In elections taking place on 11 January, the UN Women Executive Board opened the year by electing its new Bureau for 2022.

In her remarks at the Election of the UN Women Executive Board Bureau 2022, UN Women Executive Director Sima Bahous said: "Working together as partners, we will make a difference. UN Women, through you and with you, will continue to be a driving force for gender equality and women’s empowerment worldwide".

Throughout the pandemic, youth have persisted in their activism, calling for sustainable change, equality, justice, and dignity for all. They have been invaluable support for their communities as health systems and social infrastructure are still overwhelmed in many parts of the world. From insisting on more inclusive societies to pushing for sexual and reproductive health, rights, and education, here are four stories of young people persisting in the pandemic.

As 2021 comes to a close, we’re taking a look back at some of the major moments for gender equality and women’s rights from the past 12 months. From women at the forefront of the ongoing fight against COVID-19, to new laws to support survivors of gender-based violence, from women in the highest political offices to eliminating gender stereotypes in advertising, join us in celebrating some of the small and big strides for gender equality in 2021.

UN Women’s newest report reveals that women and girls have disproportionately suffered the socioeconomic impacts of COVID-19 – be it through lost jobs and reduced work hours, increased intensity of care and domestic work, and strains on their physical and mental health. And yet, the report also shows that women and girls are far less likely than men and boys to receive COVID-19 relief or social protection, from governments or NGOs.

Whether at home, at work, in the streets or even online, women and girls across the world remain highly vulnerable to gender-based violence, something which the COVID-19 pandemic has only magnified, six senior UN women leaders said on Thursday.

UN Women is urgently calling for migration policies, programmes and services to promote and protect migrant women’s and girls’ human rights at all stages of their journey.

As the COVID-19 pandemic swept through Ethiopia, the country’s already high unemployment rate increased and travel restrictions obstructed safe migration pathways for thousands of Ethiopians. In a desperate attempt to provide for their families, many turned to people smugglers who promised jobs. For Amen Kifle, her journey ended with three months of imprisonment in a foreign country before she was deported back home.

At a high-level event on International Human Rights Day, 10 December, the Global Alliance for Care called for a human rights perspective to be incorporated across all efforts to transform the global care agenda.

Today we mark Human Rights Day, as the 2021 UNiTE campaign “Orange the World: End Violence against Women Now!” concludes. We reaffirm together, in the face of continuing and even increasing gender-based violence during the COVID-19 pandemic, and in the global context of violent conflicts, that women’s rights are human rights. There are deep inter-connections between ending such blatant violations of those rights, providing freedom from fear, and the right to security, dignity, equality and justice.

Known as Yemen’s “Mother of Detainees,” Laila Lutf AL-Thawr is a prominent human rights activist who has mediated the exchange and release of over 1000 prisoners and detainees. She is also the first woman to hold a top position in a Yemeni political party, the Arab Hope Party. To mark the International Day for Human Rights, Al-Thawr spoke with the Compact on Women, Peace and Security and Humanitarian Action, supported by UN Women, about the challenges women detainees in Yemen face, as well as the threats against women human rights defenders

To address the high rates of violence against women and girls in the Cox's Bazar refugge camps and the complexities of policing in a humanitarian situation, UN Women has supported the Bangladesh Police to strengthen gender-responsive policing, improving the availability, accessibility, and quality of police services,.

On the summit of Bolivia’s Huayna Potosí mountain, a flag proudly flies to promote the United Nations Secretary-General’s UNiTE campaign, a global effort to end all violence against women and girls. This year, the four women who placed it there are taking on Sajama, the highest mountain in the country to continue bringing the message to end all forms of violence against women to new heights.

Aissa Doumara Ngatansou was 15 years old when she was forced into marriage. Today, at 49, Ngatansou is working to change the narrative for women and girls in the Lake Chad Basin – an area encompassing Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria.

The theme for International Women’s Day, 8 March, 2022 (IWD 2022) is, “Gender equality today for a sustainable tomorrow”, recognizing the contribution of women and girls around the world, who are leading the charge on climate change adaptation, mitigation, and response, to build a more sustainable future for all.

UN Under-Secretary-General and UN Women Executive Director, Ms. Sima Bahous, concluded her first official field visit to Egypt this week.

This World AIDS Day, there is progress around the globe to celebrate, in access to HIV testing, life-saving treatment and care. We are seeing increased recognition of the role that gender norms play in the HIV response, leading to improved HIV prevention methods, targeted HIV policies and programmes, and access to comprehensive sexuality education for women and girls. There are, however, also strong alarm bells that this progress is increasingly unequal.

Dewi Tjakrawinata is the co-founder of YAPESDI (Yayasan Peduli Sindroma Down Indonesia, or Down Syndrome Care Foundation Indonesia), a Jakarta-based non-profit organization that empowers youths with intellectual disabilities to become self-advocates. To mark 16 Days of Activism, UN Women’s Access to Justice team spoke to Dewi about ending impunity for sexual violence against women with intellectual and psychosocial disabilities.

On the occasion of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women (25 November), global leaders endorsed the powerful steps being taken by the Action Coalition on Gender-based Violence to inspire action across all sectors and ignite lasting change.

Mursal Samadi* had worked as a prosecutor, independent investigator, and a civil society leader for more than 16 years in Afghanistan when the Taliban took over Kabul on 15 August. She remains in Afghanistan, advocating for the rights of Afghan women and girls.