In the past decade, the UN has bemoaned the chronically low level of participation by Afghan women and girls in decision-making bodies and in secondary and higher education. But recently, the level of participation has reached a new low – zero. Zero women in national or local decision-making bodies. Zero girls projected to be in […]
The global fertility slump isn’t down to young people turning their backs on parenthood – it’s due to social and economic pressures stopping them from having the children they want, says a new UN report. The UN Population Fund (UNFPA) unveiled its flagship State of World Population report on Tuesday, warning that a rising number of people […]
Twelve-year-old Tenasoa crawls to work every day at a mine in eastern Madagascar where she collects two kilos of the shiny mineral mica each day. She cannot walk because of a physical disability. There are 10,000 children in Madagascar who, like Tenasoa, work in the largely unregulated mica industry. The silicate is used in paints, […]
Whether it’s their first time or a routine part of their life, menstruation has become a nightmare for women and girls in Gaza. The conditions they are forced to endure – displacement, overcrowded shelters, and lack of basic hygiene – have turned a natural biological process into a monthly ordeal. Globally, 1.8 billion people menstruate, […]
Haiti has been gripped by spiralling gang violence ever since the 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moïse. The subsequent unrest has displaced one million people, more than half of them children, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM). The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported on 21 May that widespread armed violence continues […]
Former German foreign minister Annalena Baerbock was elected President of the General Assembly’s 80th session on Monday June, 2nd, 2025. Her appointment comes as the regional group that includes Western Europe takes its turn at the helm of the world body. She assumes the role at a challenging time, with ongoing conflicts, faltering development goals, […]
Five days – that is how long it took Dah, a 14-year-old prospective mother from Côte d’Ivoire, to give birth. The child was stillborn and she developed obstetric fistula. 16 years – that is how long Dah had to live with the agonising condition, undergoing eight different surgical procedures before finally getting the fistula repaired. […]
Nairobi, Kenya, May 20, 2025: Equality Now is urging the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights to call upon African Union (AU) member states to urgently address rising sexual violence and exploitation of women and girls across the continent. In its statement to the 83rd Ordinary Session of the Commission this month, the human […]
Women and girls living through humanitarian crises are at risk of being overlooked – just as they are at their most vulnerable. The UN’s reproductive health agency, UNFPA, has been working to assess the impact of recent steep funding cuts, warning that from the Democratic Republic of Congo to Haiti, Sudan and beyond, a lack of […]
Women’s organisations operating in crisis settings are being pushed to the brink by widespread funding cuts. In a report published on Tuesday May 13, 2025, UN Women – the UN agency for gender equality – warned that 47 per cent of these groups may be forced to close within the next six months. Across 73 […]
