Five UN agencies on Thursday called for urgent action to protect millions of malnourished children in the 15 countries hardest hit by the unprecedented food and nutrition crisis. More than 30 million under-fives are suffering from wasting, or acute malnutrition, brought on by conflict, climate shocks, ongoing impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the rising […]
The latest available Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5 data shows that the world is not on track to achieve gender equality by 2030. It will take another 286 years to close the global gender gap. Almost 1 in 3 women have experienced physical or sexual violence at least once in their lifetime. Eighty-five per cent […]
Although West Africa and the Sahel continues to face unprecedented security challenges, it is still “a land of immense opportunities”, a senior UN official told the Security Council on Tuesday. In her briefing, Giovanie Biha, Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Officer-in-Charge of the UN Office for the region, UNOWAS, urged ambassadors to continue […]
A child or young person died every 4.4 seconds in 2021, and millions more could lose their lives by 2030 unless all women and children have access to adequate healthcare, two new detailed UN reports published on Monday 9th January, 2023 have revealed. In 2021, an estimated five million boys and girls died before their […]
This essay is part of a series highlighting global human rights trends in 2022. Read more here. We know progress is never linear, and defense of human rights can be a difficult task. Women’s rights gains, however, are particularly fragile. Often disguised in concepts that are presented as harmless, such as the protection of the family […]
Female genital mutilation is a practice deeply rooted in cultural traditions around the world. The World Health Organisation defines it as comprising all procedures that involve removal of parts of the external female genital organs for non-medical reasons. The cut is practised for various reasons. Some communities use it as a rite of passage. Some […]
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka, Dec 2022 (IPS) – In September 2021, in the midst of a pandemic-related lockdown, a 15-year-old Muslim girl from Colombo, Sri Lanka was married off by her relatives to a much older man. A local women’s rights group reported this case to the national child protection authorities, however, because child marriage is […]
Zimbabwean women embrace jobs in the mining sector, thanks to incentives provided by the government and mining companies Sporting a designer work suit, helmet and 14-pound hammer resting on her shoulder, 46-year-old Petiner Makupa seems to be pondering her next move as she sets off for work one morning. As the country grapples with economic […]
The theme for International Women’s Day, 8 March 2023 (IWD 2023) is, “DigitALL: Innovation and technology for gender equality”. This theme is aligned with the priority theme for the upcoming 67th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW-67), “Innovation and technological change, and education in the digital age for achieving gender equality […]
In the last of our Year In Review features, we honour the work of activists helping to protect women’s rights, which once again, came under attack in many countries throughout 2022. It often takes considerable bravery to stand up for the rights of women. The UN, which is committed to empowering women and girls, works […]
