Spotlight on gender, COVID-19 and the SDGs: Will the pandemic derail hard-won progress on gender equality?

Date: Tuesday, July 7, 2020

Health emergencies such as COVID-19, and the response to them, can exacerbate gender inequality and derail hard-won progress not only on SDG 3 but on all the SDGs. This paper draws insights from emerging data and shines a spotlight on the long-term impact of the crisis on the achievement of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The paper concludes by outlining policy priorities drawn from the evidence presented.

Annual Report 2019–2020

Date: Thursday, June 18, 2020

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.

Are you ready for change? Gender equality attitudes study 2019

Date: Thursday, June 11, 2020

This study serves as an evidence-based instrument that demonstrates how leveraging attitudinal change can be used as a critical tactic towards advancing gender equality. The findings have the potential to inform policymakers, advertisers, private sector leaders, civil society, and decision-makers on challenging discriminatory attitudes and gender roles that perpetuate gender inequality and women’s subordinate status in society.

Gender, climate and security: Sustaining inclusive peace on the frontlines of climate change

Date: Tuesday, June 9, 2020

Grounded in a series of case studies from research and programming experience, this report offers a comprehensive framework for understanding how gender, climate, and security are inextricably linked.

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.

UN Women’s response to COVID-19

Date: Tuesday, June 2, 2020

UN Women’s response to COVID-19 includes policy advice and programmatic interventions along five priority areas: Gender-based violence, including domestic violence, is mitigated and reduced; social protection and economic stimulus packages serve women and girls; people support and practice the equal sharing of the burden of care; women and girls lead and participate in COVID-19 response planning and decision-making; and data and coordination mechanisms include gender perspectives.

UN Women rapid assessment tool to evaluate gender equality and women’s empowerment results in humanitarian contexts

Date: Friday, May 15, 2020

This rapid assessment tool presents a practical way to assess progress on achieving gender equality and women’s empowerment in humanitarian contexts.

Prevention: Violence against women and girls and COVID-19

Date: Wednesday, May 13, 2020

This brief provides background information on the root causes and risk factors that explain why violence against women occurs in the first place. It highlights how the context of COVID-19 is exacerbating those factors and the impact it is having on rates of violence against women and the ability to undertake evidence-based prevention work in the current context. It provides indicative interventions that can be undertaken during social distancing.

COVID-19: Promoting positive gender roles in marketing and advertising

Date: Tuesday, April 14, 2020

In an effort to address the impacts of COVID-19, companies are developing a number of socially beneficial communications for the public. It is essential that these communications avoid harmful stereotypes and seek to depict positive and progressive gender portrayals.

UN Secretary-General’s policy brief: The impact of COVID-19 on women

Date: Thursday, April 9, 2020

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.

Welcome to Equiterra, where gender equality is real

Date: Wednesday, April 8, 2020

Want to see what gender equality looks like? Join us for a tour of Equiterra, where all people have equal rights and opportunities, regardless of their gender. This publication includes a poster and a brochure.

Gender mainstreaming: A global strategy for achieving gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls

Date: Wednesday, April 1, 2020

Gender mainstreaming is the intergovernmentally agreed global strategy for achieving gender equality. This brochure highlights approaches to and strategies for gender mainstreaming. The brochure also features infographics and a list of relevant resources.

Conflicting identities: The nexus between masculinities, femininities and violent extremism in Asia

Date: Tuesday, March 31, 2020

We know that violent extremism has gendered impacts. But how do gendered power relations influence violent extremism, including why individuals join extremist groups, how these groups function, and what beliefs they hold? UN Women and UPDP commissioned this research volume of expert analyses to explore how unequal gender power structures, including masculinity, fuel and shape violent extremism in South and Southeast Asia.

Stepping up to the challenge: Towards international standards on training to end sexual harassment

Date: Monday, March 30, 2020

This publication focuses on training as preventive intervention. It discusses current thinking on what makes training effective and presents a new framework for standards. Transformative work involves building a values-based approach to sexual harassment and an audit/culture check to establish the shape of harassment therein, with training that links these two. Training must fit the specific context, be conducted by experts in gender inequality, and be conducted face to face.

Feminist perspectives on the 2030 Agenda in Ecuador: Selective engagement, inclusions and omissions

Date: Thursday, March 26, 2020

This paper examines how the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development has been integrated into the national debate on gender equality in Ecuador. It identifies which policies from the Agenda have been taken into account and which have been rejected. It also examines how the actors involved in clarifying the scope of these policies—women’s movements, sexual diversity organizations, public officials, and UN agencies—have coordinated their activities with the Agenda.

‘Our time, our rights’ poster series

Date: Thursday, March 19, 2020

On the 25th anniversary of the Beijing Platform for Action, using striking images and bold typography, this series of posters contrasts key gaps with concrete actions to close them, sending a graphic message that the commitments made 25 years ago can and must be met. The posters echo the call across generations of feminists, from those just joining the movement to those who brought Beijing to life.

Gender equality: Women’s rights in review 25 years after Beijing

Date: Thursday, March 5, 2020

Marking the 25th anniversary of the adoption of the Beijing Platform for Action, as well as the first time that progress on the implementation of the Platform is reviewed in light of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, this report takes an integrated approach to reporting on progress, gaps, and challenges related to the advancement of gender equality and women’s rights.

Regular resources report – Data and case studies from 2018

Date: Friday, January 31, 2020

This report analyses how UN Women has used regular resource contributions to fulfil its normative, coordination, and operational activities mandate, in order to improve the lives of women and girls worldwide. Through the presentation of tangible results, this report presents case studies at the global, regional, and country levels to showcase the impact that regular resources have in the countries where UN Women is present.

Gender and security toolkit

Date: Sunday, December 15, 2019

This toolkit includes a series of practical and policy guides to promote gender equality and integrate a gender perspective in the security and justice sector.

Series: Briefs on women with disabilities

Date: Friday, December 6, 2019

In support of UN Women’s Strategy on the Empowerment of Women and Girls with Disabilities, this series of briefs addresses a range of thematic issues related to gender equality and disability inclusion.