" it would produce "sustainable outcomes" that touch on America's security. "Research covering conflicts from Northern Ireland to Africa has shown that peace agreements are 35% more likely to last at least 15 years when women are involved," Noem said from the floor of the House. "Even knowing this, women are many times left out during negotiations." Does that sound "woke" to you? That sort of talk has no place in this new Trump administration. So, blame bouncing the program on Biden and get on with it. Remember when Team Trump loved inclusion? Here's what they said. A few problems there: Rubio, for one, doesn't seem ready to move on. In an April speech at the International Women of Courage awards ceremony, he proudly noted that he cosponsored the Women, Peace, and Security Act. The secretary of State called it "the first comprehensive law passed in any country in the world – the first law passed by any country anywhere in the world – focused on protecting women and promoting their participation in society." Opinion: Trump wasted no time breaking his campaign promises. It's been 100 days of lies. Again, pretty woke, right? And I found plenty of times when Trump touted the law in the White House archives for his first term. Trump, in a "presidential message" to acknowledge International Women's Day in 2020, called it "the first standalone, comprehensive legislation of its kind anywhere in the world." It's entirely predictable, and reliably disingenuous, for Team Trump to now blame Biden while trashing legislation pushed for and passed by Team Trump. PolitiFact, the fact-checking organization run by The Poynter Institute, dug into Hegseth's claims and reported on May 6 that very little has changed in the implementation of the Women, Peace, and Security Act, aside from some rhetoric. "We found that the program did not significantly change from President Donald Trump's first presidency to President Joe Biden's tenure," PolitiFact wrote. "The Biden administration used some words and phrases in program plans that a Trump plan did not use, such as 'LGBTQI+' and climate change, but the program goals remained the same." The goals are the same. But Team Trump's war on woke changed the playing field. So they'll just pretend a focus on Women, Peace, and Security is an antiquated idea from a bygone age: Trump's first term. Follow USA TODAY columnist Chris Brennan on X, formerly known as Twitter: @ByCrisBrennan. Sign up for his weekly newsletter, Translating Politics, here.
Yahoo
07-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Opinion - Trump signed the law creating ‘Women, Peace, and Security.' Why destroy it now?
At a time of rising global threats, it is reckless to undermine a proven national security tool. Yet that's exactly what Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth did when he announced the elimination of Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) at the Department of Defense and dismissed the WPS agenda as 'woke.' He couldn't be more wrong — and dangerously so. WPS is not some fringe initiative, it's the law of the land. It was created with overwhelming bipartisan support and signed by President Trump in 2017. Republicans backing it included then-Rep. Kristi Noem (R-S.D.) (now secretary of Homeland Security) and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) (now secretary of State) championed the law in Congress. It also had strong Democratic leadership with prime sponsors Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) and Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.). The law reflected a strategic truth: when women are at the table — in national security decision-making, conflict prevention, peace negotiations and reconstruction efforts — peace tends to last longer, communities recover faster and missions are more effective. This isn't a feel-good theory; it is sound policy backed by decades of research and the hard realities of conflict zones, where women are often the first responders, last line of defense for families, and unfortunately, an afterthought. In places where rape is used as a weapon of war and instability rips communities apart, women aren't bystanders. Women rebuild schools, lead reconciliation efforts and restore order. The WPS Act acknowledges their role and requires four U.S. agencies to elevate it through training, interagency strategies and congressional oversight. At the Department of Defense, WPS efforts give us an advantage over our competitors and an edge on the battlefield. WPS advances women's meaningful participation in the military, establishing dedicated advisors across Department of Defense offices, and integrating with allies and partners. Thanks to this work, American servicemembers are better equipped to tackle their missions with a whole-of-population approach. Destroying the work of WPS defies law, data and experience. Concerningly, it hands our adversaries a win by sidelining half our population from global problem-solving. Women's leadership in peace and security isn't about ideology. It's about impact. WPS makes us safer. Stronger. Smarter. President Trump should instruct his Cabinet to respect the law he signed. And Congress must continue to fund these efforts. Women, Peace, and Security isn't just smart policy. It's the law, and it's vital to our national interest. Lois Frankel represents Florida's 22nd District and is co-chair of the bipartisan Women, Peace, and Security Caucus. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
