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 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.

COVID-19 and ending violence against women and girls

Date: Monday, April 6, 2020

This brief highlights emerging evidence of the impact of the recent global pandemic of COVID-19 on violence against women and girls. It makes recommendations to be considered by all sectors of society, from governments to international organizations and to civil society organizations, in order to prevent and respond to violence against women and girls, at the onset, during, and after the public health crisis, with examples of actions already taken.

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.

International technical guidance on sexuality education: An evidence-informed approach

Date: Wednesday, January 10, 2018

UNESCO, in collaboration with UN Women, UNAIDS, UNFPA, UNICEF and WHO, published an updated guidance which promotes health and well-being, respect for human rights and gender equality and the empowerment of children and young people to lead healthy, safe and productive lives.

Eldercare policies in East Asia and Europe: Mapping policy changes and variations and their implications

Date: Friday, December 15, 2017

Adequate and dignified care provision for elderly populations is becoming an urgent policy issue, not only in high-income countries, but also in many middle- and low-income ones. This discussion paper documents and analyses varieties of eldercare policies, and their readjustments, in East Asia and Europe.

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.

Long-term care for older people: A new global gender priority

Date: Friday, December 1, 2017

This brief synthesizes research findings, analysis and policy recommendations on the gender dimensions of long-term care for older people. It underlines the need to build long-term care systems that are financially and socially sustainable and discusses a set of measures that can be taken to improve the situation of care-dependent older persons as well as their caregivers.

Issue brief: Making the SDGs count for women and girls with disabilities

Date: Monday, July 3, 2017

In line with several critical areas under thematic review at the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development in 2017, this issue brief underlines the need to mainstream disability into all efforts to achieve gender equality and women’s empowerment (SDG 5); highlights key issues for ending poverty (SDG 1) and ensuring healthy lives (SDG 3) for women and girls with disabilities; and calls for closing data gaps on gender and disability.

Expanding health-care access in the United States

Date: Monday, July 6, 2015

This paper focuses on ways in which women in the United States have been and will be impacted by the passage of the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. It was produced for UN Women's flagship report Progress of the World's Women 2015-2016 and is released as part of the UN Women discussion paper series.

Championing gender equality and women’s leadership in the HIV response: The experiences of five programme countries

Date: Tuesday, April 7, 2015

This advocacy kit summarizes the results and lessons learned from Cambodia, Jamaica, Kenya, Papua New Guinea and Rwanda under the European Commission–UN Women programme, entitled “Supporting Gender Equality in the Context of HIV and AIDS (2009–2013)”. The programme demonstrated transformational changes that can result from targeted investments towards implementing commitments on gender equality in the HIV response and empowering women and girls, especially those living with HIV.

Gender matters: Overcoming gender-related barriers to prevent new HIV infections among children and keep their mothers alive

Date: Wednesday, January 1, 2014

The findings of this assessment indicates that gender-related barriers pose significant obstacles to the uptake of services that prevent new HIV infections among children and keep mothers alive—obstacles that require urgent attention. Without dedicated attempts to overcome these gender-related barriers, current efforts will meet with limited success, and the needs and rights of both women and children will remain compromised.