Cristal Downing
@cristaldowning.bsky.social
Project Director, Gender & Conflict @crisisgroup Former @UNUCPR, @UKUN_NewYork, @UNMigration | PhD @warstudies | Views my own
@UnitedNations WPS month is underway. Here are some thoughts on the challenges the WPS agenda is facing (spoiler: gender equality is under attack) and how countries can and must use this month to defend women’s rights. passblue.com/2025/10/05/t...
The WPS Agenda Needs Strong Wills to Counter Rough Headwinds - PassBlue
The WPS Agenda Needs Strong Wills to Counter Rough Headwinds - PassBlue
passblue.com
October 7, 2025 at 1:24 PM
@UnitedNations WPS month is underway. Here are some thoughts on the challenges the WPS agenda is facing (spoiler: gender equality is under attack) and how countries can and must use this month to defend women’s rights. passblue.com/2025/10/05/t...
Reposted by Cristal Downing
Our highlights at #UNGA2025 so far.
🇺🇸 Trump’s fiery speech
🇵🇸 Gaza: UK, France and others recognise Palestine; Israel responds.
🇸🇾 Syria: President Al Sharaa addresses the General Assembly
🇺🇦 Ukraine: Trump & Zelenskyy’s most positive meeting yet.
@mayaungar.bsky.social explains more. ⬇️
🇺🇸 Trump’s fiery speech
🇵🇸 Gaza: UK, France and others recognise Palestine; Israel responds.
🇸🇾 Syria: President Al Sharaa addresses the General Assembly
🇺🇦 Ukraine: Trump & Zelenskyy’s most positive meeting yet.
@mayaungar.bsky.social explains more. ⬇️
September 26, 2025 at 1:40 PM
Our highlights at #UNGA2025 so far.
🇺🇸 Trump’s fiery speech
🇵🇸 Gaza: UK, France and others recognise Palestine; Israel responds.
🇸🇾 Syria: President Al Sharaa addresses the General Assembly
🇺🇦 Ukraine: Trump & Zelenskyy’s most positive meeting yet.
@mayaungar.bsky.social explains more. ⬇️
🇺🇸 Trump’s fiery speech
🇵🇸 Gaza: UK, France and others recognise Palestine; Israel responds.
🇸🇾 Syria: President Al Sharaa addresses the General Assembly
🇺🇦 Ukraine: Trump & Zelenskyy’s most positive meeting yet.
@mayaungar.bsky.social explains more. ⬇️
Some beautiful and haunting photos here of people and communities affected by conflict, taken during Crisis Group fieldwork around the world over the last few years. www.crisisgroup.org/global/life-...
Life on the Edge: Everyday Realities in a Conflict-torn World | International Crisis Group
A photo exhibition held at the European External Action Service (EEAS) marks Crisis Group’s 30th anniversary, and showcases photographs taken by its staff while conducting field research in conflict-a...
www.crisisgroup.org
September 18, 2025 at 4:45 PM
Some beautiful and haunting photos here of people and communities affected by conflict, taken during Crisis Group fieldwork around the world over the last few years. www.crisisgroup.org/global/life-...
Shutting down the Internet amounts to shutting off a window to the world. Internet access was key in efforts to continue education for at least some Afghan women & girls. It was also central to livelihoods like selling handicrafts and clothes online. thediplomat.com/2025/09/inte...
Internet Shutdown in Afghanistan Threatens Women’s Education and Media Freedom
The Taliban restrict local media, and now also the internet, while leveraging the same platforms to spread their own messages.
thediplomat.com
September 18, 2025 at 4:16 PM
Shutting down the Internet amounts to shutting off a window to the world. Internet access was key in efforts to continue education for at least some Afghan women & girls. It was also central to livelihoods like selling handicrafts and clothes online. thediplomat.com/2025/09/inte...
US aid cuts have reduced global access to sexual & reproductive health. Take Afghanistan, where women are dying in labour after clinics close. As medical supplies are destroyed & aid cuts continue, efforts to reduce women's access to care are increasing. www.bbc.com/news/article...
BBC investigates Afghan maternal deaths after US aid cuts
The BBC hears devastating accounts of Afghan mothers and babies dying after US-backed clinics shut.
www.bbc.com
September 15, 2025 at 12:22 AM
US aid cuts have reduced global access to sexual & reproductive health. Take Afghanistan, where women are dying in labour after clinics close. As medical supplies are destroyed & aid cuts continue, efforts to reduce women's access to care are increasing. www.bbc.com/news/article...
As we highlighted in the below UN-focused piece, UN agencies and NGOs offered to buy these contraceptives to serve life-saving purposes. But no, not on this admin’s watch. www.nytimes.com/2025/09/11/h...
September 12, 2025 at 1:11 AM
As we highlighted in the below UN-focused piece, UN agencies and NGOs offered to buy these contraceptives to serve life-saving purposes. But no, not on this admin’s watch. www.nytimes.com/2025/09/11/h...
Amid global pushback against gender equality, some topics are more unequal than others. Sexual & reproductive health is one. Here’s our take on what that means for @UN work for women & girls in war, among other challenges the org will face in 2025-26. www.crisisgroup.org/global/sb13-...
