Stories
- Executive Director (853)
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From where I stand: “I was the first woman to apply for a firefighter’s job”
Tuesday, January 15, 2019
Merve Erbay, 21, became the first woman firefighter in the Turkish Parliament after outperforming competitors in the firefighting exam. More
A fresh look and a fresh start for survivors of human trafficking in Cambodia
Monday, January 14, 2019
Through UN Women’s new programme to prevent human trafficking in Cambodia and Myanmar, three friends were able to start their own salon. More
From where I stand: “Yanouh cooperative increased my income and freedom of movement”
Thursday, January 10, 2019
After some resistance from her husband, Ibtissam Jaber joined Yanouh cooperative in rural South Lebanon. Jaber, a mother of seven, loves producing traditional agro-foods and believes in the importance of contributing to her household’s income. By selling her products at food exhibitions across the country, she has now transitioned from being a small-scale producer to a profitable entrepreneur. More
From where I stand: “They forced me to get pregnant”
Tuesday, January 8, 2019
Aung Ja* was 18 when a woman from Myitkina, northern Myanmar, convinced her to take a ‘factory’ job in China. She was rescued in 2017 and is taking part in a UN Women-supported trafficking prevention programme. More
Getting Fatouma back to school
Monday, January 7, 2019
UN Women supports girls and young women in Mali to pass high school exams – and to pursue their dreams. More
Tackling human trafficking in Myanmar
Thursday, January 3, 2019
In 2005, Myanmar passed an anti-trafficking law, but trafficking is still rampant in the conflict-affected state, especially in the northern region, where it borders China. A UN Women programme is supporting local partner, Htoi Gender and Development Foundation, in providing legal support and vocational training to survivors. More
From where I stand: “We must believe in ourselves that we can be leaders”
Monday, December 24, 2018
Betty Mtehemu, Deputy Chairperson of Fabric Clothes Sector, and Chairperson of the Women’s Union in Dar es Salaam’s Mchikichini Market has seen how raising awareness of women’s rights in the workplace has improved the safety of the market. More
Six things we learned from women’s resistance in 2018
Friday, December 21, 2018
As 2018 comes to a close, we’re taking a look back at stories from some of the women who rose against injustice, defied stereotypes and inspired us all. More
UN Women statement: Ensuring the protection of women human rights defenders in Nicaragua
Friday, December 21, 2018
UN Women expresses its concern in face of the acts of violence, intimidation and harassment against women human rights defenders and women’s organizations in Nicaragua. More
In the words of Captain Anaseini Navua Vuniwaqa: “There is a need for female peacekeepers”
Wednesday, December 19, 2018
Captain Anaseini Navua Vuniwaqa of the Republic of Fiji Military Forces, participated in the ninth edition of the Female Military Officers’ Course in April 2018. The course aims to bridge the gender gap in UN peacekeeping. Women currently represent only 4 per cent of the more than 80,000 UN Peacekeepers, despite their key role in preventing sexual violence during and after conflict, and their unique abilities to engage with the communities they serve, especially women and girls. Captain Vuniwaqa spoke to UN Women about women’s role in preventing sexual violence during and after conflict, and their unique abilities to engage with the communities they serve. More
UN Women statement for International Migrants Day 2018
Friday, December 14, 2018
International Migrants Day provides us with a chance to reflect on the positive contributions that migrant women and men, and their families make in countries of origin, transit and destination, and reaffirms the importance of ensuring that their human rights are protected and promoted at all stages of migration. More
Take five: “We must support women and girls, especially survivors, to lead change”
Friday, December 14, 2018
Jaha Dukureh, Regional UN Women Ambassador for Africa, is a survivor of FGM and was forced into child marriage at age 15. Recently, she participated at the “North Africa Sub-Regional Dialogue on Child Marriage and FGM/C”, organized by UN Women Regional Office for Arab States and North Africa in November 2018. In this interview, Ms. Dukureh speaks to UN Women about how best to address the particular vulnerabilities faced by migrant women and girls. More
Take five: UN Women at the global climate conference, COP 24
Wednesday, December 12, 2018
Verona Collantes is an Intergovernmental Specialist with UN Women and the focal point for the three Rio Conventions – climate change, desertification and biodiversity. She works with governments, UN entities and other non-government partners to ensure that intergovernmental processes and their outcomes incorporate a gender perspective. Dedicated to improving women’s participation in global processes, Ms. Collantes works to ensure that women, including grassroots, indigenous and young women are represented in intergovernmental fora. More
UN Women Executive Director visits China
Tuesday, December 11, 2018
UN Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka will visit China from 12-15 December. During her visit, the Executive Director will meet with government authorities, the All-China Women's Federation, UN country team representatives, media and private sector members. More
Tuesday, December 11, 2018
Catharine A. MacKinnon is a radical feminist legal scholar and Advisor to UN Women’s Executive Coordinator and Spokesperson on Sexual Harassment and Discrimination. As an expert in sex equality, women's rights and gender crimes, specifically sexual abuse and exploitation, she pioneered the legal claim for sexual harassment as sex discrimination in the United States of America and has worked to raise awareness of sexual abuse as a violation of equality rights. MacKinnon also represented Bosnian and Croatian women survivors of Serbian sexual atrocities in 1992, establishing the legal recognition of rape as an act of genocide. More
Monday, December 10, 2018
Fundraising event for the life-changing work of the UN Trust Fund to End Violence against Women held in Los Angeles, with #HearMeToo voices taking centre-stage More
Monday, December 10, 2018
As we close out the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence on Human Rights Day (10 December), we stand in solidarity with the hundreds of thousands of women human rights defenders who are leading the fight for universal human rights and lives free from violence. More
Monday, December 10, 2018
UN Women, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment, has warmly welcomed the directives of His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE, to raise the representation of Emirati women in the Federal National Council to 50 per cent. More
Statement: Speaking out and speaking up for fundamental rights and freedoms
Friday, December 7, 2018
In a statement for Human Rights Day (10 December) Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, UN Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director UN Women, says: "Let us re-affirm our commitment to a world in which human rights, and women’s rights, underpin justice, solidarity, harmony and prosperity for all". More
Putting the rights of migrant women at the centre of the Global Compact for Migration
Friday, December 7, 2018
As world leaders convene to adopt the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (Global Compact for Migration) in Morocco this week, ensuring that the voices, experiences and needs of migrant women and girls is at the heart of the discussions, is the clarion call issued by UN Women. More