As Bangladesh battles COVID-19 and the aftermath of Super Cyclone Amphan, women’s organizations lead their communities through recovery

Date: Tuesday, June 16, 2020

“When the first storm hit, I knew that this time around it would be a bigger challenge for the women in Satkhira. Between a pandemic and a disaster, we didn’t know what to worry about more. But the starting point in helping these communities is to engage women in the response and planning,” said Shampa Goswami, who leads ‘Prerona Nari Unnayan Sanggathan’ (Prerona), a community-based women’s organization in the Satkhira district in the southern tip of...

Across the Pacific, crisis centres respond to COVID-19 amid natural disasters

Date: Wednesday, June 10, 2020

Gender-based violence crisis centres from six countries in the Pacific have faced not only the COVID-19 crisis, but also in some countries, the dual impact of a tropical cyclone. UN Women’s Ending Violence Against Women and Girls programme, through the Pacific Partnership, works in close collaboration with government, civil society organisations, communities and other partners to promote gender equality, prevent violence against women and girls, and increase access to quality response services for survivors, especially during emergencies.

Using technology to assist vulnerable Syrian refugees during COVID-19 lockdown

Date: Tuesday, April 28, 2020

Amid the coronavirus pandemic and the social distancing measures, UN Women is providing urgent support, information and essential services to more than 5,700 Syrian refugees in Za’atari and Azraq refugee camps.

From where I stand: “Policies and regulation can be updated day-to-day…we have to quickly and firmly handle the situation”

Date: 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

Women mobilize to prevent COVID-19 in crowded Rohingya refugee camps

Date: Thursday, April 16, 2020

To prevent an added humanitarian crisis in the already-vulnerable Rohingya refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, 24 Rohingya volunteers are working with UN Women to mobilize their communities and raise awareness on COVID-19.

From where I stand: “I want to hug my daughter and take care of my parents, but this sacrifice needs to be made to keep them and others safe”

Date: 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.

From where I stand: “The fact that domestic violence is not a criminal offence in Kazakhstan is hurting women during COVID-19 crisis”

Date: 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.

Press release: Women hit harder by socio-economic impacts of COVID-19 in Asia-Pacific, says UN Women report

Date: Thursday, April 9, 2020

The coronavirus is exacerbating pervasive gender inequalities and discrimination facing women in the region.

"Put women and girls at the centre of efforts to recover from COVID-19"—Statement by the UN Secretary-General António Guterres

Date: Thursday, April 9, 2020

The COVID-19 pandemic affects everyone, everywhere. But it affects different groups of people differently, deepening existing inequalities. Today we are launching a report that shows how COVID-19 could reverse the limited progress that has been made on gender equality and women’s rights – and recommends ways to put women’s leadership and contributions at the heart of resilience and recovery.

Voices from the front lines of COVID-19

Date: Wednesday, April 8, 2020

UN Women is bringing the voices of women on the front lines of the pandemic. As essential workers, care givers and journalists, here are some s(h)eroes who are out there, every day, protecting and serving their communities.

“Nurses are the real heroes,” says Albanian doctor in the front line of COVID-19 response

Date: Monday, April 6, 2020

Women are playing a key role—often disproportionate to men—in responding to the disease, as frontline healthcare workers, as well as care givers at home. Experience of other disease outbreaks shows that they have the highest risk to be infected. Almost 12 per cent of Albania’s reported cases of coronavirus have been health workers, but no fatalities have been reported yet.

In a Serbian town, survivors of domestic violence are sewing face masks for those in the front line of COVID-19 response

Date: Monday, April 6, 2020

In an undisclosed location in Sombor, Serbia, 41-year-old Marija Tomic* is putting the finishing stitches on face masks. She has made hundreds of these fabric masks since Serbia declared the COVID-19 epidemic in March. Tomic is a survivor of domestic violence and lives in a safe house for women survivors. “I got support in this society when I needed it most and now it feels great to give something back,” she said. “It's a wonderful feeling to be able to provide a little help...

Violence against women and girls: the shadow pandemic

Date: Monday, April 6, 2020

With 90 countries in lockdown and four billion people sheltering at home from the global contagion of COVID-19, UN Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka highlights another deadly danger growing in the shadows: Violence against women.

From where I stand: “I am fearful for smaller countries that have limited resources during COVID-19”

Date: 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.

Women and COVID-19: Five things governments can do now

Date: Wednesday, March 25, 2020

UN Women Deputy Executive Director Anita Bhatia takes a look at how impacts of COVID-19 are hitting women hardest, and how governments around the world can address these issues.

COVID-19: Women front and centre

Date: Friday, March 20, 2020

In a statement, UN Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo Ngcuka calls on governments to recognize both the enormity of the contribution women make and the precarity of so many in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Women’s organizations advocate for localized humanitarian and crisis response

Date: Tuesday, March 10, 2020

UN Women’s Humanitarian Action and Crisis Response Office, together with the informal Friends of Gender Group (created at a Grand Bargain meeting in Bonn in September 2016), organized three regional consultation workshops with local women’s organizations – in Addis Ababa, Amman and Jakarta – which culminated in an informal Friends of Gender Group annual meeting in December 2019.

Editorial spotlight: Climate action with women

Date: Friday, September 13, 2019

As the United Nations prepares for the 2019 Climate Action Summit, the world we live in continues to be devastated by catastrophic storms, severe water crisis, drought, and record levels of emissions. Promoting women’s leadership in climate action is at the heart of UN Women’s efforts around the world.

Not waiting for handouts: Five stories of resilience from one of the world’s largest refugee camps

Date: Friday, August 16, 2019

In some of the world’s largest camps, refugees and the native communities power their own economies. Students compete for admission into a better school, journalists report on daily news, entrepreneurs learn new skills and health workers deliver babies. And women are often a forgotten part of this workforce. Meet five women and girls who are doing the usual and unusual jobs that keep life going, and aspiring for more.

In the words of Madina Mousa: “I could not stay idle in the face of hardship”

Date: Thursday, August 15, 2019

Madina Mousa fled the war in Syria with her family in 2013, and now lives in Kawergosk Refugee Camp in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. She started volunteering to help other refugees and now works as a Protection Supervisor at the Women’s Empowerment Organization (WEO), local partner organization of UN Women implementing the regional programme, “Strengthening the Resilience of Syrian Women and Girls and Host Communities in Iraq, Jordan and Turkey”, funded by the European Union under the EU Regional Trust Fund in Response to the Syrian Crisis (the EU MADAD Fund).