Ten Challenges for the UN in 2025-2026 | International Crisis Group
As the annual high-level meeting of the General Assembly at the UN approaches, the organisation faces severe political and financial challenges. But it can still use sanctions, peace operations and ai...
www.crisisgroup.org
September 11, 2025 at 8:09 PM
Amid global pushback against gender equality, some topics are more unequal than others. Sexual & reproductive health is one. Here’s our take on what that means for @UN work for women & girls in war, among other challenges the org will face in 2025-26. www.crisisgroup.org/global/sb13-...
Great timing from Denmark - new National Action Plan. Glad to see that not everyone has completely lost the plot on WPS. um.dk/en/foreign-p...
Women, peace and security
In 2025, we celebrate the 25th anniversary of the adoption of the UN Security Council’s Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security (WPS). This groundbreaking resolution not only spoke of women...
um.dk
May 1, 2025 at 2:24 PM
Great timing from Denmark - new National Action Plan. Glad to see that not everyone has completely lost the plot on WPS. um.dk/en/foreign-p...
For #IWD2025 @comfortero.crisisgroup.org shared this list of Crisis Group & external publications that explore some of the ways that gender & conflict interact, from India to Haiti, and from seats in parliament to artificial intelligence. www.crisisgroup.org/global/comfo...
Comfort Ero’s 2025 Top Picks on Gender and Conflict | Crisis Group
For International Women’s Day, Crisis Group’s President and CEO, Comfort Ero, shares a list of her top ten publications on how conflict and gender intersect including the impacts of violence on people...
www.crisisgroup.org
March 10, 2025 at 2:32 PM
For #IWD2025 @comfortero.crisisgroup.org shared this list of Crisis Group & external publications that explore some of the ways that gender & conflict interact, from India to Haiti, and from seats in parliament to artificial intelligence. www.crisisgroup.org/global/comfo...
Wondering what @crisisgroup.org's work on gender & conflict looks like? Wonder no more. We've visualised it in this (might I say very impressive) map, complete with interactive timeline and links to publications. www.crisisgroup.org/global/crisi...
Crisis Group's Research on Gender and Conflict | Crisis Group
Over three decades, Crisis Group has built up a wide body of work on gender and conflict – evolving from a 2003 piece on women and reconstruction in Afghanistan to the range of publications covering m...
www.crisisgroup.org
March 7, 2025 at 4:37 PM
Wondering what @crisisgroup.org's work on gender & conflict looks like? Wonder no more. We've visualised it in this (might I say very impressive) map, complete with interactive timeline and links to publications. www.crisisgroup.org/global/crisi...
In @justsecurity.org ahead of #IWD2025 I highlight how the Mexico City policy (also known as the global gag rule) impacts women & girls in conflict even beyond the damage done by recent aid cuts. Past experience shows that this restriction reduces access to essential health care.
This #InternationalWomensDay, U.S. aid cuts and reimposition of the “Mexico City Policy” may leave millions of women worldwide without access to life-saving sexual and reproductive healthcare, writes @cristaldowning.bsky.social of @crisisgroup.org:
www.justsecurity.org/108610/forei...
#IWD
www.justsecurity.org/108610/forei...
#IWD
US Aid Cuts Compound Harmful Impact of 'Mexico City Policy'
The reimposition of the Mexico City policy could cause conflict survivors to lose access to life-saving sexual and reproductive healthcare.
www.justsecurity.org
March 7, 2025 at 2:53 PM
In @justsecurity.org ahead of #IWD2025 I highlight how the Mexico City policy (also known as the global gag rule) impacts women & girls in conflict even beyond the damage done by recent aid cuts. Past experience shows that this restriction reduces access to essential health care.
US aid cuts are having drastic effects in war. Funding for gender equality has been singled out as misaligned with the US administration's values. Within this, sexual & reproductive health is particularly at risk. With it, so are women & girls in conflict. www.crisisgroup.org/global-unite...
Amid Aid Cuts, A Renewed U.S. Policy Increases Health Risks for Women and Girls in Conflict Areas | Crisis Group
While the Trump administration is gutting U.S. foreign aid across the board, programs aimed at women and girls’ sexual and reproductive health will be among those hardest hit. Crisis Group expert Cris...
www.crisisgroup.org
March 3, 2025 at 6:57 PM
US aid cuts are having drastic effects in war. Funding for gender equality has been singled out as misaligned with the US administration's values. Within this, sexual & reproductive health is particularly at risk. With it, so are women & girls in conflict. www.crisisgroup.org/global-unite...
Reposted by Cristal Downing
"We are in the middle of a very violent decade."
@comfortero.bsky.social in @economist.com.
www.economist.com/the-world-ah...
@comfortero.bsky.social in @economist.com.
www.economist.com/the-world-ah...
Comfort Ero offers three lessons for peacemaking in an unstable world
Global conflict is rising, but do not give up on peacemaking, argues Comfort Ero, president of International Crisis Group in The World Ahead 2025
www.economist.com
November 23, 2024 at 7:46 AM
"We are in the middle of a very violent decade."
@comfortero.bsky.social in @economist.com.
www.economist.com/the-world-ah...
@comfortero.bsky.social in @economist.com.
www.economist.com/the-world-ah...
Reposted by Cristal Downing
If you'd like to follow my @crisisgroup.org colleagues here on BlueSky, here's a lovely starter pack prepared by @paulfranz.bsky.social
International Crisis Group
Join the conversation
go.bsky.app
November 21, 2024 at 11:58 AM
If you'd like to follow my @crisisgroup.org colleagues here on BlueSky, here's a lovely starter pack prepared by @paulfranz.bsky.social