Stories
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From where I stand: “It has become impossible to meet daily needs”
Friday, May 22, 2020
Esther Macharia, 37, is a single mother and the only breadwinner for herself and her daughter. When the COVID-19 crisis came to Kenya, she lost nearly her entire income as a rideshare driver in Nairobi, as people are no longer requesting rides. Her story reflects the hardship that millions of women now face, as workers with low wages and without safety nets.
In Myanmar, women work to protect small businesses during COVID-19 pandemic
Friday, May 22, 2020
UN Women has been working with other United Nations agencies, partners and the Government to raise public awareness about COVID-19. Initiatives by UN Women’s Sittwe office include providing information geared toward women, helping women get health and social protection services, and ensuring that virus control measures, such as quarantine centres, meet women’s needs and concerns
Press release: COVID-19 sparks urgency around justice for women, new report calls for action
Thursday, May 21, 2020
A new report documents major challenges to women’s access to justice in light of the COVID-19 pandemic and puts forth recommendations to accelerate action and push back against threats to progress.
COVID-19 exposes the harsh realities of gender inequality in slums
Thursday, May 21, 2020
The COVID-19 pandemic is largely concentrated in cities and urban areas, with around 2,600 cities globally reporting at least one case of the disease. While the epicentre of the global health crisis is still Europe and North America, its impact on developing countries may be more devastating, especially for the poorest. The 1 billion+ people living in slums and slum-like settings in developing countries, where population density is high, are those most at-risk and least prepared.
In the words of Sylvia Karungi: "Life has been challenging with social distancing."
Thursday, May 21, 2020
Sylvia Karungi is a member of the National Association of Women with Disabilities in Uganda (NAWODU), an organization for women with disabilities that receives funding from UN Women under the EU spotlight programme. She is also a community Psychologist.
From where I stand: “The COVID-19 crisis has completely changed my life”
Wednesday, May 20, 2020
Red Cross employee Marijana Tosheva works tirelessly to assist the most vulnerable in North Macedonia. Amid the COVID-19 crisis, she’s been supporting the people with disabilities.
Tuesday, May 19, 2020
During these uncertain and difficult times, we turn to women leaders from around the world for inspiration. They have forged peace when ravaged by war; they have driven innovation despite all odds; and they persisted in the face of challenges and insisted on building a better future.
Monday, May 18, 2020
Emanuela Paul is the Rethinking Power Program Coordinator with Beyond Borders/Depase Fwontyè yo. The programme focuses on preventing violence against women and girls, including women and girls with disabilities, in Haiti and implements a project with funding from the UN Trust Fund to End Violence against Women. In light of COVID-19, she explains how her organization has adapted its approach to community mobilization and the dialogues they create in the community.
Take five: COVID-19 will pass, but will anything change in the protection system?
Monday, May 18, 2020
Meliha Sendic is President of the Center of Women's Rights, a grantee of the UN Trust Fund to End Violence against Women, that provides free legal assistance to women, primarily to women survivors of all forms of post-conflict violence against women in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH). During an online Stakeholder Community Exchange on 16 April 2020 organized by the UN Trust Fund, she shared how her organization has adapted to COVID-19 measures.
Op ed: The pandemic’s gender imperative
Friday, May 15, 2020
Given that the COVID-19 crisis affects men and women in different ways, measures to resolve it must take gender into account. For women and girls, vulnerabilities in the home, on the front lines of health care, and in the labor market must be addressed.
Take five: The COVID-19 challenges “are just too many to mention”
Tuesday, May 12, 2020
Pamela Grace P. Español-Solano is one of nine female doctors volunteering at a COVID-19 facility in southern Philippines.
Fathers in Turkey take on more childcare responsibilities during COVID-19
Tuesday, May 12, 2020
As many people find themselves indoors due to the COVID-19 outbreak, fathers in Turkey are spending more time with their children and taking on more childcare and domestic responsibilities, thanks to the Father Support Programme, implemented by the civil society organization Mother Child Education Foundation (AÇEV).
Tuesday, May 12, 2020
As the pandemic is moving beyond a global health crisis and morphing into a labour market, social and economic crisis, UN Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka and European Commission Head of Service for Foreign Policy Instruments Hilde Hardeman, and International Labour Organization (ILO) Deputy Director-General for Policy Deborah Greenfield today convened Ministers, CEOs, and business associations, trade unions, civil society and academia representatives at the High-Level Roundtable, “The G7’s role in ensuring women's economic empowerment and security in the post-COVID future”.
Monday, May 11, 2020
UN Women and the African Union, in partnership with the UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), will host the inaugural meeting of African Ministers for Gender and Women’s Affairs, on 12 May 2020 under the theme “COVID-19 Response and Recovery” - a Gendered Framework.” Focusing on how to mitigate the impacts of COVID-19 on African women and girls, the meeting will be co-chaired by UN Women’s Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka and Chairperson of the...
UN Women delivers lifeline support to women’s and grassroots organizations for COVID-19 response
Monday, May 11, 2020
New York, 11 May 2020 – In addition to the dramatic health crisis, the COVID-19 global pandemic has presented grave new threats to the critical work and very existence of local civil society organizations working on the front lines of crises, making the need to mobilize support for their efforts more urgent than ever before. Women’s organizations and activists are already on the front lines of COVID-19 response and should be an integral part of COVID-19 response and recovery...
Monday, May 11, 2020
Around the world, the COVID-19 pandemic is exacerbating existing inequalities, including those based on sexual orientation, gender identity and sex characteristics, with often-devastating impacts for LGBTIQ+ people, who are already among the most marginalized and excluded. The theme of this International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, Interphobia and Transphobia – break the silence – calls our attention to these inequalities across the world and asks us to speak out together against the discrimination, restrictions on basic freedoms, and hate that LGBTIQ+ people face in the current context and beyond.
Extra things to thank Moms for in 2020
Saturday, May 9, 2020
On Mother’s Day, learn how COVID-19 is impacting moms and make their extraordinary contribution visible.
Take Five: "What we are going through right now is a life lesson for everyone."
Friday, May 8, 2020
Natalia Klinsky Amelunge is a 28-year-old doctor working on the front lines of COVID-19 at the National Health Fund in Bolivia and the Anita Leigue Municipal Health Center. She spoke with UN Women about the challenges that women face in the front-line response and what we can learn from them. In Bolivia, UN Women has launched public communication campaigns to make women’s role visible and to prevent the shadow pandemic of violence against women. In coordination with the government, UN Women is also distributing food, clothing and other necessities in migrant camps bordering Chile.
Op-ed: We cannot allow COVID-19 to reinforce the digital gender divide
Wednesday, May 6, 2020
UN Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka and CEO of Plan international Anne-Birgitte Albrectsen highlights the alarming lack of connectivity girls, women, and marginalized groups continue to face as the COVID-19 pandemic has moved so many aspects of daily life online.
Youth volunteers combat online misinformation on COVID-19 in Arab States
Wednesday, May 6, 2020
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, emerging evidence shows that underlying gender inequalities are exacerbated by this crisis. As observed in previous pandemics, women are -and will be- disproportionately affected in myriad ways, including by an increased incidence of domestic violence, loss of jobs and increased unpaid care burden. Previous experiences also indicate that failing to collect gender-disaggregated data can have a negative impact in the effectiveness of the response and recovery efforts.