Landmark Proceedings Suspended Over Payments for Legal Assistance For more than two weeks, Guinea’s landmark trial for the killings, rapes, and other abuses committed on September 28, 2009 at a stadium in the country’s capital, Conakry, has been suspended over a boycott by defense counsel. During the 2009 assault, security forces opened fire on a […]
A new UN report launched on Monday June 12th, 2023 revealed no improvement in the level of prejudice shown against women over the past decade, with almost nine out of 10 men and women worldwide, still holding such biases. “Half of people worldwide still believe men make better political leaders than women, and more than […]
Ensure Effective Implementation, Enforcement of Maputo Protocol This week, South Sudan finalized ratification of the African Union’s Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (the Maputo Protocol), ending years of delay. While this ratification signals a commitment to gender equality, South Sudanese authorities need to […]
The world is not on track to meet Sustainable Development Goal 7, designed to ensure access to affordable, reliable energy for all, a new report from the UN and partners revealed on Monday June 5, 2023. Tracking SDG 7: The Energy Progress Report, from the International Energy Agency (IEA), the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), […]
Fatoumatta Fatty’s commute on an old, malfunctioning wheelchair takes up to two hours during rainy season in The Gambia, but she is happy joining her co-workers at a sanitary pad production centre, where she takes pride in making products that help women overcome “period poverty” across the country. Period poverty, or the inability to afford […]
UN Special Representative, Pramila Patten, expressed her ‘deep concern’ on Thursday over increasing allegations of sexual violence against women and girls being carried out in camps for the internally displaced (IDPs) around Goma, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). “Allegations of grave cases of sexual violence against civilians, including children, in particular affecting […]
The National Elections Commission (NEC) and registered political parties and alliances have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to increase women’s participation in the upcoming electoral process. The parties recently penned their signatures to the document agreeing to produce and adopt a Gender Policy reflective of the relevant legal instruments supporting gender balance towards the […]
Global progress towards disaster risk management has been weak and insufficient, putting at risk the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed told the General Assembly on Thursday May 18, 2023. Countries met to review progress on implementing the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction – a landmark 2015 agreement to reduce damage, […]
The digital revolution offers “tremendous opportunities” to fast track sustainable development, but Least Developed Countries need much more help getting online if they’re to benefit too. That’s the message from UN chief António Guterres ahead of World Telecommunication and Information Society Day on Thursday 18 may 2023. Mr. Guterres insisted on the need to confront […]
The UN Children’s Fund is calling for an urgent increase in funding to help tackle an escalating number of cases of sexual violence against children and women in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo’s (DRC) North Kivu province, where armed groups proliferate amidst heavy fighting in recent months. Reports of gender-based violence (GBV) against […]
