Women's Economic Empowerment, Gender Equality, Women in Politics, Indigenous Women, UN Women

I am Generation Equality: Wanjuhi Njoroge, climate activist and entrepreneur from the foot of Mount Kenya
Billions of people across the world stand on the right side of history every day. They speak up, take a stand, mobilize, and take big and small actions to advance women’s rights. This is Generation Equality.

Date: Monday, June 14, 2021

Originally published on UN Women's regional website for Africa



Wanjuhi has been leading community development projects since 2015. In 2020 she set up People Planet Africa - an enterprise assisting organisations, government and communities to prioritise the planet. Photo: Studio 90z Photography
Three things you can do to increase women’s participation in climate issues:
Educate and create awareness at the community level.
Ensure climate action is not punitive, it does not undermine livelihoods.
Seek women’s knowledge – traditional/indigenous knowledge remains untapped, we must be deliberately inclusive to address climate issues.

I am Generation Equality because...

I grew up surrounded by very strong women; my grandmothers, my mother and the resilient women of my village. The rural woman in Kenya often surmounts the unimaginable to simply stand on her own two feet - I always wonder how much she could achieve with a level playing field. These women remain my greatest motivation. I am the daughter of an activist; as primary school teacher, my mother was among the organizers of the landmark teacher’s strike of 1997. I also grew up with a tree-hugger for a father, I’ve lost count of the number of trees I’ve planted! 

Urgent actions for equality

There are many urgent issues, but I would narrow it down to two; climate change and quality leadership. Nature is revenging fast and it’s rough! Kenya’s constitution affords the rights to access to clean air and, to have the environment protected for current and future generations. It has a number of Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) commitments to climate change but we are the only country in Africa that has a climate change act that has never been implemented.

The COVID-19 pandemic also exposed us to glaring leadership gaps globally. There’s an urgent need for the world to nurture a generation of leaders who lead with heart. You need leaders with a heart who prioritize people and planet over profits to mitigate the adverse effects of climate change. 

The intersection of climate change and gender 

Climate change and gender are intertwined because women are disproportionately affected, and more vulnerable to environmental disasters and extreme weather events. In Kenya, women are less economically empowered than men with little access to land and property rights. They are more likely to live in poverty after environmental disasters and displacements. Displacement and migration caused by crises also exposes them to an increased risk of sexual and gender-based violence and psychological torture. It is worth noting that this is not a one shoe fits all scenario. For instance, issues of vulnerability that are faced by urban women are much more linked to issues around pollution, waste and water management, whereas in rural areas, it’s more about agriculture. 

I feel that that there is not enough action. Conversations are in cosy rooms, but we need to get out. I do a lot of work with rural communities. Education is so important; I am only here because I had an education. In some areas you’ll find the only job for a man is to marry women – and the women’s job is to have children. I heard a story of a mother of eight who tried to access family planning, she was beaten. This is why we need to have these conversations, and this is where these conversation needs to happen.


Wanjuhi Njoroge, 31, was raised in Nyeri County, Kenya, in a rural town that sits at the foot of Mount Kenya. Passionate about her community, she established a library in her village in 2017 and supporting local farmers to move to more sustainable farming practices. In 2019 she joined the Kenyan national chapter of the African Women Leader’s Network (AWLN), an action-oriented movement of African women leaders to transform sustainable peace, security and development issues on the continent

G7 Gender Equality Advisory Council presents recommendations to drive global gender equality

Date: Friday, June 11, 2021

Originally published on g7uk.org

The Chair of the Gender Equality Advisory Council (GEAC), Sarah Sands, will join the Cornwall Summit this afternoon in a virtual presentation to G7 Leaders of the Council’s recommendations, which were published today. GEAC member, Nobel peace prize laureate and gynaecologist, Dr. Denis Mukwege, will also outline the importance of G7 action to address sexual violence in conflict.

The GEAC is an independent group of experts who were convened by Prime Minister Boris Johnson under the UK’s G7 Presidency. The GEAC is responsible for championing the core principles of freedom, opportunity, individual humanity and dignity for women and girls around the world.

Against the backdrop of recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, the GEAC’s recommendations focus on education, economic empowerment and ending violence against women and girls.

Minister for Women & Equalities, Liz Truss, said:

“The UK has a proud history of championing the rights of women and girls both here and across the globe.

“I’m pleased that we are using our presidency of the G7 to put women at the heart of our recovery from COVID-19 through the work of the Gender Equality Advisory Council.

“These recommendations will help us drive forward a strong agenda on women’s rights, both domestically and internationally, and I look forward to working with GEAC members as we build back better.”

Chair of the Gender Equality Advisory Council, Sarah Sands, said:

“We are at an historic moment for women and girls. The pandemic stopped the clocks of social change: now we must accelerate into a recovery. An extraordinary council of women, many of them scientists and all of them brandishing evidence, put their minds to finding solutions.

"Our recommendations are now published and we shall hold leaders to account by measuring change.

"GEAC calls for guaranteed education for girls, for paths into green jobs, for access to capital and for digital inclusion. We want real representation of women, a level playing field in the work place and liberation from sexual violence and online abuse.

"Women and girls have astonishing potential. We challenge the G7 to unleash it.”

Members of the 2021 GEAC include world-leading scientists, business leaders, economists, public sector leaders, human rights and democracy advocates and international development experts, from across the G7 countries and beyond. The first meeting of the GEAC took place in April, and the second in May.

