Radio airwaves amplify “On the Road” since Beijing

Date: 12 February 2016

Through a UN Women partnership with the World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters, 20 stories produced by women community radio producers bring to life the realities women face 20 years after the Beijing Conference, heard by more than 8.7 million listeners worldwide. More

Gender balance as a business imperative: A Q&A with Matt Winkler, Bloomberg News

Date: 04 May 2015

As Editor-in-Chief of Bloomberg News, Matt Winkler oversaw a dedicated strategy to increase gender balance in both the newsroom itself and in the organization’s editorial coverage. They asked that a woman’s voice be included in every story, as a policy; allowed flexible work hours for parents; set specific targets every year for increasing women team leaders in the newsroom – doubling their numbers in just four years – and built a mentor system. It’s a strategy he says makes business sense, and has given them an advantage over competitors, including through big story ‘scoops’. Mr. Winkler recently accepted a new role as Editor-in-Chief Emeritus of Bloomberg, after almost 25 years as the Editor-in-Chief of Bloomberg News. In a wide-ranging interview, he reflects on how and why they pursued this transformative strategy, and its successes and challenges. More

In the words of Edith Chukwu: I want to see a world free of violence against women and girls

Date: 22 April 2015

Edith Chukwu, a 29-year-old Girl Guide and peer educator from Nigeria, is among a team of lead trainers in Zambia for a workshop to roll out a unique non-formal education curriculum to prevent violence. She shares her story, in her own words… More

My Mother Always Told Me Inaction Is Not an Option

Date: 26 March 2014

In the words of Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director, UN Women. Cross-posted from the Huffington Post as part of the Global Moms Relay and Global Motherhood partnership with Johnson & Johnson. More

How I firmly said NO to an early and forced marriage

Date: 04 March 2014

In the words of Martha Ntoipo, a 33-year-old Maasai activist from Tanzania. She works for the Pastoralist Information and Development Organization (PIDO), a community development organization which she founded in 2010, which works in the fields of health, women economic empowerment, gender equality and human rights, environmental conservation and research. More

In the words of Aili Limakka: We must embrace diversity by accepting our past

Date: 04 March 2014

In the words of Aili Limakka Laue, a 33-year-old Inuit activist from Kalaallit Nunaat, Greenland (Denmark). She is studying social and political science at the University of Greenland, has been a union volunteer for almost a decade and in 2009 she was elected to the board of the National Inuit Youth Council, Sorlak. She is also single mother of four. More

In Kyrgyzstan, we need to expand women’s access to economic resources

Date: 04 March 2014

In the words of Gulnara Baimambetova, a 57-year-old Kyrgyz woman who has spent more than 36 years advocating for the social and economic rights of rural women through the Women Entrepreneurs Support Association (WESA), which is a grantee of UN Women’s Fund for Gender Equality. More

In the words of Tsitina Xavante: My father told me ‘I want you to be able to help your people one day’

Date: 03 March 2014

In the words of Samantha Ro’otsitsina de C. Juruna (Tsitsina Xavante), a 28-year-old indigenous woman of Xavante heritage from Namunkurá community in the indigenous territory of San Marcos, Mato Grosso state, in the Amazonian region of Brazil. Trained in social services, she has a Masters in Sustainability for Indigenous Peoples and Territories. She is a member of the Comisión Nacional de la Juventud Indígena (CNJI – National Committee for Indigenous Youth) and the Red de Juventud Indígena (REJUIND – Indigenous Youth Network). More

Empowering Kenya’s Maasai women through greater voice and rights

Date: 03 March 2014

In the words of Beatrice Sisina Shanka, a 26-year-old community activist from the Inkinyie community. She works for Il’laramatak Community Concerns (ICC), a non-governmental organization that addresses human rights and development concerns of pastoralist (nomadic livestock herding) indigenous peoples of Kenya, with a focus on women and girls. More

Mayan women build integrated pathway for violence survivors in Mexico

Date: 03 March 2014

In the words of Fatima Leonor Gamboa, a 28-year-old Maya indigenous defense lawyer who represents women survivors of violence. She works to ensure greater gender equality among Maya communities in Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula. More

Interview with Rasmus Helveg Petersen, Denmark’s Minister for Development Cooperation

Date: 10 January 2014

The Government of Denmark has announced additional 2013 end-of-year core funding of DKK 20 million (USD 3.7 million) for UN Women. This adds to its prior contribution in 2013 of USD 6.9 million – bringing Denmark’s overall 2013 contribution to approximately USD 10.6 million. In an interview, Danish Minister for Development Cooperation Rasmus Helveg Petersen says his country wants to strengthen UN Women’s role as the most important international agency for data collection and analyses on women’s empowerment and gender equality. More

In the words of Chamathya Fernando: In Sri Lanka, MDG results are a mixed bag for women and girls

Date: 05 December 2013

As the UN discusses the new development agenda that will be adopted beyond the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) target date of 2015, youth activist Chamathya Fernando with the Sri Lanka Girl Guides Association talks about how these goals have impacted the lives of women and girls in an urban low-income settlement. Fernando will speak at a panel on the MDGs at the Stakeholders Forum on 5 December. More

In the words of Saran Keïta Diakité: Girls receive a visit from a different man every night, a ‘new husband’

Date: 14 May 2013

Saran Keïta Diakité is a lawyer in Mali and President of the Malian branch of the NGO Working Group on Women Peace and Security (Réseau Paix et Sécurité des Femmes de l’Espace CEDEAO). As the Donor Conference on Mali starts in Brussels, in her own words she speaks about the atrocities occurring in her country, which has been plagued by political instability and the proliferation of armed groups that have uprooted more than 415,000 people since a military coup d’état in March 2012. She also talks about the work of her NGO, supported by UN Women, to assist survivors of violence, provide access to justice, and to ensure women have a say in peace negotiations. She was one of four female mediators who took part in peace negotiations from 15-17 April 2012 in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. Saran also recently spoke in April 2013 at the UN Security Council’s Open Debate on conflict-related sexual violence in New York. More

In the words of Chi Yvonne Leina: How I stopped grandma from ironing my budding breasts

Date: 27 February 2013

Cameroonian journalist and women's rights advocate Chi Yvonne Leina is the founder and coordinator of Gender Danger, a grassroots women`s organization that is fighting to end the practice of breast ironing in Cameroon. She will be attending the upcoming CSW this year as a World Pulse correspondent, in the hopes of raising awareness and creating partnerships to help her NGO expand its work to prevent breast ironing in Cameroon. We bring you her first-hand account of the practice of breast ironing as part of UN Women’s “In the Words of…” series. More

“Getting to Zero”: Working together to end the twin pandemics of HIV/AIDS and Violence against Women

Date: 30 November 2012

This year, the message marking the commemoration of the World AIDS Day is unequivocal: Zero New Infections, Zero Discrimination and Zero AIDS-related deaths. Violence against women has been increasing More

Activists fight for the rights of HIV-positive women living in Peru

Date: 30 November 2012

To mark World AIDS Day (1 December) we profile the life of a woman who is claiming her rights as a member of the Peruvian Network of Positive Women. More