Conflict-related sexual violence is one of history’s greatest silences and continues to be chronically underreported, even in a world with a record number of conflicts since World War Two, according to Pramila Patten, the UN Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict. Ms. Patten spoke to UN News ahead of the International Day for the […]

UNITED NATIONS, New York – Every woman has the right to choose whether or not to become a mother. But in reality, millions of women and girls face high rates of sexual violence, a lack of access to contraceptives and restrictive laws and norms constraining their reproductive autonomy. For them, the most consequential reproductive decision […]

Reclassification of Charges Remains Open Question, Date Set for Closing Submissions The last major phase in Guinea’s landmark domestic trial about the brutal massacre of peaceful demonstrators in 2009 concluded on April 23. That last phase, known as the “confrontations,” began on April 15 as judges and all parties posed questions to some of the […]

Digital technologies and algorithm-driven software – especially social media – present high risks of privacy invasion, cyberbullying and distraction from learning to young girls, according to the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s (UNESCO) latest Global Education Monitor (GEM) report released on Thursday April 25, 2024. In an interview with UN News, Senior Policy Analyst […]

The UN verified 3,688 cases of rape and other sexual violence committed in war in 2023, a “dramatic increase” of 50 per cent over the previous year, the Security Council heard on Tuesday.  Presenting her annual report, Pramila Patten, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict, noted that weapons continue to flow into […]

Women still trail men in educational attainment and ownership of key assets. Key findings In Liberia, women are less likely than men to have secondary or post-secondary education (42% vs. 61%). Women trail men in ownership of key assets, including a mobile phone (72% vs. 86%), a bank account (15% vs. 23%), a motor vehicle […]

UNITED NATIONS, New York – Over the past 30 years, global commitments to sexual and reproductive health and rights have made remarkable advances: Maternal death rates have dropped by almost a third, the number of women using modern contraception has doubled and more than 160 countries have passed laws against domestic violence. A new report […]

There’s a prevailing belief that well thought out improvements to infrastructure services should improve the lives of women and girls. Providing better water and sanitation services, for example, can reduce the time women and girls spend fetching water, freeing their time for educational or economic pursuits. However, this isn’t always the case: infrastructure affects men […]

African women are 130 times more likely to die due to pregnancy or childbirth complications than women in Europe and Northern America, the UN sexual and reproductive health agency (UNFPA) said in a new report published on Wednesday April 17, 2024. Interwoven Lives, Threads of Hope: Ending inequalities in sexual and reproductive health and rights, […]

Ten years ago today, the world was shaken by the horrific kidnapping of over 200 schoolgirls in the town of Chibok, Borno State. This unconscionable act of evil, carried out by the Boko Haram terrorist group, sparked global outrage and a rallying cry to “Bring Back Our Girls.” A decade later, as we reflect on […]