The GEAC’s recommendations include calls for:

Targeted pandemic response and recovery plans that take account of the needs of women and girls;
At least 12 years of gender-transformative education for all;
Strengthened public investment in social care infrastructure – including childcare – to address gender imbalances in care work, both paid and unpaid;
Greater opportunities for women to thrive in the modern economy, including trading relationships that support women’s economic empowerment around the world;
A gender-responsive approach to climate financing, investment and policies, and investment in education and life-long learning to ensure that women and girls can benefit from the ‘green revolution’;
Progress towards achieving gender parity in STEM education and careers;
Action to address the digital gender divide and to counteract algorithm bias which puts women, girls and marginalised groups at a disadvantage;
An end to the stereotyping and unequal treatment of women in the media, including by supporting the Generation Equality Forum Charter of Commitments for Cultural and Creative Industries;
Global action to end violence against women and girls through increased investment in prevention and response; the ratification of relevant conventions, and enhanced support for eradicating female genital mutilation (FGM).
Action to tackle online harassment and abuse of women and girls;
Condemnation of sexual violence used as a weapon of war as an international red line, and greater multilateral action to address it; and
A clear mechanism to monitor progress and accountability on commitments on gender equality in the G7.
Following the G7 Summit, the GEAC will produce a full report as to how the G7 should work together so that women across the globe drive forward and benefit from the pandemic recovery.

Op-ed: World leaders must put women at centre of COVID-19 recovery
By UN Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka

Date: Friday, June 11, 2021

Originally published on weforum.org

Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, women and girls around the world confronted a gender gap that left them less able to step into leadership roles, earn a fair wage, or access quality health care or education.

The economic and health impacts of the pandemic have turned that gap into a chasm, and risk undoing much of the even modest progress achieved in reducing pre-pandemic gender inequalities.

Not a single country in the world can boast of being gender equal – a fact that is straining health systems, widening socio-economic gaps and undermining social protection.

It is also stalling economic growth. Economic modeling from the McKinsey Global Institute suggests that advancing women’s equality could add trillions of dollars to global growth, boosting prospects for even the least-resourced countries in the world to improve the quality of life for their entire populations.

As G7 countries meet this week, and as all countries look to rebuild greener, more resilient and gender-equal economies in the wake of the pandemic, they must elevate the richness of the diversity of women’s talents, ideas and innovations in decision-making spaces.

Yet women hold just 26.1 per cent of 35,500 parliamentary seats across 156 countries. They represent just 29 per cent of those in senior management – and are even more absent from executive roles.

Despite these almost ubiquitous challenges, with bold policies to boost women’s economic empowerment, now is a critical moment to shift course and accelerate constructive change.

The Generation Equality Forum in Paris (30 June - 2 July), offers another pivotal moment to create that much-needed change. At this landmark conference, we are calling for governments, companies and organizations to join us to make bold commitments to advance gender equality.

We are mobilizing around a Global Acceleration Plan centred around six Action Coalitions, including one focused squarely on economic justice and rights. The Action Coalitions bring together the broad range of actors needed to drive progress forward now and post COVID-19 – setting civil-society activists shoulder-to-shoulder with trade unions, parliamentary representatives, business leaders and government agencies.

By the time of the Paris Forum, we hope that these multilateral, inter-generational and vibrant partnerships will have catalyzed well-financed and transformational commitments for the six Action Coalitions and for the Compact for Women, Peace, Security and Humanitarian Action.

How to create more equal economies
What could transformative commitments look like in the arena of economic justice and rights? And how could they create more resilient and equal economies as the world re-builds?

One way is by committing to supporting and resourcing care work. The care sector in too many economies, both industrialized and developing, remains poorly understood and inadequately resourced. During COVID-19, it has come under particularly acute pressure, with women and girls shouldering the majority of the burden.

Underinvestment in care – for children, for aging parents, for those requiring additional support – reflects a dangerous misconception that care is "free" (read: women’s work) with little bearing on social and economic development. Any government seeking a strong return on their fiscal recovery package must invest in the care sector, providing well paid, safe care options that recognize, reduce and redistribute the current unpaid care work in homes.

They must also reward care workers and guarantee their labor rights, including through universal safety nets that extend beyond the formal sector. Only when care is at the center of social and economic policies will a better future of work be possible for women and men with family responsibilities.

Another way is by creating more decent and equally paid work for women. Commitments in this arena might focus on reskilling and redeployment to get women back to work as well as into professions that have traditionally been male-dominated. Commitments to advance this goal might include access to technology and targeted job training programmes.

In addition, setting targets for women in leadership and management through potential-based hiring will power new leaps in women’s representation and leadership across existing and emerging professions. Such investments will also offer businesses a competitive advantage.

Another essential component of a gender-equal post-COVID economy is a commitment to close the gender wage gap. This will require reinvestment strategies that improve work quality and pay standards across currently low-paid essential work, much of which remains "female". Addressing wage inequality will offer broader social protection and do much to address extreme poverty and the shadow pandemic of men’s violence against women and girls, at home, in public spaces and at work, which has added a further dimension to the far-reaching damage caused by the current crisis.

We cannot build back better after COVID-19 without gender equality. Specifically, we must place women at the center of our economic recovery. Now is the moment for leaders to publicly commit to that work – by supporting the care economy, and equal wages and access to opportunities.

Committing to the Generation Equality Global Acceleration Plan will set us on the path towards a more sustainable and just future, to ensure prosperity for all, and the realization of the 2030 Agenda. I invite all countries, businesses, civil society and youth organizations to join us by making a commitment.

Op-ed: Establishing Generation Equality
By UN Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka

Date: Tuesday, June 8, 2021

Originally published on globalgovernanceproject.org

Despite almost ubiquitous challenges, there are positive solutions that we can apply to steer our societies and economies out of the disastrous impact of COVID-19 and into constructive change. They require a recognition of some of the previously underestimated underlying factors that the pandemic stressors have brought to light.

