Women

5 May 2024Health Millions of lives each year rely on the expertise and care of midwives and yet a global shortage is squeezing the profession like never before, the UN sexual and reproductive health agency UNPFA said on Sunday, marking the International Day of the Midwife. This year the...

Presenting her annual report, Pramila Patten, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict, noted that weapons continue to flow into the hands of perpetrators while most victims remain emptyhanded when it comes to reparations and redress. “The essential...

Interwoven Lives, Threads of Hope: Ending inequalities in sexual and reproductive health and rights, reveals that more than half of all preventable maternal deaths occur in countries which are in a state of crisis or distress. It highlights the role that racism, sexism and other forms of...

Rafael Grossi told ambassadors that the first direct attacks since the Russian invasion began. earlier this month, on what is Europe’s largest nuclear facility, constituted a “step change increase in risk to nuclear safety and security”. Although the damage from drone strikes on the...

Life in Gaza is unrecognizable today, amid growing calls to end the war and to implement the latest UN Security Council Resolution, demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages, and safe and unimpeded access for humanitarian aid. Today, more...

You adopted robust Agreed Conclusions [advance unedited version], a blueprint that envisages a world with greater financial inclusion, increased spending on social protection, increased stability, equal opportunities, and great hope, rights, and freedoms for women and girls everywhere. A world...

More than 2 billion people, across more than 60 countries, will head to the polls in national and local elections in 2024. Amid concerns that democracy and gender equality are backsliding, these elections represent a watershed for pushing forward for gender equality. On 20 March 2024, UN Women...

Hunger is both a cause and result of conflict. And for the more than 614 million women and girls living in conflict-affected places, hunger is a reality. In countries facing conflict and hunger, women often eat last and least—sacrificing for their families. Conflict can cause food shortages and...

Acknowledging that the international financial architecture is not fit for a crisis-prone world, the Commission called for reforms to enable countries to mobilize and invest resources in gender equality. These measures include debt relief and progressive taxation and ensuring that public...

“Women in Gaza are superheroes,” said Rana Khalil, a project coordinator for the Palestinian Working Women Society for Development (PWWSD), based in the West Bank. “I’m a Gazan woman, and I know how women in Gaza are. They are so strong,” she said. As the Integrated Food Security Phase...

[As delivered.] Dear Feminists, my thanks to everyone, both in the room and online, for joining us today. I give particular thanks to UNDP, UNFPA, and OHCHR for partnering with UN Women for this flagship CSW68 [68th session of the Commission on the Status of Women] side event. Our collaboration...

The Youth Forum brought together a vibrant mosaic of more than 400 young leaders from across the globe, ranging from activists to experts with a rich diversity of experiences. Group photo of participants in the Youth Forum opening, held in UN headquarters on 15 March 2024. Photo: UN Women/Ryan...

Social protection is a fundamental right and expanding social protection programmes and services – such as childcare, parental leave benefits, pensions – can reduce women’s poverty, improve their access to paid work and help them cope better with crises and shocks. Yet only 26.5 per cent of...

Youth leaders from around the world have come together to discuss their vision for ending poverty and advancing gender equality at the 68th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW68) at the UN Headquarters in New York from 11 to 22 March. In this landmark election year, when 2.6...

From improving women and girls’ economic participation in Tanzania, to re-shaping the care economy in Canada, Generation Equality commitments are robustly supporting action across sectors and ushering transformative change. At this year’s Commission on the Status of Women (CSW68), Generation...

We are living today with the consequences of imperfect, shambolic democracies. Over the last decades, governments in many countries of the world have failed to deliver social services and public goods to their citizens. Today, 1 in 10 women are living in extreme poverty. If current trends...

And yet, we know women continue to contribute enormously to the economy, directly and indirectly. One out of three businesses are owned by women. Women provide the bulk of unpaid care work, spending 2.8 hours more a day than men do. If we are not ambitiously proactive, women’s economic...

“Women’s rights are human rights” has echoed throughout the UN Commission on the Status of Women for decades, including at its current session that runs from 11 to 22 March at UN Headquarters.

We know that we are meeting in troubled times – for the world and particularly for women and girls. The Sustainable Development Goals are off track – including Goal five: gender equality. At our current rate, 340 million women and girls will still be living in extreme poverty by 2030. We...

In the Middle East, Sudan, Myanmar, Haiti, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ukraine, Afghanistan, and elsewhere, women and girls bear the brunt of conflicts and of wars they did not start. In all conflicts, we unequivocally condemn all acts of gender-based violence, and all forms of violence...