Monthly Archives: April 2012
UN Women at the AWID Conference in Istanbul
UN Women’s Assistant-Secretary-General and Deputy Executive Director Lakshmi Puri strongly called for the centrality of gender equality and women’s empowerment in the post-2015 development agenda, and a shared responsibility for delivering on it, at the 12th International Forum convened this week by the Association for Women’s Rights in Development (AWID), in Istanbul. The four-day AWID [...]
Preserving the balance between business and nature in Mexico
Hotel Taselotzin is a highly rated place to stay in tourist guidebooks and websites about Mexico. Yet, the road to get there has not been easy. “The idea of opening a hotel came from the members of our organization Maseualsiuamej Mosenyolchicauani (Indigenous Women Acting Together). We started taking courses in accounting and anthropology, and workshops [...]
A gift to UN Women showcases the world’s only female writing system from China
A scroll, given to UN Women by a Chinese delegation, has showcased a unique female-only script. Deputy Executive Director John Hendra received the scroll from a delegation of experts from Hunan Province, at the United Nations Headquarters in New York. The scroll was a translation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of [...]
Women come to the negotiating table for Mali’s peace and transition process
Mali is suffering from a threefold crisis, encompassing security issues as well as humanitarian and political concerns. Since 17 January, the population in the north of the country has been severely affected by armed conflict. Physical insecurity has led to the exodus of more than 200,000 people, with three regions being occupied by armed groups. [...]
Women’s Empowerment in the Middle East and Worldwide
UN Women Executive Director Michelle Bachelet, statement at the Women’s Foreign Policy Group, 20 April, 2012 Washington, DC.
Joint statement of UN Women and WFP on Earth Day: “Women must be drivers of sustainable development”
We, the Executive Directors of the World Food Programme and UN Women dedicate this Earth Day to the young girls who spend a full day in search of firewood, to the mothers who sell food rations to buy fuel for their family, and to the countless women who are forced to skip meals because wood [...]
A new coalition takes the lead on women’s constitutional rights in Zimbabwe
Women from across Zimbabwe have celebrated the launch of a strategic high-level women’s coalition. The voluntary group will lobby to ensure that the new constitution, currently being drafted, will deliver on gender equality and empowerment for women in the country. The Group of 20 (G-20) was formally launched on 13 April in Harare and includes [...]
From the villages to the cities, mobilizing to increase women in decision-making in Mexico
“Rise up and sit at the table. Negotiate, because you are not alone. We are many women waiting for you to negotiate on our behalf “. The call comes from a strong commitment among Mexican women and SUMA (meaning sum of all parts in Spanish), an alliance of five civil society organizations which is working [...]
UN Women welcomes a landmark action plan to measure gender equality across the UN system
On 13 April a landmark System-wide Action Plan (UN-SWAP) on gender equality and women’s empowerment was adopted at a meeting of the United Nations Chief Executives Board for Coordination, to be applied throughout the UN system. For the first time, the UN will have a set of common measures with which to measure progress in [...]
Collecting women voices for Rio+20 Conference
The UN Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) to be held in June will be an important opportunity to define international frameworks to advance sustainability. To amplify the voices of women in the discussions for Rio+20, UN Women is supporting the civil society network Women’s Major Group on gathering the views and gender perspectives on sustainability [...]