The G7’s decisive commitment to gender-responsive stimulus packages that truly respond to women’s needs will be critical. Several governments have already taken unprecedented measures, strengthening access to health care, cash transfers, paid sick leave and unemployment benefits. Yet while some of these measures will benefit women, far too few are being designed or implemented with women’s rights or needs in mind. As the UNDP/UN Women COVID-19 Global Gender Response Tracker shows, only 18 per cent of the global social protection and jobs response so far have targeted either women’s economic security or addressed the rise in unpaid care work. Current forecasts are that without a change in course, another 47 million more women will drop into extreme poverty this year, reversing decades of progress.

We look to governments and to all those who control power, resources and influence to become the champions of what we call ‘Generation Equality’, shaping a future together that dismantles the barriers to women’s progress through working across generations and sectors on priority issues. I invite all G7 countries to join Generation Equality’s Global Acceleration Plan that convenes collective action around six themes including economic justice and rights, gender-based violence, feminist action for climate justice and technology and innovation for gender equality, with targets to guide action and investment for the next five years.

For example, the pandemic has confirmed that care for children and other family members is essential, life-sustaining work that needs investments in both public and private quality care services. It also requires the creation of new, well paid, safe care jobs that recognize, reduce and redistribute the current unpaid care work in homes, and that reward careworkers and guarantee their labour rights. In turn, such changes need an enabling legal and policy environment.

Among the G7, Canada has recently promised significant fiscal resources to achieve affordable childcare for all, specifically committing to improving the pay and conditions of care sector workers. The new US administration has recognized that care is infrastructure, alongside roads and bridges, pledging investments of $400 billion. Every G7 country should have and implement gender-responsive macro-economic plans, budget reforms and stimulus packages so that the number of women and girls living in poverty is significantly reduced including through quality public social protection floors and systems. Now is the moment for the other G7 countries to follow suit in supporting the care economy, and then championing women’s economic justice and rights to the rest of the world.

Even before the pandemic hit, women’s employment was often concentrated in the most vulnerable informal jobs. During the pandemic, women have lost their jobs at a faster rate than men, with particularly devastating consequences for the economic autonomy of women with care responsibilities, with labour market vulnerabilities even worse for the most excluded – including women with disabilities, migrant, refugee women, and small farmers.

Lost income and employment, food insecurity and substance abuse has been linked in recent studies to increased risk of men’s violence against women and girls, exacerbating the prevalent domestic and other forms of violence. Young women aged between 15 and 24 often the worst affected and there are well-grounded fears that other forms of violence, such as FGM and child marriage, are also on the increase.

I urge G7 countries to join the Global Acceleration Plan to tackle gender-based violence and commit to ratify international and regional conventions; to scale up implementation and financing of evidence-driven prevention strategies; as well as to scale up implementation and financing of survivor-centered, comprehensive, quality, accessible and affordable services for survivors; and support women’s rights organizations, activists and movements, including those working to address gender-based violence against women and girls in all their diversity.

Progress will also depend on generating much-needed financial resources, especially for developing countries. The new US administration is demonstrating global leadership by calling on the International Monetary Fund to issue special drawing rights, which will provide emergency funds for developing countries to pay off unsustainable debt, fund vaccines or invest in social protection for their people. Meanwhile, a new global minimum tax rate proposed by the UN and now also supported by the US would help to stem the tide of tax evasion and avoidance, and ensure that everyone makes a fair contribution to the kind of world we want for the next generation.

Crises of the magnitude we face today call for big, bold ideas and extraordinary levels of global solidarity and cooperation to implement them. The Generation Equality Action Coalitions bring together the broad range of actors needed to drive progress forward, including member states civil society, young people, the private sector, philanthropies, and many more, aiming towards a more sustainable and just future, to ensure prosperity for all.

World Environment Day

Statement: Women and girls must be at the heart of the fight for climate justice
Statement by Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Executive Director of UN Women, Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka for World Environment Day, 5 June 2021

Date: Saturday, June 5, 2021

Gender equality and climate justice are inextricably linked. In any climate crisis, it is women and girls who often face the greatest impacts from environmental degradation and natural disasters – from increased poverty to escalations in gender-based violence. Yet despite creating and leading solutions, they are all too often missing from formal climate leadership, innovation and jobs. The COVID-19 pandemic has amplified many of these inequalities.

Gender-responsive climate and environmental action starts with ensuring women have equal access to productive resources, such as finance, land, water and clean energy. It must also support women’s skills-building, advocacy and access to technologies, with disaggregated data to inform planning and action.

Ahead of this month’s Generation Equality Forum in Paris, we have an opportunity to put women and girls at centre stage in the fight for climate justice and a decisive shift towards a greener economy. The Forum’s Action Coalition on Feminist Action for Climate Justice has put together a concrete agenda that includes financing women’s and girls’ climate solutions, supporting the efforts of women – in particular at grassroots and rural levels – to respond to climate crises, and increasing the number of women in climate and environmental leadership and jobs. They are calling on organizations around the world to join them in making commitments to advance women’s climate resilience and leadership.

The coalition’s work envisions a world with equitable access to climate finance, technologies and knowledge, and where the voices and solutions of grassroots and indigenous women are respected and amplified.

This World Environment Day, let’s demand concrete actions that will advance gender equality and combat climate change for a more equal and sustainable world.

We are Generation Equality: Youth champions for change

Date: Wednesday, June 2, 2021

Billions of people are standing up for what they believe in – an equal world for all. They come from all countries, ages, and represent diverse backgrounds. Together, they are Generation Equality.

From 31 May to 6 June, we’re celebrating the #ActForEqual Week of Action and showcasing young leaders and their activism. Learn from them why the Generation Equality Forum is important for all generations. It’s up to all of us, and the Generation Equality Action Coalitions, to accelerate concrete change for women and girls.

