Empowering women and girls in rural areas to achieve the SDGs and Africa’s Agenda 2063

Date: Tuesday, March 13, 2018

The 62nd Session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW62) priority theme, “Challenges and Opportunities in Achieving Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Rural Women and Girls” is critical to the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals and Africa’s Agenda 2063. More

Press release: New UN Women report uncovers significant gaps for women’s empowerment and puts forth robust agenda to shift gears

Date: Wednesday, February 14, 2018

UN Women today launched its flagship report, “Turning promises into action: Gender equality in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development”. The report demonstrates through concrete evidence and data the pervasive nature of discrimination against all women and girls everywhere, and puts forth actionable recommendations on how to fulfil the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. More

Media advisory: UN Women to launch flagship report “Turning promises into action: gender equality in the 2030 Agenda”

Date: Thursday, February 8, 2018

Two and half years after the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), UN Women looks at what it will really take to achieve the 2030 Agenda in its new flagship report “Turning promises into action: Gender equality in the 2030 Agenda”. More

Press release: UN Initiative to boost resilience of women and youth in the Sahel through climate-smart agriculture launched at One Planet Summit

Date: Tuesday, December 12, 2017

A new United Nations initiative, aimed at building the resilience of a million women and youth in the Sahel to climate impacts through smart agriculture, was launched today at the One Planet Summit. The launch coincides with a gathering of world leaders in the French capital to mark the anniversary of the landmark Paris Climate Change Agreement. More

In the words of Varanisese Maisamoa: “We want to empower our market vendors to be climate resilient”

Date: Tuesday, November 7, 2017

In February 2016, Tropical Cyclone Winston devastated Fiji, showing the heightened vulnerability of people living in the Pacific Islands, where climate change has led to a series of increasingly severe cyclones in the recent years. With farms, markets, including the Rakiraki Market and its accommodation centre for rural women destroyed, livelihoods of market vendors such as Varanisese Maisamoa were compromised. But today, through UN Women’s Markets for Change (M4C) project, Maisamoa, aged 39 years, has not only got back on her feet, she has also become a strong leader in her community. As leader of Rakiraki’s women’s group, and now, as the President of the Rakiraki Market Vendors Association, her insights were critical in helping UN Women adapt its existing M4C project to provide humanitarian support to market vendors impacted by the cyclone. Rakiraki Market’s reconstruction is currently underway, featuring Category-5 cyclone resilient infrastructure, a rain water harvesting system, flood resistant drainage, and a gender-responsive design. The Markets for Change project is principally funded by the Australian Government and implemented in partnership with UNDP. More

From where I stand: “Changing the present, we are also changing the future”

Date: Monday, October 9, 2017

Lamija Gutić is only 16 years old, and on her way to building technology solutions for a better world. An inspiration for many girls and women across the region, on the occasion of the International Day of the Girl Child, she talks about what the SDGs mean for her. More

Media advisory: UN Women at the UN General Assembly 2017

Date: Tuesday, September 12, 2017

The 72nd Session of the UN General Assembly opens today at UN Headquarters. During its General Debate, starting on 19 September, under the theme, “Focusing on people: striving for peace and a decent life for all on a sustainable planet”, UN Women will bring forth the voices of women and girls, and spotlight the interventions that are making a real difference in the lives of women and girls worldwide. More

News: Women’s economic empowerment is a pre-condition for sustainable development, say UN High-Level Panel members

Date: Monday, July 17, 2017

The UN Secretary-General’s High-Level Panel on Women’s Economic Empowerment holds event titled Accelerating Women’s Economic Empowerment to Achieve the 2030 Agenda. Photo: UN Women/Ryan Brown The UN Secretary-General’s High-Level Panel (HLP) on Women’s Economic Empowerment today held an event titled, “Accelerating Women’s Economic Empowerment to Achieve the 2030 Agenda”, in the context of the  HLPF on Sustainable Development in New York... More

