Stories
- Economic empowerment (65)
- Ending violence against women and girls (50)
- Peace and security (39)
- Employment (36)
- Youth (26)
- 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (26)
- Gender, culture and society (24)
- Rural women (20)
- Humanitarian action (18)
- Gender equality and women’s empowerment (17)
- Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) (17)
- Show more
From where I stand: “Due to COVID-19 people were not going to the police”
Tuesday, June 2, 2020
Simret Tesfaye is nurse at the Association for Women's Sanctuary and Development, a non-profit organization in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, which manages six shelters for survivors of gender-based violence. Currently, she is working at the Transitional Shelter that opened in April 2020 with support from UN Women.
Thursday, May 28, 2020
Lieutenant Dr. Arya Khadka is a Nepali peacekeeper serving as a medical officer with the United Nations Mission (MINUSCA) in Bambari, Central African Republic, where prevention efforts are being implemented to deter the COVID-19 outbreak. In a recent Instagram interview with UN Peacekeeping leading up to the International Day of UN Peacekeepers, Lt. Dr. Khadka shared some of the challenges as well as what motivates her. This story has been written based on her interview.
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.
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.
From where I stand: “Domestic workers should also be entitled to a salary during times of crisis”
Tuesday, May 5, 2020
Ana Paula Soares, 27, has been her family’s breadwinner since 2017. When the COVID-19 crisis came to Timor-Leste, she lost her income as a domestic worker with no way to support her family. Her story reflects the hardship that millions of women now face, as workers in the informal economy.
From where I stand: “Stay home and stay safe—but what if home is where she feels unsafe?”
Thursday, April 30, 2020
Sia Kukaewkasem is an advocate, social worker and survivor of domestic violence. For most people in Mae Sot, north of Thailand, she is a “big sister and friend” who listens and cares for others. With four billion people around the world sheltering at home, many women are trapped in isolation with abusive partners, unable to access life-saving resources and support systems.
Monday, April 20, 2020
Nicha Nitinavakarn is a police captain working in the Arrival Immigration Bureau at Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok, Thailand, where women make up most of the workforce. Her responsibilities include passport check, entry approval and problem-solving for all arrival issues. She is one of the many women who are part of the essential workforce as four billion people around the world are under stay-home orders to curb the spread of COVID-19
Monday, April 13, 2020
Dr. Runa Jha is the Chief Pathologist and Director at the National Public Health Laboratory in Nepal, which is linked with 277 government laboratories across the country and is the only lab authorized to conduct COVID-19 testing. Jha, along with 67 team members, is playing a crucial role in the front-line response to COVID-19.
Thursday, April 9, 2020
Dina Smailova, a well-known activist from Kazakhstan, recently spoke to UN Women about the rising reports of domestic violence since the introduction of quarantine measures to stop the spread of COVID-19. With 4 billion people around the world sheltering at home, many women are left in isolation with abusive partners, unable to access life-saving resources and support systems. In some countries, helplines have registered an increase in calls by more than 30 per cent.
From where I stand: “I am fearful for smaller countries that have limited resources during COVID-19”
Wednesday, April 1, 2020
Ryancia Henry is originally from Antigua and Barbuda, she moved four months ago to Montecito, California, to take up the position of Director of Housekeeping, managing a team of 60 people, at a hotel that has now closed because of the COVID-19 outbreak. With international travel disrupted, and movement restrictions within the United States of America, Ryancia is among millions of workers in the hospitality industry considering what the long-term impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic will be on her, her staff, her family and her friends.
Thursday, January 30, 2020
24-year-old Kursanali kyzy Begimai is the leader of a self-help group in a village on the disputed Kyrgyzstan-Tajikistan border. Running a profitable agro-business and conflict-resolution initiatives, her group is now an example to other community members in the village.
From where I stand: “I didn’t let myself become a victim; I used my pain to rise.”
Wednesday, January 22, 2020
Kaushilla Nepali advocates for the legal rights of Dalit women in Nepal, in particular enabling their access to justice, and regarding critical issues such as citizenship, domestic violence, and sexual violence. Committed to ending the entrenched discrimination against Dalit community on the basis of caste, Nepali started her journey with her own empowerment.
From where I stand: “If we talk more about sexual harassment in our society, we’ll change mindsets”
Monday, November 18, 2019
Law graduate and Thai women’s rights activist Thararat Panya, 23, used her experience of sexual assault to drive change at the Thammasat University in Bangkok.
From where I stand: “I am now ready to create positive changes”
Friday, October 18, 2019
Olena Halkanova fled her home in the city of Pervomaisk after the start of the armed conflict in eastern Ukraine. Now living on the contact line between government-controlled and non-government-controlled areas of Luhansk region, she has become a community mobilizer after UN Women-led training.
From where I stand: “My dream is to own my own garage”
Monday, October 14, 2019
Christine Wambulwa, 40, is the only woman mechanic in Kakuma Town, Turkana County, Kenya. As the sole breadwinner of her family, she works to send her children to school, so they can have the education she couldn’t afford for herself.
From where I stand: “We must start by uniting the people because together we’re stronger”
Friday, October 11, 2019
Natalia Slavinskaia, 42, is a community mobilizer from Komysh-Zorya, a small village in the conflict-affected Zaporizhzhia region, south-east Ukraine.
From where I stand: “Now I have bigger dreams”
Tuesday, October 1, 2019
Sufia Khatun from Pirganj, Rongpur, found herself without any source of income after her husband passed away. Through a joint UN programme, she was able to learn tailoring and get access to finance to invest in her own business. Today she employs 20 women in her community.
Wednesday, September 4, 2019
Gabriela Avila migrated from Venezuela to Brazil two-and-a-half years ago in the hope of offering her 6-year-old daughter better living conditions. When they arrived in Boa Vista, the capital of the Brazilian border state of Roraima, they lived on the streets until Avila found a job as a kitchen assistant and could afford paying rent. Having overcome many challenges, she now works with other refugees and migrants from Venezuela.
From where I stand: “I think of my grandfather when I make Jikos”
Wednesday, August 28, 2019
Refika Cornoleus, escaped the war in Sudan with her her six children, but had to leave behind her home, her husband and her grandparents. She lives in Kakuma Refugee Camp in Kenya, where she makes eco-friendly stoves, which are high in demand.
From where I stand: “A woman can and should be able to work”
Wednesday, August 14, 2019
Deep within the rural community of Karak lies the town of Taibeh, where 39-year-old Mona Ahmed Alqkla, found a safe place for her family seven years ago after fleeing the conflict in Dara'a, Syria. She had never had the opportunity to work, until now. She recently joined the incentive-based volunteer programme as a tailor in the Oasis Centre in Taibeh, which was launched by the Ministry of Social Development in partnership with UN Women in March 2019.