Join us by reading the perspectives of youth from around the world who are leaders and changemakers, and sharing their stories.

Lana Ghneim, Jordan

Lana Ghneim, 23, from Jordan, is a member of the HeForShe campaign in Jordan, a solidarity movement for the advancement of gender equality led by UN Women. Photo: UN Women/Lauren Rooney
Lana Ghneim, 23, has seen inequality through her own eyes. She saw how families treated their daughters and sons differently, and saw girls being forced to leave their education for marriages. She knew it wasn’t right.

“I became more aware of inequalities among genders and social classes and began to try to change the world around me,” Lana says.

She started volunteering with international organizations and movements, like UN Women’s HeForShe, and realized how important it was to her to have a positive impact on the lives of those around her, especially among youth and the next generation.

“It’s important to begin teaching gender equality to younger generations through education and media campaigns. People need to be exposed to these messages regularly; normalizing gender equality is one of the most important issues in Jordan,” Lana says. “If we don’t push for change now, future generations will face the same challenges.”

Majandra Rodriguez Acha, Peru

Majandra Rodriguez Acha from Lima, Peru is a Co-Executive Director at FRIDA, The Young Feminist Fund, the co-founder and former co-coordinator of TierrActiva Perú. Photo: UN Women/Amanda Voisard
For Majandra Rodriguez Acha, a key part of both feminism and climate action is recognizing the intersections of inequality and discrimination, and using your voice and power to improve life for all.

“I recognize that those who are most impacted by gender-based violence and by gender inequalities, are also the most impoverished and marginalized – black and brown women, indigenous women, women in rural areas, young girls, girls living with disabilities, trans youth and gender non-conforming youth,” says Majandra. “That is not okay and it’s not what anyone deserves. We deserve better. We can do better.”

Majandra, a member of UN Women’s Beijing+25 Youth Task Force, works to empower youth, especially those from marginalized or underrepresented groups, to be leaders in the climate justice movement.

“Young people are in a lot of ways the solution,” she says. “We're living through a historic moment in terms of the climate crisis, which young people did not create, but we do have an option of leading the way to centring respect for nature, and respect for each other.”

Munnira Katongole, South Africa

Munnira Katongole. Photo courtesy of Munnira Katongole.
Munnira Katongole, 17, describes herself as an unapologetic, radical Black feminist. Sick of seeing girls and women suffer, she advocates for including the voices of girls and young women at the centre of all decision-making, especially in social justice and climate change movements.

“The world as we know was built on the backs of women of color and continues to be vivified by young women of colour. We are not asking to be listened to, we are not owed favours, we WILL have our rightful and due seats at the table,” Munnira says. “Young women of colour are the experts of their reality. We don’t need your aid; we need your accountable solidarity.”

Munnira, a member of the South African Institute of International Affairs’ Youth Policy Committee on climate, recognizes that youth, especially African youth, make up a good portion of the population, meaning they cannot be excluded from policy-making settings.

“There must be deep, just transition, politically informed by the voices and needs of all people, especially, the poor and vulnerable communities,” she says. “Youth are now. Youth are the future.”

Navya Naveli Nanda, India

Nanda shows her messages outside Fashion Institute of Technology In New York City, on 3 April 2021. Behind her is a student-painted mural on the theme of Black Lives Matter, with a focus on empowering black women. Photo: Courtesy of Gauri Kanade
After being inspired by the progress made towards ending period poverty in other countries, Navya Naveli Nanda, 23, co-founded a start-up that creates scientifically-backed health care products for women in India, and spreads awareness about women’s health topics that are often stigmatized in the country. 

“I remember hearing about Scotland becoming the first country to make period products free,” Navya says. “I want to make that also possible in my country, where every day, women are struggling to access menstrual hygiene products and health care. I want to see this achieved in my lifetime, that’s why I started out so young. We are responsible for building the world we want to live in.”

Now, Navya works to improve not only access to menstrual hygiene products, but to spread education and end the taboo that leads to harmful customs. She also hopes to encourage other young people to become advocates for equality in their everyday lives.

“Educating yourself about the problem moves you one step closer to the solution. Educate those around you about pressing issues faced by women today,” she says. “Even the smallest acts of resistance can make a difference.”

Ajna Jusic, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Ajna Jusić, 26 years old, is the President of the Forgotten Children of War Association. Photo: UN Women/Maria Sanchez
Ajna Jusic, 26, was born out of rape during the conflict in Bosnia and Herzegovina. After coming across a detailed account of what had happened to her mother in a research text, Ajna committed to connecting with others who shared her experience and advocating for her mother’s rights.

“In 2015, 15 of us met up for the first time. For three hours nobody said a word. We just sat there and realized, for the first time, that we were not alone,” Ajna says.

As the President of the Forgotten Children of War Association, Ajna works towards the recognition of herself and other children of war-time rape as a vulnerable group in order to improve their access to healthcare, psychological and legal support and education grants.

“We do not want to be invisible; we want to be treated equally,” Ajna says.

Expert’s Take: Investing in the lives and livelihoods of India’s women is crucial to the nation’s full recovery

Date: Tuesday, June 1, 2021

About the author

Susan Ferguson. Photo: Yvonne Fafungian
Susan Ferguson is the UN Women Representative for India. Ms. Ferguson joined UN Women in 2017, after a long career in international development. She has lived and worked in South Africa, Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea, and has experience working in grass-roots development agencies; establishing and managing social services; working within Local, State and Federal Government in Australia on social policy and social programmes.

Thousands of Indians have been affected by the latest COVID-19 outbreak. Not only those suffering from the disease, but also those who care for them.

