Pursuant to General Assembly resolution 68/140, the present report provides information on the status of women in the United Nations system during  the reporting period from 31 December 2011 to 31 December 2013, including progress made and obstacles encountered in achieving gender balance and up-to-date statistics and recommendations for accelerating progress.

This report distills vast data and hundreds of studies to shed new light on constraints facing women and girls worldwide, from epidemic levels of gender-based violence to biased laws and norms that prevent them from owning property, working, and making decisions about their own lives. It highlights promising reforms and interventions from around the world and charts an urgent agenda for governments, civil society, development agencies and other stakeholders.

The AIDS response is producing exciting results and we can already foresee a time when the AIDS epidemic could end. Yet, the promises of science, politics and economic development will not be realized if we do not unite with women against violence as an integral part of the HIV response.

The 2014 Human Development Report “Sustaining Human Progress: Reducing Vulnerabilities and Building Resilience” shows that overall trends in human development are positive. Yet, people at all ages are also facing threats and challenges to their well-being, including by natural or human-induced disasters and crises.

UN Women’s Strategic Plan 2014-2017 and its annexes are presented to the Executive Board for endorsement.

The 2013 Human Development Report examines the rise of the south and identifies more than 40 developing countries that have done better than expected in human development in recent decades, with their progress accelerating markedly over the past 10 years.

The World Development Report 2012: Gender Equality and Development argues that closing these gaps is a core development objective in its own right. It is also smart economics. Greater gender equality can enhance productivity, improve development outcomes for the next generation, and make institutions more representative. The authors use a conceptual framework to examine progress to date, and then recommend policy actions.

This guidance document provides step-by-step guidance on how to integrate human rights and gender equality dimensions throughout an evaluation process. This handbook integrates guidance on the two concepts of “human rights” and “gender equality” to take advantage of the synergies and overlap between these mutually reinforcing concepts, including the understanding that while gender equality is a human right, it is also a dimension of development in its own right.

The publication analyses the progress of gender equality in the region 15 years after the approval of the Beijing Platform for Action, 10 years after the drafting of the Millennium Development Goals and three years after the adoption of the Quito Consensus at the tenth session of the Regional Conference on Women in Latin America and the Caribbean, held in 2007.

The World’s Women 2010: Trends and Statistics is the fifth issue of The World’s Women and is being produced to coincide with the first-ever World’s Statistics Day. The report highlights the differences in the status of women and men in eight areas – population and families, health, education, work, power and decision-making, violence against women, environment and poverty. Analyses are based mainly on statistics from international and national satistical sources.

Developed in partnership with the UN Independent Expert on Minority Issues and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), this United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Resource Guide and Toolkit clarifies the conceptual issues and fundamental principles on the promotion and protection of minorities; the standards to engage them and increase their opportunities for participation and representation in development processes.

This publication is the result of extensive consultations and a response to the call for clear policy and practical guidance for mainstreaming gender perspectives into disaster risk reduction. It offers much-needed policy and practical guidelines for national and local governments to further implement the Hyogo Framework for Action.

The World's Women 2005: Progress in Statistics is the first to review and analyse national capacity to collect and report sex-disaggregated data on core socioeconomic topics relevant for addressing gender concerns.