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.

These recommendations are the first of their kind and underline the critical role migrant women human rights defenders play in securing the rights of people on the move. Migrant women human rights defenders include women, girls, and gender-diverse persons of all ages who promote and protect the human rights of people on the move, whether they are migrants themselves or not, irrespective of whether they self-identify as a woman human rights defenders.

This research paper provides an overview of the global estimates of gender-related killings of women and girls in the private sphere in 2021. It also features policy recommendations to support comprehensive and multisectoral approaches to prevent and address gender-related killings and other forms of gender-based violence against women and girls.

This paper proposes replacing the United Nations Development Programme’s (UNDP) Gender Inequality Index with two new gender indexes: the Global Gender Parity Index and the Women’s Empowerment Index. The proposal builds on a review of concepts of gender equality in the capability approach that underpins UNDP’s human development paradigm and the relevant international policy frameworks. It also implements current proposals for reform.

The project supports the promotion of women’s rights through the integration of gender perspectives in efforts to prevent violent extremism. This support is through increase participation of women in security and preventing violent extremism discourse in different platforms and relevant mechanisms. In addition to expanding the knowledge base on gender and violent extremism by conducting localized research and systematic awareness-raising activities, inclusion of women-led grassroots and CSOs in various inter-governmental processes aiming to prevent violent extremism.

This paper provides a brief overview of the existing data and evidence on online and technology facilitated VAWG, outlines some of the key developments, gaps, challenges, and emerging promising practices, and makes recommendations to be considered by governments, international organizations, civil society organizations, and the technology sector.

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 research paper and policy brief explore what women’s meaningful participation in transitional justice means and “looks like” in policy and practice. The publications focus specifically on women and addressing the unique barriers to women’s meaningful participation in transitional justice processes as a result of gender-based discrimination.

This publication provides a summary of the key statistics on the representation of women in the UN system, barriers to achieving gender parity, and recommended actions to assist UN entities to reach gender parity.

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.

UN Women partnered with the Inter-Parliamentary Union to prepare a handbook on gender-responsive law-making. This handbook aims to serve as a resource for lawmakers from around the world for designing gender-responsive laws. Such law-making should address the strategic needs of women and girls and must encompass enacting new laws and amending or repealing laws which are outdated, inconsistent with constitutions, or discriminate against them.

Environmental emergencies threaten to destroy lives, economies, cultures, and societies. They harm a wide range of human rights, with differential effects based on gender. States and other actors have obligations and responsibilities under international law and policy to address environmental crises and to prevent their negative, gendered impacts on enjoyment of human rights. These messages highlight key human rights obligations and responsibilities with respect to gender and the environment.

This report is a first-of-its-kind initiative of the United Nations Inter-Agency Network on Women and Gender Equality (IANWGE), the single largest network of gender focal points in the UN system. It presents a critical stocktaking of 51 UN entities’ support to the implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in 2014–2019.

This resource analyses Twitter data on the use of the hashtag #MeToo in different countries. Research was conducted in cooperation with UN Global Pulse, the Secretary-General’s initiative on big data and artificial intelligence for development, humanitarian action, and peace.

This discussion paper aims to address the limited scope of discussions and actions relating to the lives of women with disabilities and sexual harassment. It calls for centring the knowledge of women and girls with disabilities in all efforts to end sexual harassment in the world of work and on campus. It contributes to the development of intersectional approaches for addressing sexual harassment as it manifests in the lives of women with disabilities.

The digital revolution brings immense potential to improve social and economic outcomes for women. Yet, it also poses the risk of perpetuating existing patterns of gender inequality. This report begins by outlining a conceptual framework for understanding the mutual shaping relationship between gender and technology. It then focuses on three areas to identify opportunities and risks in the digital revolution: education, work, and social/welfare services.

This report tells UN Women’s story over the period 2019–2020. It shares how we and our many partners are striding forward to realize a better world for women and girls—one of equality and empowerment. Looking forward, we will draw on our full resources and experiences in protecting and advancing the rights of all women and girls. That is what we do and who we are, as a leader, mobilizer, convenor, provider of programmes, and partner for change.

In this paper, we propose a conceptual framework to discuss two interrelated realms: backsliding on gender equality policies and the emerging political space for feminist responses to this backsliding. We illustrate our framework with empirical observations from three Central and Eastern European countries: Croatia, Hungary, and Poland. We aim to contribute to an understanding of the gendered aspects of de-democratization and the functioning of illiberal democracies.

Across every sphere, from health to the economy, security to social protection, the impacts of COVID-19 are exacerbated for women and girls simply by virtue of their sex. This policy brief by the UN Secretary-General explores how women and girls’ lives are changing in the face of COVID-19, and outlines suggested priority measures to accompany both the immediate response and longer-term recovery efforts.