Just as with the first wave and as with countless disasters before them, women have taken on the heavy burden of caring for the sick and finding ways to meet their family’s basic needs. The combination of illness, unpaid care, economic slowdown, lack of access to financing for female entrepreneurs, and domestic violence has left many women unable to return to work.

Much of this is attributable to a long history of seeing the work women do as unimportant in the “real world” of the economy, and as unworthy of value in the household. A recent Oxford report shows that Indian women and girls put in 3.26 billion hours of unpaid care work every day — a contribution of at least ₹19 trillion a year to the Indian economy.[1] Yet in India, duties performed at home have historically not been considered “work,” due to norms of gender and caste.

If these trends aren’t reversed, it will have a devastating impact on the economy while further exacerbating gender inequality. For this generation of women to emerge relatively unscathed from this pandemic and be able to return to the workforce, we must invest seriously in the livelihoods of women and girls in our country.

India has now lost over 300,000 people to the virus and that number continues to rise as the country struggles to deal with a new, deadly variant that has overwhelmed its healthcare capacity. Rural parts of the country are reliant on the incredible dedication of front-line women workers: Anganwadi workers, ASHA workers (Accredited Social Health Activist), community health workers and nurses, along with civil society organisers and volunteers.

This predominantly female workforce has been seriously overstretched. The ASHA programme has only been around for 15 years, but often they’re the only line of defence in remote areas. These women have been hailed as national heroes for the hazardous work they have done, which has at times led to illness and death due to lack of protective gear. Many also face verbal and physical abuse during door-to-door surveys.

The accolades and appreciation — which are not tied to any economic benefits or opportunities — serve as an ironic reminder that these women are still often required to perform double duty in the form of seemingly endless unpaid labour at home. Public spending in India on healthcare is only one percent of its GDP, which is far less than many other developing nations. Indeed, the Anganwadi and ASHA programmes technically qualify as volunteer work.

This devaluation of “women’s work” is reflected in the home. India’s First Time Use Survey states that while Indian men spend 80 percent of their working hours on paid work, women spend nearly 84 percent of their working hours on unpaid labour. According to NITI Aayog, women spend 9.8 times the time that men do on unpaid domestic chores. In a country with a high proportion of multigenerational households, women spend on average 4.5 hours a day caring for children, elders and ill or disabled persons, compared with less than one hour for men.

The COVID-19 outbreak has only exacerbated this situation, and its impact on women’s participation in the formal economy is clear. Many women have had to stop working formally to devote themselves solely to unpaid work. In the decade before the pandemic, female labour force participation had already been trending downward, making women’s earned income in India just one-fifth that of men’s — well below the global average.

Over the years, the Government of India and the States have taken initiatives to increase women’s participation in the workforce. Starting from removing restrictions on women’s right to work at night in factories or appointments as board members, to comprehensive maternity benefits and protection from sexual harassment at the workplace. Initiatives such as the National Rural Livelihoods Mission, the Skill India Mission, and Startup India all have progressive policies, programmes, and legislations. Despite these important initiatives, the decline in women’s labour force participation has not yet been reversed.

After the recent outbreak of this pandemic, there is a risk that this exodus from the workplace could become permanent. This would decimate both women’s livelihoods and the economy at large. On the other hand, according to IMF estimates, equal participation of women in the workforce would increase India’s GDP by 27 percent. [2]

This crisis can be avoided if India increases its public investments in the formal and informal care economies and taps into the job creation potential of the care economy.

As per the ILO, demand for care jobs (caring for children, people with disabilities, and the elderly, both in urban and rural areas) will increase with working parents and an aging population. According to simulation results, increasing investment in the care economy to meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030 may generate 69 million jobs in India.[3] Analysis shows that if another two percent of GDP were earmarked for the Indian healthcare system, it would create millions of jobs, many of which would go to women.

It is vital that women working on healthcare’s front lines are recognized as formal workers and have the same benefits and protections as any comparable occupation. The implementation of progressive childcare and leave policies would also help relieve the burden.

But there also needs to be a mindset shift that recognizes the value of this equally vital unpaid work. In fact, Indian politicians have recently taken the unprecedented step of pledging to pay women for their unpaid labour, a move that activists have long been calling for — one which could be adopted in the rest of the world.

Some have criticized such proposals, saying that they would merely entrench gender stereotypes and discourage women from entering the formal workforce. That is why, over the long term, policies of this kind must be combined with ones that help women take part in the formal workforce if they so choose. These include initiatives that help women entrepreneurs find and obtain financing for their initiatives — something they have struggled to access in the past.

It also includes expanding educational opportunities for women and girls. UN Women India’s Second Chance Education programme is a good example of how we can simultaneously address the pandemic recovery and offer opportunities for women to advance their careers, by training front-line health workers while providing employment pathways.

We need to also consider the persistent issue of income inequality. We consistently see larger wage gaps in countries in which women perform longer unpaid work hours. While this situation has improved over the years in India, investing in the care infrastructure will ensure women do not opt for lower-paying jobs when looking for roles that trade flexibility for hourly pay, due to the demands at home. Private sector involvement is also critical in this area: family-friendly workplace policies are beneficial to women workers and can profit the entire economy.

In the end, it will come down to changing attitudes, sharing the burden equally and dismantling the idea that domestic labour is exclusively the domain of women. Whether it’s at home, in the office or in the field, we must stop taking women’s wprk for granted.

Donate to help women in India severely impacted by the COVID-19 crisis ►

Notes
[1] https://www.oxfamindia.org/press-release/timetocare-india

[2] https://in.one.un.org/unibf/gender-equality/.

