New feminist activism, waves, and generations

Date: Wednesday, May 12, 2021

This paper examines the characteristics of past and contemporary feminisms and dissects the issues with periodizing feminism in terms of ‘waves’. Part two focuses on understanding the most recent wave of feminist activism by considering its antecedents and main characteristics. It presents three case studies of movements in the Global South; the cases of Brazil, India, and Malawi illustrate some of the ideas, campaigns, and organizational forms of ‘new feminists’.

System-wide strategy on gender parity: UN Women’s status report and updated implementation plan

Date: Tuesday, May 4, 2021

The Secretary-General’s “System-wide strategy on gender parity” includes six UN Women–specific recommendations, which were incorporated and highlighted in UN Women’s initial implementation plan (December 2017). As requested by the Secretary-General, this status report and updated implementation plan elaborates on the progress made and results achieved since 2017, based on the specific requests for UN Women. It also reports on UN Women’s system-wide work, as well as internal progress.

Universal basic income: Potential and limitations from a gender perspective

Date: Wednesday, April 21, 2021

This policy brief discusses the potential and limitations of universal basic income (UBI) from a gender perspective and points to some of the specific design features that policymakers need to consider to make UBI work for women and transgender and gender-diverse people.

Paid care work around the globe: A comparative analysis of 47 countries and territories

Date: Tuesday, April 13, 2021

This paper uses harmonized collections of national labor force datasets to compare the size and shape of the paid care sector around the globe. The paper then explores the relationship between the size of the care sector and various measures of need for care, finding very little evidence of relationship. Finally, the paper explores wages and working conditions for paid care workers in a subset of countries for which data is available.

COVID-19 and fiscal policy: Applying gender-responsive budgeting in support and recovery

Date: Monday, April 12, 2021

This policy brief presents entry points for the application of gender-responsive budgeting to COVID-19 support and recovery packages. Drawing on country examples, the brief provides recommendations on the use of gender budgeting tools to identify gaps in policy responses and direct spending towards gender-responsive COVID-19 support and recovery packages.

Beyond COVID-19: The feminist plan for sustainability and social justice

Date: Monday, April 5, 2021

As the world learns to live with COVID-19, to emerge from the current crisis, and to “build back better”, UN Women will launch The Feminist Plan for Sustainability and Social Justice, a visionary but practical roadmap for putting gender equality, social justice, and sustainability at the centre of the recovery. It will feed into UN Women’s Generation Equality Forum and Action Coalitions, aimed at accelerating commitment, action, and financing for gender equality.

Assessing the gendered employment impacts of COVID-19 and supporting a gender-responsive recovery

Date: Wednesday, March 31, 2021

This policy tool is designed to document the extent to which gender inequalities in the labour market are being exacerbated by the pandemic, thereby informing a better understanding on how to protect workers and promote a gender-responsive economic recovery. The tool will also help identify policies for improving working conditions in female-dominated economic sectors and promoting greater inclusion of women workers in new promising sectors, thus widening their opportunities.

How to assess fiscal stimulus packages from a gender equality perspective

Date: Wednesday, March 31, 2021

UN Women continues to argue that it is important to ensure that adopted economic stimulus and recovery package are gender-responsive. Packages must be implemented in a way that does not disproportionally and negatively impact women and girls. Policies adopted in response to the COVID-19 crisis must identify areas that macro-level policies can effectively target to address gendered impacts of the crisis. This policy tool is specifically designed to achieve this.

A guide to public investments in the care economy: Policy support tool for estimating care deficits, investment costs, and economic returns

Date: Wednesday, March 31, 2021

UN Women has emerged as a global leader in the promotion of the care economy, and this work has highlighted the urgent need to invest in childcare facilities through private and public partnerships to reduce women’s unpaid care work and to allow women to take an active role in the economy. This policy tool provides a blueprint for making a policy case for sustained investment in the care economy.

COVID-19 and women’s rights organizations: Bridging response gaps and demanding a more just future

Date: Monday, March 22, 2021

This brief provides evidence of the different ways in which women’s rights organizations have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, highlighting the predicament that many of them face of increased relevance and demand at the same time as civic closure, restrictive work conditions, and diminishing funding. The brief also identifies a set of recommendations to strengthen these organizations in the immediate term and to pave the way for a more equal future.