Life-saving relief programmes should not be held hostage by political interests, the President of the General Assembly said on Wednesday, as Member States gathered to debate the use of the veto by a permanent member of the Security Council, that halted vital cross-border aid last week into northern Syria. “The lives of those in need […]
UN Women and FIFA have come together just ahead of the FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand to advance gender equality in football, and help end abuse and discrimination on and off the pitch. The tournament is expected to be watched by more than two billion people – the largest audience for […]
Low women’s empowerment and large gender gaps are commonplace in many parts of the world, the UN’s lead agencies on gender equality and international development said in a new report published on Tuesday 18 july, 2023. Out of 114 countries studied, none has achieved full gender parity, the report by UN Women and the UN […]
2023 marks two decades since the adoption of the Maputo Protocol. The Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (the Maputo Protocol) is arguably the most progressive legally binding instrument on women’s and human rights instruments globally. A total of 44 African countries have signed […]
The international community must act now to protect future generations from the scourge of conflict-related sexual violence, the UN’s advocate on the issue, Pramila Patten, told the Security Council on Friday July 14 , 2023. “Every new wave of warfare brings with it a rising tide of human tragedy, including new waves of war’s oldest, most […]
For 96 hours, the orders kept coming. By the end, 287 people were dead, 387 women and children had been raped, and 13 villages in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) had been robbed of any sense of normalcy. The trial of Ntabo Ntaberi Sheka was the most emblematic, complex case the court in North […]
Women and girls of African descent face a “systemic and historical pattern” of racial abuse in the health sector in countries across the world, leaving them at increased risk of death during childbirth, the UN’s sexual and reproductive health agency said on Wednesday july 12, 2023. The scourge of racism continues for Black women and […]
More than 120 million girls are out of school and the world must do more to ensure they can get an education, Nobel laureate and UN Messenger of Peace Malala Yousafzai said in Abuja, Nigeria on Wednesday july 12, 2023, her 26th birthday. The Pakistani education advocate – who was shot by the Taliban for […]
As many as 783 million people faced hunger worldwide in 2022 in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, repeated weather shocks and conflicts, including in Ukraine, according to a study launched by five United Nations agencies on Wednesday12 july 2023. The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World revealed that between 691 and […]
At eight billion strong, the “human family is larger than ever”, but leaders are failing in efforts to ensure a peaceful and prosperous world for all, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said in his message to mark World Population Day on Tuesday 11 july, 2023. “Halfway to the 2030 deadline the Sustainable Development Goals are dangerously […]