[3] Care work and care jobs for the future of decent work: Key findings in Asia and the Pacific, ILO, 2018 (https://www.ilo.org/global/topics/care-economy/WCMS_633305/lang--en/index.htm).

Take five: “Investing in gender equality is not only fair, but smart and necessary in recovering fully and sustainably from the pandemic”

Date: Thursday, May 27, 2021


Kate Hampton. Photo: CIFF
Kate Hampton is CEO of the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF). She also represents the Generation Equality ForumAction Coalition on Bodily Autonomy and Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights, working to develop catalytic actions and commitments to advance gender equality. Hampton’s action priority is leveraging the potential of self-managed care so that women and girls can take control of their own reproductive health and rights.

What do you hope will be the main outcome of the Generation Equality Forum?

I hope that the Generation Equality Forum serves to make gender equality a political priority across the world. As we build back from COVID-19, there's a real opportunity to place women and girls at the heart of recovery, but achieving this will require the highest level of leadership to put gender equality on the agenda. This makes the timing of the Generation Equality Forum really exciting, as it represents an important global ‘moment’ to drive ambitious commitments and tackle the pushback against women’s and girls’ rights.

I also hope that the Forum widens the base of supporters and advocates for gender equality and contributes to building strong coalitions across sectors. Young people and feminist movements have a particularly important role to play in breaking down silos and mobilizing marginalized voices.

What could be a game-changing measure for our societies as we recover from the COVID-19 pandemic?

It is my belief that investing in women and girls will deliver big economic and social returns for countries and societies. When women and girls can decide about their bodies, their lives and their futures, our communities become more resilient and prosperous. I hope that the Generation Equality Forum serves to highlight that investing in gender equality is not only fair, but smart and necessary, in recovering fully and sustainably from the pandemic.

Why did the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation sign up to play a leadership role in the Generation Equality Action Coalitions?

We are big believers in multi-stakeholder partnerships. In my view, social and political change require multiple viewpoints and multiple levers. If you really want systemic change, you have to take a whole-of-society approach, one that is not narrow, purely political, or purely technical, but instead offers a really integrated way of approaching key issues. That's why I like the Action Coalition process, because it brings together diverse stakeholders, skills and experiences to deliver a comprehensive outcome.

It is crucial that this diversity of perspectives is driven forward into implementation. The Forum is but the start of a five-year process and we must make sure that this process is underpinned by a strong accountability mechanism that holds all partners accountable for delivering on their commitments.

What actions are you most excited to stand behind to achieve progress on Bodily Autonomy and Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights?

One of our priority actions is leveraging the potential of self-managed care, for example, by making HIV self-testing or self-injectable contraceptives more widely available and accessible so that women and girls can take control over their own reproductive health. During the pandemic we've seen how important it is to expand opportunities for self-managed care when health services are interrupted. We are in a key moment to shift the way sexual and reproductive health services are thought of and provided.

In our Action Coalition we are also looking at a new sexual and reproductive health market access initiative to tackle gaps in supply of sexual and reproductive health commodities. For us, bodily autonomy is not just about removing individual friction in securing services, but also about shifting the broader market systems within which decisions are taken about what services to provide for whom and where. Central to this effort is placing the perspectives and needs of women and girls at the centre of decision-making, rather than treating them as an ‘afterthought’.

Challenges in the current funding landscape for sexual and reproductive health and rights make these initiatives even more vital and we are motivated to work with governments and other partners to ‘step up’ for women and girls worldwide.

What motivates you personally to keep driving for change?

I see so much potential in the cadre of exciting, dynamic, visionary girls and young women in the world. I feel we have a responsibility to create an environment to help them to realize their vision, which is filled with real hope and potential for change at a time when a lot of things look like they're moving backwards. I’m hoping that the Generation Equality Forum will highlight the voices of these young women, build their momentum and energize the broader movement, which is very much needed as we look to rebuild from this pandemic. Every single girl that we lift up and invest in is going to have a huge impact on her family, community and country, and this is extremely motivating for me.

Read more about the Action Coalitions here.

Launch of the UN Trust Fund Strategic Plan 2021-2025
‘Focusing on women’s rights and civil society organizations’

Date: Wednesday, May 26, 2021

Originally published on untf.unwomen.org


Cover of the UN Trust Fund Strategic Plan 2021-2025
The UN Trust Fund to End Violence against Women’s (UN Trust Fund) Strategic Plan 2021-2025 is grounded in the right of all women and girls to live free of violence. It seeks to achieve this goal through global solidarity and partnerships that enable civil society organizations, especially women’s rights organizations, to deliver survivor-centred and demand-driven initiatives to help feminist movements grow globally.

Key aspects

Context

The new Strategic Plan is based on extensive consultations with stakeholders, donors and grantees, who called for key details including:

increased flexible funding and more grants that cover longer periods;
opportunities to pilot and test innovative approaches to ending violence against women and girls;
increased resources to support and build the capacity of civil society organizations and women’s right’s organizations; and
more space for knowledge-sharing, learning and dialogue among grantees.
Those consulted stressed the ongoing reality of shrinking spaces for civil society and women’s rights organizations, alongside the promising rise in young feminist mobilization. This helped to solidify the UN Trust Fund’s ongoing focus in the new Strategic Plan on women-led women’s rights and civil society organizations in the Global South.

Funding

The goal of eradicating violence against women and girls requires work and investment that creates sustainable projects and organizational resilience. The new Strategic Plan therefore recognizes that:

Long-term funding is needed for projects to achieve transformative change in the lives of survivors, strengthen institutions and create sustainable shifts in social norms.
Flexible and core funding is critical for civil society and women’s organizations to ensure they can survive and thrive.
Therefore, under the new Strategic Plan, partners will be mobilized to resource CSOs/WROs with reliable, flexible and long-term funding.

