Family-friendly policies and other good workplace practices in the context of COVID-19: Key steps employers can take

Date: Friday, March 27, 2020

With many businesses struggling to survive as a consequence of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, loss of jobs and income and rising working poverty are a reality for many workers. This document offers (interim) recommendations for employers to mitigate the negative consequences stemming from COVID-19.

A new era for girls: Taking stock on 25 years of progress for girls

Date: Sunday, March 1, 2020

This report calls on global, national, and regional stakeholders to expand opportunities for girls and young women to be the changemakers and designers of the solutions to their challenges and opportunities; invest in the skills development of adolescent girls so they can compete in today’s labour market; improve girls’ health and nutrition; and end violence in all its forms against them.

Family-oriented cash transfers from a gender perspective: Are conditionalities justified?

Date: Thursday, November 21, 2019

This brief reviews a decade of feminist research on conditional cash transfers that has raised serious questions about the assumptions that underpin the use of conditionalities and their impact on poor women’s lives. It highlights concerns about the detrimental effects that conditionalities may have in contexts where quality public services are lacking and where multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination mean that well-intended programme requirements easily slip into coercive and disempowering implementation practices.

The effect of cash-based interventions on gender outcomes in development and humanitarian settings

Date: Tuesday, November 12, 2019

This discussion paper begins by presenting an overview of the latest research on cash transfers, gender protection, and empowerment outcomes. It continues by discussing some of the programme design features to consider when seeking to improve gender outcomes. Finally, the paper concludes with a set of research questions that can help shape future research and practice in this area.

Costing of a package of family-friendly transfers and services to advance gender equality and women’s empowerment: An introduction to the calculations and results

Date: Friday, August 30, 2019

This discussion paper presents a costing analysis for a set of family-friendly services and transfers: income protection for children, people of working age, and older persons; universal health coverage; and early childhood care and education and long-term care services. The costing shows that such a package is affordable in many countries.

Promoting gender equality in sexual, reproductive, maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health: Programming guide

Date: Sunday, June 2, 2019

Recognizing the impact of gender inequality on the sexual and reproductive health of women and the health of their children, this programming guide provides practical guidance and tools to understand the influence of gender inequality on sexual, reproductive, maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health (SRMNCAH), and how to effectively integrate gender equality into programming.

RESPECT Women: Preventing violence against women

Date: Wednesday, May 29, 2019

RESPECT Women is a policy framework launched by twelve UN, bilateral, and multilateral agencies, which outlines steps for a public health and human rights–based approach to scaling up prevention programming on violence against women. It builds on the learnings compiled in the UN Prevention of Violence against Women Framework (2015), and in additional systematic reviews, to provide evidence-based strategies on preventing violence against women.

Gender and age-responsive social protection: The potential of cash transfers to advance adolescent rights and capabilities

Date: Friday, March 8, 2019

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.

Gender equality in the 2030 Agenda: Gender-responsive water and sanitation systems

Date: Friday, June 29, 2018

What is needed to make water and sanitation systems truly gender-responsive? This issue brief shows how the promotion of gender-responsive water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) can be a catalyst for change across the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. It equally provides insights into how the synergies between WASH and gender equality can be harnessed more effectively.

Indigenous women’s maternal health and maternal mortality

Date: Sunday, April 1, 2018

UNFPA, UNICEF, and UN Women have developed a fact sheet to highlight the discrimination that indigenous women and adolescent girls face in their efforts to access reproductive health care in many parts of the world. The experiences of indigenous women often lead to health risks and mortality rates that can be more than three times higher than those experienced by non-indigenous women.