Safe Cities and Safe Public Spaces for Women and Girls Global Flagship Initiative: Second international compendium of practices

Date: Monday, February 24, 2020

This publication illustrates in a practical way how participating cities of the Safe Cities and Safe Public Spaces Global Initiative are working to implement women’s safety approaches through the lens of intersectionality. These include a range of women-led solutions, from the creation of data, to integrated policies with meaningful participation of women’s rights organizations, to urban planning solutions that prioritize minoritized women, and prevention initiatives addressing discriminatory behaviours.

Spotlight on SDG11: Harsh realities: Marginalized women in cities of the developing world

Date: Monday, February 17, 2020

This study, based on data from 59 low- and middle-income countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, Central and Southern Asia, and sub-Saharan Africa, finds that women and their families bear the brunt of growing income inequality and failures to adequately plan for and respond to rapid urbanization. The publication examines the effects of multidimensional poverty in urban areas, with women facing greater exposure to life in slum-like conditions than men.

Transnational families, care arrangements and the state in Costa Rica and Nicaragua

Date: Thursday, December 5, 2019

This paper concerns the implications of migration within Central America for family life. Focusing on the case of Costa Rica and Nicaragua, it shows how Nicaraguan families develop strategies based on a history of informal and flexible caregiving. While these informal strategies allow families to navigate the challenges migration and family separation entail, they also contribute to continued vulnerability and reinforce the gendered burdens of caregiving within transnational families.

Leveraging digital finance for gender equality and women’s empowerment

Date: Tuesday, September 24, 2019

This working paper provides a basis to review the barriers, risks, and opportunities related to gender and the accessibility and utilization of digital finance, and to help identify pathways that could be leveraged for potential impactful investment returns for women.

TRANSFORM – The magazine for gender-responsive evaluation – Issue 15, August 2019

Date: Thursday, August 8, 2019

Issue 15 of TRANSFORM focuses on governance and national planning (GNP), an area of work that has contributed to UN Women’s identity and for which it is recognized and valued. The evaluation of UN Women’s GNP portfolio from 2011 to 2017 assessed the relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, and extent to which human rights approach and gender equality principles were integrated adequately in UN Women’s approach to GNP.

Investing in free universal childcare in South Africa, Turkey and Uruguay: A comparative analysis of costs, short-term employment effects and fiscal revenue

Date: Monday, July 8, 2019

This discussion paper makes the case for investing in free universal childcare services of high quality in order to reduce gender inequality in earnings and employment. It estimates the employment-generating and fiscal effects of investing in free universal childcare in three middle income countries: South Africa, Uruguay, and Turkey.

Corporate thematic evaluation of UN Women’s contribution to governance and national planning

Date: Thursday, June 6, 2019

Governance and national planning (GNP) is an area of work that has contributed to UN Women’s identity and for which it is recognized and valued. The evaluation of UN Women's GNP portfolio from 2011 to 2017 assessed the relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, and extent to which human rights approach and gender equality principles were integrated adequately in UN Women’s approach to GNP.

“We were like caged birds, this gave us wings to fly”: A review of UN Women programming on gender-sensitive transitional justice

Date: Saturday, June 1, 2019

This report examines UN Women’s experiences implementing a global programme on gender-sensitive transitional justice (2015–2018), funded by the European Union. The report reflects on the programme’s outcomes and shares the strategies used to adapt to challenging circumstances. It shares strategies employed to increase the gender-responsiveness of transitional justice mechanisms, and to adequately respond to sexual and gender-based violence and other gendered impacts of violent conflict and repressive regimes.

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.

Innovation for gender equality

Date: Friday, March 8, 2019

This brochure showcases some of UN Women’s thoughts and practices around innovation that could accelerate gender equality and women’s empowerment. The examples range from pilot programmes with marginalized beneficiaries to partnerships with start-ups; from frontier technologies to non-tech interventions that challenge mindsets; and from procedural improvements to capacity-building.