In addition, the plan continues to focus on:

Improving access to essential specialist, safe and adequate services, including access to justice, for survivors or those at risk of violence.
Transforming social norms, a key factor in preventing violence against women and girls.
Ensuring more effective legislation, policies and national action plans that are shaped by women and girls in decision-making processes.
Deepening collective knowledge through high-quality evaluations, sharing lessons learned and good practices, and recording practitioner-based knowledge gained by those working on projects.
The Strategic Plan will lean on lessons learned from the UN Trust Fund’s past 25 years and the results of the most recent Strategic Plan 2016-2020. This includes the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on violence against women and girls. For instance, as the pandemic spread, the needs of UN Trust Fund grantees and people they support changed, requiring rapid adaptations to their working methods and increased support. The UN Trust Fund deployed its human and financial resources to respond promptly and flexibly, rooted in the strong relationships with grantees and focused on their needs and those of rights holders. These, and other, lessons learned will influence the implementation of the new Strategic Plan.

Click here to read the UN Trust Fund Strategic Plan 2021-2025.

Statement from UN Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka on the anniversary of George Floyd’s death

Date: Tuesday, May 25, 2021

Globally, George Floyd’s death has renewed conversations about inequalities, racism, discrimination, disenfranchisement and violations of human rights on almost every continent. His murder has brought significant progress in many areas including in processes of law enforcement but there remains difficult work ahead to dismantle all forms of racial injustice and discrimination in every country.

We unite today across the world through a day of anti-racism solidarity and celebrate the rekindling of the global racial justice movement. We acknowledge and condemn the rise of other forms of violent discrimination, such as anti-Asian racism, that have arisen over the past year. And we acknowledge too, how for so many women, racial discrimination is yet one more barrier they face in addition to those raised by their gender. Today we assert again the rights of all people to live and to thrive, free from fear, in safety and dignity.

Join us for the #ActforEqual Week of Action ahead of the Generation Equality Forum in Paris

Date: Monday, May 24, 2021

Originally published on forum.generationequality.org


From 31 May to 6 June, the #ActForEqual Week of Action will showcase young leaders and their activism, demonstrate why the Generation Equality Forum is important for all generations, and how the Action Coalitions can accelerate concrete change for women and girls.

The Week of Action will engage a young generation in taking action and amplifying dialogue in the lead up to the Generation Equality Forum in Paris from 30 June – 2 July 2021. The Forum aims to catalyze global change and progress on gender equality and encourage bold global commitments and investments in women’s and girls’ rights. It is organized by the governments of France and Mexico with youth and civil society.

We are raising our voices to make sure everyone realizes what an important and critical moment this is, and to make sure that leaders from every part of society step up at the event and commit to change.

Each day, the UN Women global Instagram and Facebook accounts will host a young activist and give them the platform to talk about a specific thematic area that they are passionate about. We encourage you to do the same on your corporate and individual accounts.

How you can participate?

Everyone can participate in the #ActForEqual Week of Action and showcase the power of young people. You can:

Organize your own youth take-over or participate yourself on your social media accounts
Support UN Women’s Youth takeover
Share #ActForEqual and youth-related content on social media
Follow the step-by-step guidance in this Week of Action Toolkit we’ve prepared to get started (available in English/French/Spanish):

Toolkit for organizations | Toolkit for Individuals | Trello

We want you to be part of the Week of Action. Since its inception, the Generation Equality Forum has placed young people at the center of all processes. This will be the perfect opportunity for you to join us and highlight the power of youth in making a gender equal world a reality.

If you have any questions please contact: Sarah.Gilbertz[at]unwomen.org or Heba.Katoon[at]unwomen.org

I am Generation Equality: Martha Clara Nakato, advocate for bodily autonomy and sexual and reproductive health rights in Uganda
Billions of people across the world stand on the right side of history every day. They speak up, take a stand, mobilize, and take big and small actions to advance women’s rights. This is Generation Equality.

Date: Thursday, May 20, 2021

Originally published on UN Women's regional website for Africa



Martha Clara Nakato in Kampala, Uganda. Photo: Eva Sibanda/UN Women.
 

Three things you can do to become part of Generation Equality:
Unite to create and drive change for women’s rights.
SPEAK OUT when you see violence – Be a Role Model.
Before we blame other stakeholders’ inaction, ask yourself what you are doing to empower women and girls in your community and end violence.

I am Generation Equality because…

Women should not be treated as second-class citizens no matter our social status, health status or setting we live in; just like men, we are all human beings who deserve equal rights and dignity. I am a woman! If I don’t speak out for my rights and the rights of other women who are oppressed or excluded, who will speak out for me when I’m faced with the same inequalities?

Throughout my work, I mentor and empower girls and women to become resilient and independent through understanding their rights and responsibilities, and to deal with the vulnerabilities that are likely to expose them to HIV infection. Women are the greatest resource that countries have: it is important that we feel safe in our communities, that our contributions are valued in all sectors and that investment is made to unleash our potential.

Harmful practices exacerbate inequalities

Most women in rural communities still lack ownership over their bodies and the power to make informed choices about their sexual and reproductive health needs, partly due to their limited access to essential reproductive health services. Harmful traditional practices such as female genital mutilation, child marriage and widow inheritance laws continue to exacerbate women’s and girls’ vulnerabilities.

Too many girls in rural communities are left behind, forced to drop out of school and marry at an early age. Too many girls and women lack access to technology and innovation that could be key in improving their lives.



“Make it your business to speak out and call out perpetrators of violence on girls and women whenever you encounter them in communities or streets.”



Taking action for change

Do something using available means, whether online or in person, to educate people around you about the sexual and reproductive health needs and rights of girls and women and strategies to make them accessible.

