While the world has made great strides toward gender equality over the last several decades, major disparities between men and women still exist.  And women, from all walks of life, still face disadvantages. In the United States, we are yet to see a female president, and among the United Kingdom, Germany, and Australia, the tally remains at one.  

International aid work is more dangerous than ever. While attacks on aid workers declined in 2014, they remain not far below the unprecedented level of attacks the previous year, according to the Aid Worker Security Report.

The European Union is facing increasing pressure to speak out against the erosion of media freedom in Turkey following the forced take-over of the country’s largest-circulation newspaper, but few expect it to take a bold stance toward Ankara while trying to assure its help in dealing with the migration crisis.

Mexico is joining the fight for gender equality with the #HeForShe campaign. The Mexican Interior Ministry announced their commitment to NosotrosPorEllas campaign at a launch event with UN Women Mexico on February 22. The international initiative encourages men and boys to participate in creating a gender equal world. 

Twitter’s #PositionOfStrength, a women’s empowerment initiative launched on Friday across India to help female Internet users bridge the gender equality gap online, using online platforms to expand their reach and influence. It was previously run in Australia and India, but this is the first time the campaign arrives in Asia.

In 2014, Vilvoorde launched a project to counter the radicalization of young men and boys. Since then, the number of departures to Syria has dropped to zero. Boudaati said people involved in the project were trying to help young people find work and meaning at home in Belgium, as well as to understand the true word of the Quran, rather than Salafist interpretations.

The Estonian government has allocated EUR 105,000 for the project titled 'Protection of Crimean Tatar rights through public diplomacy', according to Oliver Loode, Vice Chair of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues in an interview.

Brett Bruen highlighted initiatives he and colleagues undertook at the University of Tikrit in 2009 to counter extremism in Iraq. [...] The example was meant to demonstrate how undervalued centers of learning are in wars of ideas and to advocate for U.S. public diplomacy strategies that leverage inherent American advantages in academic English and entrepreneurship.