Take Five: A decade of making public spaces safe for women and girls

Date: Thursday, February 27, 2020

Lizette Soria works as policy specialist for UN Women’s flagship initiative Safe Cities and Safe Public Spaces. The initiative was launched in 2010 with local and national governments, grassroots women and girls, women’s rights organizations and other civil society groups, UN agencies, and other partners in five cities: Quito (Ecuador), Port Moresby (Papua New Guinea), Kigali (Rwanda), Cairo (Egypt), and Delhi (India). The initiative aims to develop and implement evidence-based and comprehensive approaches to prevent and respond to sexual harassment against women and girls in public spaces. Today, nearly 50 cities, including cities in the Global South and North, are part of the initiative.

Media advisory: International Women’s Day 2020 events

Date: Thursday, February 27, 2020

This year’s International Women’s Day (8 March) takes place in the context of the 25th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, considered the most comprehensive roadmap on women’s rights. As the forthcoming UN Women report on women’s rights reveals, 25 years after the adoption of the Beijing Declaration, the emerging global consensus is that despite some progress in areas such as primary education and maternal heath, real change has been too slow for the majority of the world’s women and girls.

Statement for International Women’s Day by Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka

Date: Wednesday, February 26, 2020

In her statement for International Women's Day (8 March), UN Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka calls 2020 the year for gender equality and calls on everyone to tackle the persistent barriers against gender equality.

Anastasiia Yeva Domani: How a transgender woman in Ukraine fought for her rights and discovered the activist within her

Date: Wednesday, February 26, 2020

Anastasiia Yeva Domani is a transgender woman from Ukraine who became an activist for transgender rights after fighting for her own right to transition with dignity.

Press release: Safety of women and girls in public spaces is in focus at UN Women-led global forum

Date: Wednesday, February 26, 2020

Local and National Governments, women’s rights and community leaders gather in Rabat to discuss safe and empowering public spaces with and for women and girls

My Take, Your Take: Fighting for justice and gender equality in Liberia

Date: Tuesday, February 25, 2020

In this intergenerational series for the Generation Equality campaign, young people take the lead to shape the conversations. Gwendolyn Myers, a 29-year-old peace activist from Liberia, talks with a veteran activist, Abla Gadegbeku William, 59, who has fought for the rights of women and children for more than two decades.

Marta Vieira da Silva and One Win Leads to Another girls celebrate women’s empowerment in Brazil Carnival

Date: Tuesday, February 25, 2020

Global soccer star, UN Women Goodwill Ambassador and UN SDG Advocate, Marta Vieira da Silva was honoured in the Carnival parade in Rio de Janiero, Brazil.

I am Generation Equality: Hingride Marcelle Leite de Jesus, rugby player, community facilitator

Date: Tuesday, February 25, 2020

Hingride Marcelle Leite de Jesus is a 20-year-old graduate of One Win Leads to Another, a joint programme between UN Women and the International Olympic Committee, which provides weekly sport practice and life skills sessions for adolescent girls in Brazil. She recently met with the football player Marta Vieira da Silva, UN Women Goodwill Ambassador, and participated in a Carnival parade in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Twelve small actions with big impact for Generation Equality

Date: Tuesday, February 25, 2020

Change isn’t just about big headline moments, legal victories and international agreements: the way we talk, think, and act every day can create a ripple effect that benefits everyone. As we usher in the new decade and take stock of global progress on women’s rights, join us, as Generation Equality, in getting to gender equality through these simple everyday actions.

I am Generation Equality: Saif Dabbas, HeForShe and youth activist

Date: Monday, February 24, 2020

Saif Dabbas, 19, is a member of the HeForShe campaign in Jordan, a solidarity movement for the advancement of gender equality led by UN Women. Dabbas has been a feminist advocate since age 14 and believes youth should be at the forefront of the gender equality movement.