Editorial spotlight: High-level Political Forum

Date: Thursday, July 6, 2017

The High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF), the main UN platform for review of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), is meeting at the UN Headquarters in New York from 10 – 19 July. More

New films on Global Goals spotlight women’s journeys of resilience

Date: Monday, June 12, 2017

On 12 June, the Leave No One Behind Coalition, together with UN Women launched four new films that show how the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)—a set of 17 global goals unanimously adopted by governments worldwide—can truly transform the lives of women and girls. More

Press release: UN Women highlights women’s role in the energy of the future during EXPO 2017

Date: Friday, June 9, 2017

UN Women will showcase its best solutions on women’s role to boost the world’s access to energy, while at the same time fighting climate change, at this year’s EXPO in Astana, Kazakhstan, from 10 June to 10 September 2017. More

Making the SDGs work for women: Experts meet at the UN ahead of High-Level Political Forum

Date: Thursday, May 18, 2017

UN Women and the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA) will convene an expert group meeting from 30 to 31 May at UN Headquarters in New York, to discuss “Strategies to Achieve Gender Equality and Empower all Women and Girls through the Gender-responsive Implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development”. More

Innovation with purpose to spur gender equality and sustainable development

Date: Thursday, April 27, 2017

UN Women Deputy Executive Director highlights the importance of innovation, technology and partnerships for the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals at the launch of the SAP Next-Gen Programme in New York More

Women in the Changing World of Work: Planet 50-50 by 2030

Date: Tuesday, February 28, 2017

Message by UN Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka on International Women's Day, 8 March 2017 More

From where I stand: “I became the first fisherwoman in my community”

Date: Friday, February 24, 2017

Yayi Bayam Diouf became the first woman to fish in her small rural fishing village in Senegal. Paving the way for other women, she now runs a training centre for women where they can learn entrepreneurship skills and access support. More

Take five: On the front line of disasters, women are more at risk and less heard

Date: Friday, November 11, 2016

Nguyen Ngoc Ly is the founder and director of Center for Environment and Community Research, an organization in Hanoi, Viet Nam, advocating for participatory and inclusive environmental governance and climate change action. She is part of the Climate Change Working Group that UN Women works with to expand women’s leadership and participation in climate change action and disaster risk reduction. Ms. Ly will be speaking at a side event on “Addressing the Gender Inequality of Risk towards Ensuring More Resilient Communities in a Changing Climate” co-organized by UN Women at COP22 on 15 November. More

Putting gender equality at the heart of the New Urban Agenda

Date: Friday, October 14, 2016

At Habitat III and processes leading up to it, UN Women strongly advocated and supported the development of the New Urban Agenda by placing women’s rights at its heart, encouraging all stakeholders to seize the opportunity to shape sustainable, gender-responsive and inclusive cities, and support the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in its true spirit of inclusion and equality. More

World's Largest Lesson teaches Albania the ABCs of the SDGs

Date: Tuesday, October 4, 2016

Ahead of World Teacher’s Day on 5 October, UN Women highlights teachers in Albania who are bringing the Sustainable Development Goals into the classroom. In a week of action, awareness-raising and accountability, Global Goals Week introduced Albanian kids to SDG 5, which aims to achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls. More

“Luxembourg is well positioned to take a leading role…in the national implementation of the SDGs”—Lakshmi Puri

Date: Tuesday, September 27, 2016

Statement by Lakshmi Puri, United Nations Assistant Secretary-General & Deputy Executive Director of UN Women, at the Foundation of Luxembourg’s Cooperation 2016 conference on gender equality and the Sustainable Development Goals. More

Take five with Papa Seck: Getting better at gender data—why does it matter?

Date: Wednesday, September 21, 2016

As the new UN Women “Making Every Woman and Girl Count” programme is launched on 21 September at an event in New York, Papa Seck, Chief Statistician of UN Women, talks about why having data and accurate information on gender equality and women’s rights is an urgent need. More