Stories
- Ending violence against women and girls (164)
- Economic empowerment (133)
- Gender equality and women’s empowerment (82)
- Executive Director (69)
- Humanitarian action (60)
- Leadership and political participation (59)
- Crisis response and recovery (47)
- Peace and security (47)
- UN Women administration (45)
- Employment (44)
- 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (36)
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Wednesday, June 2, 2021
Since January 2020, India has reported over 27 million cases of COVID-19 infection and more than 300,000 fatalities – figures that many believe are substantial underestimates. As infection rates peak, hospitals have run out of beds and oxygen, medication is running low, and there are vaccine shortages. Last week, the country also saw massive flooding and displacement in its coastal areas, as Cyclone Yaas made landfall. The scale of the emergency is unprecedented and as with every crisis, women and girls, especially those from poor and marginalized communities, are among the hardest hit.
Tuesday, June 1, 2021
Susan Ferguson is the UN Women Representative for India. Ms. Ferguson joined UN Women in 2017, after a long career in international development. She has lived and worked in South Africa, Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea, and has experience working in grass-roots development agencies; establishing and managing social services; working within Local, State and Federal Government in Australia on social policy and social programmes.
Wednesday, May 12, 2021
Men play a crucial role in raising the next generation of boys, who will form their values and beliefs around women based on the behaviours reflected by men today. Men in power, teachers, leaders, coaches and fathers — I urge you to set the right example. A more gender-equal society benefits everyone! Patriarchy damages not just women but also men. At this rate, achieving global gender equality will take a hundred years.
Statement by UN Women on the situation in Afghanistan
Tuesday, May 11, 2021
UN Women joins the United Nations Secretary-General and the UN family in Afghanistan in strongly condemning the horrific attack near a school in Dasht-i-Barchi, Kabul, Afghanistan, that killed and injured scores of civilians, including many girls. Attacks such as this constitute a grave violation of the rights of children and human rights more broadly.
I am Generation Equality: Avani Awasthee, climate activist, polar explorer
Tuesday, April 20, 2021
Avani Awasthee, 23, represented India on the International Antarctic Expedition in 2016. She was ‘Miss Tourism Metropolitan India’ in 2019 and worked with eco-friendly and sustainable brands.
I am Generation Equality: Devishi Jha, youth climate activist
Tuesday, April 20, 2021
Devishi Jha, is an 18-year-old climate activist who was born in India and now lives in the United States. She is the Director of Partnerships at Zero Hour, an international youth-led climate justice organization, and serves on the National Council at UNICEF USA.
Friday, April 16, 2021
Net Supatravani is the Thai co-founder of ila, a social enterprise start-up that uses human-centred design to help businesses foster inclusion, and creator of anti-domestic abuse app, ALLY. She is also a participant of the Generation Equality Asia Pacific Design Challenge, convened by UN Women and World Design Organization.
Wednesday, April 14, 2021
Lauralyn, 33, is Filipino and lives in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. She advocates for social causes when she is not selling event and digital marketing solutions to academic institutions and event organizers worldwide. Lauralyn is a participant in the Generation Equality Design Challenge, organized by UN Women Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific and World Design Organization. Lauralyn prefers to be addressed without a paternal surname as she does not want her identity to be associated with patriarchal traditions.
Friday, March 12, 2021
UN Women aligns with the statements made by the UN Secretary-General in strongly condemning the violent crackdown and the use of lethal force against peaceful protestors over the past month in Myanmar and expresses its deep concern over the targeted and disproportionate violence against women being recorded in this situation.
Wednesday, March 10, 2021
Women have been hit harder by the economic impacts of the coronavirus pandemic as more women work in low-paying, insecure and informal jobs. This includes migrant domestic workers. Nan Zar Ni Myint is a domestic worker from Myanmar and a volunteer in her community based in Bangkok, Thailand. She has mobilized her network of domestic workers to support other domestic workers in Thailand, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Wednesday, March 10, 2021
As the COVID-19 pandemic spread across the world, businesses scrambled to adapt to unprecedented economic and social consequences of the crisis. The automotive industry was no exception – with lockdowns and “stay home” orders in effect in many parts of the world still, car showrooms had to go digital. Jittirat Tantasirin and her team leveraged technology to revolutionize retail sales models and expand women’s place in the industry.
Wednesday, March 10, 2021
Laxmi Badi, a Dalit woman leader from Nepal is at the forefront of the struggle for equal rights, even amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. In South Asia, persons from Dalit community are at the bottom of the archaic “caste system” – a social stratification, whereby individuals face multiple generations of discrimination and segregation based on their descent.
Friday, February 26, 2021
[Joint Press Release] The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Canada and UN Women jointly launched today a 5-year programme to expand and strengthen women’s leadership and participation in conflict prevention, resolution and recovery in South-East Asia.
Supporting female heads of households to overcome COVID-19’s economic toll in Sri Lanka
Wednesday, February 24, 2021
In an effort to support mothers in Sri Lanka, where many work in informal employment, UN provided emergency relief packages to female-headed households in Jaffna and Kilinochchi districts alongside a local NGO. Over 1,300 women heads of households economically impacted by the pandemic were supported through the initiative.
Thursday, February 11, 2021
Today, UN Women stands in solidarity with the women and women’s civil society organizations of Myanmar as they seek to exercise their fundamental right to demonstrate peacefully and express their hopes and desires for the future of their country.
Tuesday, February 9, 2021
When ventilators were becoming scarce due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Somaya Faruqi, 17, led Afghanistan’s Girl’s Robotics Team as they developed a prototype ventilator to support their country’s health care system.
Tuesday, January 12, 2021
Riko Nagu is a women’s and girls’ rights activist, member of the United Church Women’s Fellowship group.
Monday, December 7, 2020
As part of the continuing commemoration of 25 years of the Beijing Platform for Action on Women’s Empowerment and the 20th anniversary of landmark UN Security Council resolution 1325 on women, peace and security, high-level dignitaries, diplomats, political leaders and women organizations and peacebuilding practitioners from around the world will unite in a global event to discuss.
Tuesday, December 1, 2020
Minara is a Community Outreach volunteer and Rohingya refugee and survivor who fled the conflict in Myanmar in August 2017. As a volunteer in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, she is part of a UN Women programme that empowers refugee women to lead and participate in decision-making processes in the refugee camps.
Hand over the mic to: Naruthai Tansukasem, Thailand
Tuesday, November 17, 2020
Naruthai Tansukasem, 20, became a singer in the girls-led band, ‘Siamese Kittenz’, at age 12, with a passion for stage performance and dancing. After being in the group for six years, she quit because of the online harassment that’s all too common and often unaddressed in the entertainment industry.