My Take, Your Take: Ushering in a new generation of women leaders in Central African Republic

Date: Monday, February 24, 2020

In this new intergenerational series for Generation Equality campaign, young people take the lead to shape the conversations. Marguerite Ramadan, Social Affairs Advisor Prime Minister’s Office in in the Central African Republic and Chairperson of the longest standing women’s organization (the Organisation of Central African Women), talks about women’s leadership with Pamela Audrey Derom, who was recently elected to the National Youth Council.

My take, your take: Women’s rights in Thailand, and men’s role in advancing them

Date: Monday, February 24, 2020

In this new intergenerational series for the Generation Equality campaign, young people take the lead to shape the conversations. Zaak Garrett, 25, a US student and gender activist currently based in Thailand, talks with Jaded Chouwilai, 57, the founder of Thailand’s Women and Men Progressive Movement Foundation.

I am Generation Equality: Cindy Sirinya Bishop, celebrity and activist

Date: Monday, February 24, 2020

Cindy Sirinya Bishop is a Thai supermodel, actor, TV host and activist, who’s challenging social attitudes around sexual violence and the treatment of victims. She created an exhibition with UN Women, which sparked a public conversation and social media campaign, #donttellmehowtodress in Thailand about sexual harassment and assault.

I am Generation Equality: Nicholas Niwagaba, young leader, human rights advocate

Date: Friday, February 21, 2020

As the Executive Director of Uganda Network of Young People Living with HIV/AIDS (UNYPA) Nicholas Niwagaba is a Ugandan Health advocate who works to improve the quality of life for young people living with HIV in Uganda. Nicholas leads a youth movement to increase access to quality sexual and reproductive health services and information and to create an enabling environment for young people living with HIV.

Closing remarks by Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Executive Director of UN Women, Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka at the First Regular Session of the UN Women Executive Board

Date: Tuesday, February 18, 2020

In her closing remarks at the UN Women Executive Board first regular session of 2020, UN Women executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka said: "Now is the time for giant steps. We just cannot afford baby steps anymore. It cannot be incremental change. We want change that is fast, but also it must be change that lasts. That is the caveat."

I am Generation Equality: Abel Koka, champion for youth and reproductive rights

Date: Tuesday, February 18, 2020

Abel Koka, 30, is an Assistant Programme Coordinator for Restless Development in Tanzania. Koka is working to raise youth awareness of the Sustainable Development Goals and Family Planning 2020, and encouraging young activists to hold their government accountable. Koka is also a member of UN Women’s Beijing +25 Youth Task Force.

Speech: Impatient for change: Global action for gender equality

Date: Friday, February 14, 2020

Opening remarks by Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Executive Director of UN Women, Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, at the first regular session 2020 of the UN Women Executive Board, 14 February 2020.

I am Generation Equality: Pip Gardner, LGBTQI+ leader and activist

Date: Wednesday, February 12, 2020

Pip Gardner is a gender equality and human rights activist with a focus on sustainable development. They are currently the Communications Manager for Woodcraft Folk, a co-operative youth movement in the United Kingdom (UK), and the Chief Executive of The Kite Trust, a charity for LGBT+ young people. Pip is a member of UN Women’s Beijing+25 Youth Task Force and attended the 25th year Regional Review Meeting of the Beijing Platform for Action for the UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) Region.

Calling for action to meet the unfulfilled promise of education for girls

Date: Wednesday, February 12, 2020

Celebrities, youth activists and world leaders gathered yesterday at the UN Headquarters to put a spotlight on adolescent girls’ education, in an event co-hosted by the Permanent Mission of Ireland, together with UN Women, the One Campaign and the Global Partnership for Education. Singer and co-founder of the ONE campaign, Bono, and Chair of the Elders, Mary Robinson, were amongst the participants at the event that launched the initiative, "The Drive for Five: A Call to Action to...

UN Women Deputy Executive Director Åsa Regnér visits Brussels and the new European Union leadership

Date: Tuesday, February 11, 2020

UN Women Deputy Executive Director Åsa Regnér visited Brussels, Belgium, from 4 to 5 February 2020.