Op-ed: The roles I've played brought home to me the scourge of violence against women

Date: Tuesday, December 29, 2020

Originally published by The Guardian We have been through the unimaginable this year. Separated from family and people we love, our dreams put on pause, while fearing for our health and our very lives. In addition to Covid-19, a shadow pandemic has been unfolding: violence against women. Calls to helplines increased up to fivefold in the first few weeks of the pandemic. And an issue that was already pervasive before Covid-19 hit – evident on the streets, in the tube or...

Op-ed: Women working on the front line

Date: Wednesday, December 23, 2020

By taking a gender-focused response to the COVID-19 pandemic, G7 leaders have a rare opportunity not only to mitigate its impact, but to build back better, writes Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, under-secretary-general, United Nations, and executive director, UN Women

Op-ed: Trafficking in women and girls is moving online due to COVID-19

Date: Tuesday, December 8, 2020

In an op-ed during the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence, UN Women Deputy Executive Director Asa Regner writes: "What this year has shown us is that there are no obstacles too great for traffickers to overcome, so we must reduce the demand at its source."

Addressing the economic fallout of COVID-19: Pathways and policy options for a gender-responsive recovery

Date: Monday, November 23, 2020

UN Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka urges G20 leaders to take this opportunity to rebuild better, creating sustainable economies and reducing inequalities between and within countries.

Op-ed: Investing in a feminist peace

Date: Tuesday, November 10, 2020

For all the devastation it has caused, the COVID-19 crisis also represents a generational opportunity to build more inclusive economies and societies, free of the scourge of violent conflict. A concerted effort to demilitarize our world and build a feminist peace – beginning with a global ceasefire, and followed by a comprehensive reappraisal of how we allocate our resources – must be central to this vision.

Op-ed: How to build a more equal world

Date: Monday, October 26, 2020

Like other global crises, the pandemic disproportionately affects women. It shows that nothing less than urgent, radical, transformative action is needed to create a post-COVID-19 world that empowers all women and girls

Op-ed: Where is the economic stimulus for women?

Date: Thursday, October 15, 2020

UN Women Deputy Executive Director Anita Bhatia calls for governments and international institutions to take decisive action in favor of women, before progress achieved in the last decades is lost.

Op-ed: Why we’re uniting in support of African girl leaders to beat AIDS and shift power

Date: Friday, October 9, 2020

In a joint op-ed for International Day if the Girl Child, UN Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, UNAIDS Executive Director Winnie Byanyima, Director General of UNESCO Audrey Azoulay, Executive Director of UNFPA Natalia Kanem and Executive Director Henrietta Fore highlight the need for vital investments and transformational policy shifts so that all of Africa’s girls can enjoy all of their rights to education and empowerment.

Op-ed: A month after the blast, let's rebuild Beirut as the Arab region's first feminist city

Date: Wednesday, September 9, 2020

While we mourn, we must not romanticise the Beirut we lost. Lebanon before 4 August was one where inequalities were rife and insufficiently addressed

Op-ed: How COVID-19 can bring gender justice

Date: Thursday, July 23, 2020

In the midst of another pandemic, we are still fighting hard for gender equality, with the coronavirus crisis amplifying existing inequalities and power imbalances and disproportionately affecting women – including in the devastatingly sharp increases in domestic violence. Yet the pandemic is also an opportunity to ‘build back better’ and transform structural gender inequalities.

Op-ed: The role of digitalization in the Decade of Action

Date: Monday, July 6, 2020

In an op-ed on the role of digitalization in the decade of action, UN Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka addresses the role of digitalization in achieving the SDGs, and the importance of technology and innovation to achieving gender equality and inclusive development has never been clearer nor more urgent.

Op-ed: Put women at the centre of Syria crisis response

Date: Thursday, July 2, 2020

By UN Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka and UNFPA Executive Director Natalia Kanem, on the occasion of the Brussels IV Syria Conference

Op-ed: Build back better: women at the centre of decision-making

Date: Friday, June 26, 2020

In an op-ed on the occasion of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting 2020, UN Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka says: "It is critical now to ensure that women lead and participate fully in decision-making on COVID-19 response and recovery."

Op-ed: On the Black Lives Matter protests and other mass demonstrations against systemic racism and police brutality

Date: Monday, June 22, 2020

United Nations Senior African Officials, including UN Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka commit to harnessing their expertise and leadership to address the root causes and structural changes that must be implemented to bring an end to racism.

Op-ed: Personal Protective Equipment standards must respond to women’s needs to ensure the safety of all front line workers during the COVID-19 pandemic

Date: Wednesday, June 3, 2020

UNECE Executive Secretary Olga Algayerova and UN Women Regional Director for Europe and Central Asia Alia El-Yassir highlight the need for gender-responsive standards for Personal Protective Equipment that respond to the differentiated needs of women and men.

Op ed: The pandemic’s gender imperative

Date: 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.

Op-ed: We cannot allow COVID-19 to reinforce the digital gender divide

Date: 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.

Op-ed: Can we turn the tide on gender equality

Date: Thursday, April 9, 2020

In an unequal world, a health crisis like the one we face today hurts women disproportionately. We call on leaders to act now to include strong gender dimensions in the response.

Step it up G7: An extraordinary time requires extraordinary solidarity 

Date: Monday, April 6, 2020

As the COVID-19 pandemic intensifies and the implications on women become more clear, members of the 2018 and 2019 G7 Gender Equality Advisory Councils urgently called on G7 member states to take into account the gendered dimensions of the crisis and to prevent the deterioration of gender equality and women’s rights worldwide.

Op-ed: It is time for action! Uniting for Africa’s transformation

Date: Monday, March 9, 2020

In a joint op-ed, UN Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka and President of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia Sahle-Work Zewde call to support African women in taking their rightful place in the next chapter of the continent and building a future where women and girls can live out their lives freely, in purpose and happiness.