Effective, decisive, and inclusive: Women’s leadership in COVID-19 response and recovery

Date: Tuesday, October 12, 2021

This working paper analyses how women leaders at the national and subnational levels of government managed COVID-19 response and recovery from January 2020 through March 2021. The paper finds that women decision-makers demonstrated effective leadership, rapid response, and implemented socially inclusive policies and provides recommendations on how to ensure women’s participation and contribution to the pandemic response and recovery.

Guidance note: Preventing violence against women in politics

Date: Monday, July 19, 2021

The guidance note discusses key concepts and norms about violence against women in politics, including definitions and normative frameworks, and provides practical guidance for addressing violence against women in politics at country level through different interventions.

Women in politics: 2021

Date: Wednesday, March 10, 2021

The IPU–UN Women “Women in politics: 2021” map presents global rankings for women in executive, government, and parliamentary positions as of 1 January 2021. The data shows all-time highs for the number of countries with women Heads of State or Heads of Government, as well as for the global share of women ministers.

Data and violence against women in politics: Expert group meeting report and recommendations

Date: Wednesday, August 12, 2020

UN Women organized an Expert Group Meeting (EGM) on “Data and violence against women in politics” (VAWP) on 4–5 December 2019, in New York, as a part of its ongoing efforts to tackle this issue. This report provides an overview of the expert discussions and the key takeaways identified during the meeting. It also highlights key discussion points to inform future efforts to collect data on VAWP.

COVID-19 and women’s leadership: From an effective response to building back better

Date: Tuesday, June 30, 2020

This brief shines a light on the critical role of women’s leadership in responding to COVID-19 and preparing for a more equitable recovery. In addition to considering the pandemic’s immediate impacts on women’s political participation, the brief demonstrates the opportunity to “build back better” by including and supporting women, and the organizations and networks that represent them, in the decision-making processes that will ultimately shape the post-pandemic future.

A primer for parliamentary action: Gender-sensitive responses to COVID-19

Date: Wednesday, June 17, 2020

This primer highlights practical ways Members of Parliament (MPs) and parliamentary staff can take action to ensure COVID-19 response and recovery decision-making addresses women’s needs.

Democratic backsliding and the backlash against women’s rights: Understanding the current challenges for feminist politics

Date: Friday, June 5, 2020

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.

Women in politics: 2020

Date: Tuesday, March 10, 2020

The “Women in politics: 2020” map, created by the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) and UN Women, presents global rankings for women in executive, government, and parliamentary positions as of 1 January 2020. It shows all-time highs for the number of countries with women Heads of State and/or Heads of Government, and for the global share of women ministers, parliamentary speakers, and parliamentarians.

Women in politics: 2019

Date: Monday, March 11, 2019

The “Women in politics: 2019” map, created by the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) and UN Women, depicts global rankings for women in the executive and parliamentary branches of government as of 1 January 2019. The map shows progress towards gender equality in these areas at regional and national levels.

Violence against women in politics: Expert Group Meeting report and recommendations

Date: Friday, September 28, 2018

This report provides a summary of the discussions of the Expert Group Meeting (EGM) on violence against women in politics (VAWP), held on 8–9 March 2018 in New York. It contains key points and priority actions to inform interventions to address violence against women in politics.