Older women around the world face violence, exploitation and neglect, yet remain largely invisible in the laws, policies, data and services designed to protect women overall, a UN independent human rights expert said on Thursday. Key points An estimated 664 million women were aged 60 or older in 2025, a number projected to reach 1.13 […]
Women must be at the centre of efforts to prevent conflict and build lasting peace, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said on Thursday October 1st, 2026. He warned that women and girls continue to suffer disproportionate harm in conflicts, while often being excluded from decisions affecting their security. Addressing the International Civil […]
The UN warns that a deliberate political retreat from gender equality is reversing decades of progress, and calls for equal power for women everywhere. The Gender Snapshot 2026 report, released today by UN Women and the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA), shows that where women hold real power, outcomes improve across […]
At the current rate of progress, gender equality would take 171 years to achieve, a new UN report finds as institutions built to advance gains are being defunded and demobilised. Strikingly, not a single indicator on the Sustainable Development Goal for gender equality (SDG 5) is on track to be met by 2030, the initial deadline, according […]
In West Africa, many girls will be missing when the new school term begins because they will have been married during the holidays. Child marriage can be both a cause and a consequence of girls’ lack of access to education. They may drop out of school because they are forced to marry, or they may […]
Women entrepreneurs are emerging as key drivers of Africa’s economic integration under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). According to the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), women account for about 70% of informal cross-border traders on the continent, while the World Bank estimates that full implementation of the AfCFTA could increase Africa’s […]
In El Obeid, women and girls now face an impossible choice over something as basic as a bucket of water: risk a drone strike by collecting it in daylight, or risk rape by waiting until dark. Gender equality agency UN Women sounded the alarm this week over what it called a “dual terror” gripping the North Kordofan […]
At least one million women and girls have lost access to critical humanitarian support since January 2025 as unprecedented aid cuts push women’s organizations in crisis zones to the brink of collapse, the UN’s gender equality agency, UN Women, said on Friday July, 10, 2026. The warning comes in a new report, Beyond the Breaking Point, which […]
As artificial intelligence reshapes how people work, communicate and access information, UN Women warned on Monday, June 22, 2026 that the technology is reproducing old gender stereotypes, which amplify online abuse and leave women out of the decisions that will define the digital future. The warning comes as most recent studies show that as generative AI […]
The ECOWAS Commission, in collaboration with Women in Law and Development (WILDAF), organized a five-day training workshop in Banjul, Republic of The Gambia, from 18 to 22 May 2026. The overall objective of the workshop is to strengthen the capacities of women traders and entrepreneurs in the agribusiness sector to enable them to better understand, […]