Gender equality and poverty are intrinsically linked: A contribution to the continued monitoring of selected Sustainable Development Goals

Date: Friday, December 21, 2018

This discussion paper provides an updated analysis of gendered economic inequality in high- and middle-income countries. A review of the literature demonstrates that such an analysis needs to explicitly recognize that gender, poverty, and (economic) inequality are intrinsically linked. It was produced for UN Women’s flagship report, Progress of the World’s Women 2019”, and also released as part of the UN Women discussion paper series.

TRANSFORM – The magazine for gender-responsive evaluation – Issue 14, December 2018

Date: Friday, December 14, 2018

TRANSFORM Issue 14, “Working together to empower voices”, is a special edition focused on the inter-related themes of gender, evaluation, transformative change, marginalized voices, and leaving no one behind in pursuit of Sustainable Development Goal 5.

Can big data be used for evaluation? A UN Women feasibility study

Date: Sunday, April 1, 2018

This study investigates the feasibility of leveraging big data sources—particularly Twitter, Facebook, and radio data—to improve the evaluation of gender equality and women’s empowerment initiatives. In particular, this study seeks to understand the potential role of big data to evaluate the contribution of UN Women to women’s political participation and leadership, using Mexico and Pakistan as case studies.

Key barriers to women’s access to HIV treatment: A global review

Date: Tuesday, December 12, 2017

This report was written to highlight the experiences of women living with HIV in accessing treatment and quality care. Led by a Global Reference Group of women living with HIV, this global review uses a gender-responsive and human rights-based framework to explore the various factors that impact women's experience and decision making around treatment.

Safe Cities and Safe Public Spaces: Global results report

Date: Wednesday, October 18, 2017

This report on UN Women’s Global Flagship Programme Initiative, Safe Cities and Safe Public Spaces, shares achievements gleaned from various participating city programmes around the world. A series of stories illustrate what authorities, grass-roots women, women’s organizations and other community partners can do as part of a comprehensive, evidence-based approach to prevent and respond to sexual harassment and other forms of sexual violence against women and girls in public spaces.

Mis/representations of women migrant workers in the media: A critical analysis

Date: Monday, July 31, 2017

This media study is part of UN Women’s EU-funded project, “Promoting and protecting women migrant workers’ labour and human rights: Engaging with international, national human rights mechanisms to enhance accountability”. It focuses on representations of women migrant workers in sending and receiving countries. Articles from newspapers in Canada, Italy, Mexico, and the Philippines are analysed using a gender perspective. Three dominant representations of WMWs are identified: victims, heroes and threats. The implications of these representations are explored and a woman migrant worker–centred approach is recommended.

Women migrant workers and remittances

Date: Monday, July 31, 2017

Based on research and lessons learned from the joint UN Women–EU-funded global project, “Promoting and protecting women migrant workers’ labour and human rights: Engaging with international, national human rights mechanisms to enhance accountability”, which is piloted in Mexico, Moldova and the Philippines, this Brief considers the different ways that women transfer and spend remittances, and provides recommendations to better understand and maximize these remittances.

Using the international human rights system to protect and promote the rights of women migrant workers

Date: Monday, July 31, 2017

This brief provides an overview of the international human rights system as it applies to the promotion and protection of women migrant workers’ rights. Using examples from the joint UN Women–European Union project, “Promoting and protecting women migrant workers’ labour and human rights”, this brief illustrates how these mechanisms can be used by governments, civil society and development partners to enhance the rights of women migrant workers in law and practice.

Women migrant workers’ contributions to development

Date: Monday, July 31, 2017

Based on research and lessons learned from UN Women’s EU-funded global project “Promoting and protecting women migrant workers’ labour and human rights: Engaging with international, national human rights mechanisms to enhance accountability”, which is piloted in Mexico, Moldova, and the Philippines, this Brief explores the economic and social contributions of women migrant workers to development.

Making gender-responsive migration laws

Date: Monday, July 31, 2017

Based on research and lessons learned from the joint UN Women–European Union project, “Promoting and protecting women migrant workers’ labour and human rights: Engaging with international, national human rights mechanisms to enhance accountability”, which is piloted in Mexico, Moldova and the Philippines, this brief provides an overview of a methodology for developing gender-responsive migration laws.