UN Women - United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women

Alphonsine Nyiranzeyimana. Photo: UN Women/ Sandra Hollinger

Empowering women farmers in Rwanda to grow better crops, better food and incomes

Learning new farming techniques helped Alphonsine Nyiranzeyimana more than double the yield on some of her crops and become the leader of a farmers’ cooperative. Learn more

Olga Macz poses for a photo. Photo: UN Women/Ryan Brown

From where I stand...

Olga Macz is a teacher and entrepreneur who leads a women’s group which makes and sells organic shampoo. For many of the women, this is the first time that they are making their own money and making decisions. Learn more

Many women have started their own businesses since participating in skills and livelihood training delivered by the project, including creating and selling handicrafts at the local markets. Photo: UN Women/Sarika Chand

We are equal, we are important, say nofotane women of Samoa

A Fund for Gender Equality project has improved access to sustainable employment and increased participation and leadership within village decision-making bodies for nofotane women in Samoa. Learn more

A young Rohingya girl in the Cox's Bazar refugee camp. Photo: UN Women/Allison Joyce

In her footsteps: The Day of the Girl

The 1.1 billion girls of today’s world are challenging the status quo. They’re redefining girlhood, and they’re doing so against the odds. Learn more

Highlights

A woman in Guatemala walks through greenery. Photo: UN Women/Ryan Brown

In focus: International Day of Rural Women

This year, on International day of Rural Women on 15 October, we are calling for better public services, including health care, education, childcare and shelters, on which millions of rural women depend; and laws, policies and budgets to improve their livelihoods and well-being. We stand in solidarity with rural women and their organizations everywhere as they seek to influence the decisions that shape their lives. More

Orange the World

The UNiTE Campaign will celebrate this year’s 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence, from 25 November, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, to 10 December, Human Rights Day, under the theme “Orange the World: #HearMeToo”. More
International Women’s Day 2019: Think equal, build smart, innovate for change

The theme for International Women’s Day 2019, which will take place on 8 March, is “Think equal, build smart, innovate for change”. The theme will focus on innovative ways in which we can advance gender equality and the empowerment of women, particularly in the areas of social protection systems, access to public services and sustainable infrastructure. More
International Day of the Girl Child

On International Day of the Girl Child (11 October), themed “With Her: A Skilled Girl Force”, join UN Women as we stand with girls everywhere as they inspire, innovate and take charge of their own future. More
Ask a journalist...

Jessica Bennett, gender editor at The New York Times, spoke to UN Women about the making of a multi-media project showing what life looks like for girls turning 18 in 2018 around the world, captured through photographs, audio and video. More
In Focus: Women and the SDGs

Gender equality is a right. Fulfilling this right is the best chance we have in meeting some of the most pressing challenges of our time—from economic crisis and lack of health care, to climate change, violence against women and escalating conflicts. Check out new data, stories, videos and more illustrating how and why gender equality matters across all the Sustainable Development Goals. More

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Safe Cities and Safe Public Spaces Global Leaders’ Forum

Photo: UN Women/Mariana Mellado

UN Women and the City of Edmonton co-hosted the fourth Safe Cities and Safe Public Spaces Global Leaders’ Forum from October 16 to 19, to look at practical ways to prevent and respond to sexual harassment and other forms of violence against women and girls and advance action on women and girls’ safety in public spaces in Edmonton and across the world.

“Together we will be able to support the people of South Sudan”

Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka. (Photo: Marco Grob.)

Executive Director of UN Women, Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, briefed the Security Council of the African Union on the joint African Union/United Nations Mission to South Sudan. More

Featured video

Rural women—agents of change fighting poverty, hunger and climate change

Rural women make up over a quarter the world's population and majority of the 43% of women in the global agricultural labour force. They till the lands and plant seeds to feed nations. They ensure food security for their communities and build climate resilience. But when it comes to owning land, accessing agricultural inputs, financing and technologies for climate resilience, they are left far behind men.

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Planet 50–50 by 2030: Step It Up for Gender Equality

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UN Women Watch

International Day of the Girl

Working Together to End Child Marriage: How governments can end child marriage by accelerating coordinated action across education, health, protection and other sectors

International Day of the Girl: If all girls completed secondary school, more than 50 million child marriages could be prevented. Fifty million child marriages could be prevented by 2030 if all girls around the world finished secondary school, new analysis by Save the Children reveals. More

'Concerted effort' must be made to help 600 million-plus adolescent girls realize full potential: UN chief

There are "multiple barriers" including "systemic discrimination" bias and lack of training, which are keeping the largest generation of girls in human history from reaching their full potential, said UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in a statement on Thursday, marking International Day of the Girl Child. More

Recruited but not 'child soldiers': Returning girls in South Sudan risk being left without support - South Sudan

Ahead of International Day of the Girl on 11 October, we share findings from our recent research trip to South Sudan and call for a renewed focus on reintegration support for girls returning from the long-running conflict. More

A call to protect women and girls on the move

Women and girls make up nearly half of the 258 million people worldwide who have crossed international borders to escape danger or pursue opportunity. Amidst unprecedented levels of forced displacement – with 68.5 million people driven from their homes by the end of 2017 – about half of refugees, too, are women and girls. More

Nobel Peace Prize goes to UN Goodwill Ambassador and Congolese doctor, highlighting sexual violence

Nadia Murad, a Yazidi rights activist and the first Goodwill Ambassador for the Dignity of Survivors of Human Trafficking of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), and Denis Mukwege, a gynecologist helping victims of sexual violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo DRC) won the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize on Friday. The decision to jointly-award... More

Child sexual abuse and exploitation: UN event sheds light on the unthinkable

Governments can and must do more to end the daily sexual abuse and exploitation of girls and boys worldwide, an event at UN headquarters in New York on Wednesday highlighted, including through a newly launched tool designed to help countries track progress and gaps. More

Reaching pregnant women cut off from care in the aftermath of Typhoon Ompong

Typhoon Ompong (known internationally as ‘Mangkhut’) is one of the most devastating storms to hit the planet this year. On 15 September, the typhoon made landfall in the northern Philippines, bringing landslides, storm surges and flash floods. During natural disasters and other emergencies, pregnant women face life-threatening complications. More

Leaders demand protection for women and girls affected by conflict

In the wake of the migration crisis and other humanitarian emergencies, women and girls are experiencing unconscionable trauma. Gender-based violence – including child marriage and forced pregnancy – exploitation, and trafficking often escalate during conflict, threatening the lives and well-being of women and girls around the world. Women and children... More

Access to legal abortion services needed, to prevent 47,000 women dying each year - UN rights experts

States across the world should act now to decriminalise abortion and make every effort to ensure women and girls have the right to make their own decisions about pregnancy, said a group of United Nations human rights experts on Friday, in a statement marking International Safe Abortion Day. More

Deputy UN chief hails 'political courage' of Latin American countries 'to confront and end femicide'

A 50 million Euro investment aimed at helping to end the scourge of femicide - where women and girls are killed just because of their gender - was announced at United Nations Headquarters on Thursday, thanks to the 'political courage' of a group of Latin American countries, said the UN deputy chief. More

Leaving no one behind: Empowering Africa's rural women for Zero Hunger and shared prosperity - World

Gender gaps in agriculture in Africa are holding back progress towards ending hunger and must be urgently addressed, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization's Director-General José Graziano da Silva said at a joint event with the African Union (AU) on the margins of the UN General Assembly. More