Despite constraints imposed by the new coronavirus disease, activists for gender equality gathered at UN Headquarters on Monday for the latest session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), to reinforce the message that women’s rights are human rights. Member States adopted a Political Declaration in which they pledged to step up action to fully […]
Category: Women
No sustainable development or peace without women: UN deputy chief
The world will not be able to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) if half the planet is left behind, the UN Deputy Secretary-General said in Papua New Guinea on Sunday: International Women’s Day. Amina J. Mohammed was speaking in the capital, Port Moresby, where she participated in the national launch of the Spotlight Initiative, a European Union-UN partnership to eliminate […]
Yemen: UN Population Fund stresses women’s needs, amidst world’s worst humanitarian crisis
Intense clashes in Yemen’s Al Hazam City, this month have caused massive displacement with an estimated 1,800 families forced to flee their homes, according to a flash update from UN humanitarian coordination office, OCHA. The new fighting exacerbates displacement caused by renewed clashes involving pro-Government forces and Houthi rebels around Marib, Sana’a and Al Jawf Governorates, which forced 5,000 families to flee their homes, according to a situation […]
Fighting discrimination against women is key to beating AIDS
“The struggle to beat AIDS is inseparable from the struggle for women’s rights and from the struggle against all forms of discrimination”. This is the message from Winnie Byanyima, Executive Director of UNAIDS, on Zero Discrimination Day, which falls on Sunday March 1. The theme of this year’s Day is the fight against discrimination faced by women and […]
UN policewoman recognized for ‘speaking up and speaking out’ on behalf of the vulnerable
At the core of peacekeeping lies the notion of shared responsibility, the UN peacekeeping chief said on Tuesday, presenting this year’s award for Female Police Officer of the Year, to a woman who “has made a career of speaking up and speaking out on behalf of all vulnerable populations”. Police Major Seynabou Diouf has worked “tirelessly […]
Alarming number of women mistreated during childbirth, new UN health agency figures show
More than a third of women surveyed across four lower-income countries reported mistreatment during childbirth, a new study led by the World Health Organization (WHO) has revealed. The study, published on Wednesday in The Lancet – an influential peer-reviewed science journal – was carried out in Ghana, Guinea, Myanmar and Nigeria, and found that 42 percent of the 2,016 women observed had experienced physical or verbal abuse, stigma or discrimination during labour and childbirth. According to WHO, quality […]