On 24 December 2022, the Taliban banned women from working in international and national non-governmental organizations, the latest attack in a series of systematic infringements on the fundamental rights of women and girls since August 2021. Developed two weeks after the ban, this gender alert analyses the impact of the directive through the insights of Afghan women’s civil society organizations.

This report presents key results achieved by UN Women in close collaboration with partners across crisis and disaster contexts in 2021. Against a backdrop of more complex crises and increasing needs, the report captures UN Women’s efforts at the global, regional, and field levels in advancing gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls.

This policy brief seeks to understand the extent to which the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted young women peacebuilders and their work to build and sustain peace in complex contexts. It highlights key challenges caused by the pandemic and proposes key recommendations made to peace and security practitioners to nurture and support young women peacebuilders.

The Taliban’s position on women’s rights has been central to its worldview and vision for society. This gender alert documents how changing dynamics in Afghanistan are impacting women’s rights and gender equality one year after the Taliban take-over of Afghanistan on 15 August 2021.

This Rapid Gender Analysis, carried out by UN Women and CARE International, seeks to draw attention to the gender dynamics in the humanitarian crisis resulting from the war in Ukraine. It also proposes recommendations for humanitarian leadership, actors, and donors to ensure consideration of the gendered dimensions of risk, vulnerability, and capabilities in response to this crisis.

The Rapid gender analysis seeks to draw attention to the gender dynamics in the war in Ukraine—both preexisting and emerging—and draws out recommendations for humanitarian leadership, actors and donors to ensure consideration of the gendered dimensions of risk, vulnerability and capabilities in response and preparedness to this crisis.

In the first “gender alert” since the Taliban took over Kabul on 15 August 2021, UN Women brings gender data and analyses on the impact of the rapidly evolving context on women’s rights in Afghanistan.

This report details key results UN Women achieved in 2020 in collaboration with partners. A reflection of UN Women’s commitment to advance gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls in humanitarian and disaster contexts, these results also underscore the need for greater investment from stakeholders to meet the needs of women and girls in all their diversity and support their capacities as agents of change.

This report details key results UN Women achieved in 2019 in collaboration with UN and civil society partners. Looking ahead, the report also sketches out the steps UN Women has taken to ensure that it remains fit-for-purpose to prepare and respond to increasingly complex and protracted crises that cut across conflicts and disasters.

This research uses participatory methodologies to explore the experiences of diverse crisis-affected women around gender-transformative change in four humanitarian settings in Bangladesh, Colombia, Jordan, and Uganda. The study provides entry points and recommendations for Grand Bargain signatories to move towards gender-transformative humanitarian action by enhancing women’s meaningful participation in humanitarian responses, and the localization of humanitarian action to women’s rights organizations and self-led groups.

Complementing the Global Humanitarian Response Plan for COVID-19, this accompanying gender programme from UN Women seeks to support the whole of the humanitarian system to deliver better for women and girls in the midst of this global pandemic. The programme’s overall objective is to ensure that the most affected and at-risk women and girls play their fullest role in response to COVID-19 and are protected from its impacts.

This study ascertains the levels of existing funding flows to gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls, and the impact of shortfalls on global humanitarian outcomes.

This corporate evaluation assesses the relevance, appropriateness, effectiveness, efficiency, connectedness, and sustainability of UN Women’s approach to humanitarian action at global, regional, and country level.

In alignment with the United Nations Youth 2030 Strategy, UN Women’s Youth Plan of Action 2019–2021 constitutes the implementation strategy of UN Women’s Youth and Gender Equality Strategy. It seeks to empower young women, young men, and non-binary people through an intergenerational, intersectional approach, focusing on shifting social norms, supporting policy change, fostering girls’ leadership, and amplifying their voices through effective partnerships.

The report details key results achieved by UN Women through its role in humanitarian action in collaboration with its partners in 2018. This spans from promoting accountability for gender globally and locally and addressing the immediate needs of crisis-affected women and girls, to strengthening the resilience of the affected populations by empowering women and girls.

This policy brief reviews the effects of cash transfers on the rights and capabilities of adolescent girls and boys, using a gender and capability lens and focusing on three key capability domains: education, sexual and reproductive health, and freedom from violence. Based on this evidence, the brief highlights the importance of a “cash plus” approach to enhancing adolescents’ multidimensional well-being and achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

This report details key results UN Women achieved in collaboration with its partners in 2017 by promoting accountability for gender globally and locally, addressing the immediate needs of crisis-affected women and girls, and strengthening the resilience of the affected populations by empowering women and girls.

Around the world, young women are working to prevent violent conflict, recover from crises, and build peaceful, tolerant communities, yet most peace and security interventions are blind to the needs and contributions of young women. This paper examines the diverse roles that young women play in these contexts and offers recommendations for ensuring their meaningful inclusion and participation in building and sustaining peace.

This policy note explores policy and programming interlinkages between different forms of violence and considers entry points in the areas of (i) national legislation, (ii) prevention strategies, (iii) response for survivors, and (iv) data and evidence, for increased coordination and collaboration to advance the objectives of ending both female genital mutilation/cutting and other forms of violence against women and girls, in particular intimate partner violence and non-partner sexual violence.

This handbook sets out the rationale for integrating gender equality into the planning and implementation of humanitarian action and provides practical guidance for doing so across all sectors.