Op-ed: Achieving equality for women: COVID-19 and beyond

Date: Wednesday, July 7, 2021

The pandemic is negatively impacting women more than men, by exacerbating already entrenched inequalities. We need bold, transformative action to dismantle the barriers to women’s progress if we are to achieve SDG 5 by the end of the decade.

Op-ed: World leaders must put women at centre of COVID-19 recovery

Date: Friday, June 11, 2021

In an op-ed for the World Economic Forum blog, UN Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka writes: "We cannot build back better after COVID-19 without gender equality. Specifically, we must place women at the center of our economic recovery. Now is the moment for leaders to publicly commit to that work – by supporting the care economy, and equal wages and access to opportunities."

Op-ed: Establishing Generation Equality

Date: Tuesday, June 8, 2021

In an op-ed ahead of the G7 UK Cornwall Summit, UN Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka writes: "We look to governments and to all those who control power, resources and influence to become the champions of what we call ‘Generation Equality’, shaping a future together that dismantles the barriers to women’s progress through working across generations and sectors on priority issues."

Op-ed: For a safer and more resilient world, put people before runaway military spending

Date: Thursday, May 6, 2021

In an op-ed, Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, Executive Director of UN Women, and Izumi Nakamitsu, UN High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, write: "Moving forward will require embracing a broader vision of security—one that reduces reliance on military armaments, accounts for our common humanity and recognizes women’s empowerment as a critical driver of sustainable peace and development".

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.