We are the change and the drivers of that change we want to see. Young people need to be at the forefront of mobilizing their respective communities in using digital platforms and innovation to educate, empower, advocate and advance gender equality and women’s empowerment.

 


Martha Clara Nakato, 24, is a young person living with HIV from Tororo District, Uganda. A passionate advocate for bodily autonomy and sexual and reproductive health rights, Nakato works with the Uganda Network of Young People Living with HIV & AIDS (UNYPA) and is an active member of Uganda’s Generation Equality consultations. Bodily autonomy and sexual and reproductive health and rights is one of the six Generation Equality Action Coalitions, which are global, multi-stakeholder partnerships mobilizing governments, civil society, international organizations to take action and create change.

UN Women statement for the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia
Action and solidarity

Date: Monday, May 17, 2021

UN Women stands in solidarity with and supports everyone with diverse sexual orientations, gender identities, gender expressions and sex characteristics (SOGIESC) in efforts to resist, support and heal from hatred, fear and discrimination.

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to isolate individuals, separate families and devastate communities the world over, leaving no member of our human family unaffected. It has laid bare deep-rooted inequalities across societies and amplified structural and historical injustice. It has exposed both new and existing degrees of discrimination, especially against those already marginalized who are undergoing the concurrent and compounding crises of health and economic injustices and environmental degradation.

Now, these concerns are joined by response to shocking accounts of systemic racial discrimination and brutality from police and state security forces across the world, elevating concerns for racial justice. For centuries, white supremacy, the legacies of colonialism and imperialism, heteronormativity and binary gender norms have been used to justify violence and criminalization based on race and SOGIESC. Black, brown and indigenous communities with diverse SOGIESC have long faced overlapping threats of danger, exploitation and forced displacement, and continue to experience increased harm.

LGBTIQ+ people not only share common visions of gender equality and racial justice but are trailblazers. Their specific needs must be recognized in the current context, which presents an opportunity for the UN system to model diverse SOGIESC inclusion within relief and recovery efforts, to build awareness of LGBTIQ+ issues, strengthen partnerships and increase expectations for future policy, programming and advocacy.

This year’s theme is a resounding guide for real action and solidarity for us all. As we move ahead towards the Generation Equality Forum in Paris from 30 June to 2 July, we are mobilizing a series of concrete, ambitious and transformative actions to achieve immediate and irreversible progress towards gender equality across sectors and age groups, recognizing people in all their diversity. Those solutions include attention to LGBTIQ+ rights. UN Women is resolute in its leadership role in achieving gender equality for all, in solidarity with our partners and in support of all people with diverse SOGIESC. As allies, we resist anti-gender discourse and support the vital work at the intersections of LGBTIQ+, race, gender and rights.

Together, we must heal after experiencing, witnessing, and struggling so much. Only united can we heal from the harm caused and recover from the profound grief and intergenerational trauma caused at the hands of fellow citizens, States, and institutions all over the world.

In marking this International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia and every day, we emphasize that at UN Women we work for you; we stand with you, and in respect for, honour and celebration of the diversity and resilience of LGBTIQ+ peoples globally.

Statement: Set women at the heart of recovery decisions and processes
Statement by Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Executive Director of UN Women, Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka on the outcome of the summit of G7 nations.

Date: Monday, June 14, 2021

The meeting of the G7 group of nations, representatives from the European Union, as well as invited guest countries including Australia, India, and the Republic of Korea, in Carbis Bay, Cornwall from 11 to 13 June 2021, presented a timely opportunity to agree multilateral action on many of the issues of international global concern that deeply affect the lives and futures of women and girls, including building forward from the COVID-19 pandemic, equitable access to vaccines and medicines, and addressing climate change.

Beyond public health, the pandemic has had far-reaching social and economic consequences for women and girls, exacerbating already high levels of violence against women, dramatically increasing the unpaid care burden on women, and, through rapid and lasting job losses, exposing the deep vulnerabilities of women’s engagement in the labour market. Overall, it has had a regressive impact on the ability of women and girls globally to claim and exercise their rights.

This is the moment therefore to ensure that women are set at the heart of recovery decisions and processes that ensure their rights, meet their needs, and recognize their contributions. In that regard, UN Women supports the G7 Gender Equality Advisory Council’s recommendations and the call for renewed commitments to the target of 0.7 per cent of Gross National Income for Official Development Assistance. The impact of COVID-19 on women and girls is particularly acute in less developed countries, where debt alleviation and financing initiatives will be particularly important alongside national budgets in order to support aspects like education for all, ending gender-based violence including online harassment, strengthened domestic and international social care infrastructure, efforts to ensure women’s equal access to capital and labour markets, and a gender-responsive approach to climate financing, investment, and policies.

The COVID-19 crisis has underlined the complexities of our interconnected global ecosystem and the imperative for multilateral action and global cooperation in pursuit of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. We urge G7 leaders to continue championing gender equality and women’s empowerment, including by demonstrating the representation and leadership of women in delegations, and encouraging them to secure their commitments on gender equality through funding and concrete action.

The G7 outcomes precede the Generation Equality Forum in Paris, to be held 30 June to 2 July 2021, and from which it is expected that a five-year, consolidated set of ambitious, transformative, and well funded commitments to achieving gender equality will result. The Forum, convened by UN Women and co-hosted by the governments of Mexico and France, in partnership with youth and civil society, will be attended by Heads of State and will bring together a wide range of stakeholders in gender equality from across the world.

It aims to spur new action that accelerates progress in the implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action adopted by world leaders in 1995 and achieve immediate and irreversible progress towards gender equality. The commitments of the G7 group of nations are an influential aspect of such new action, and we urge them to join us in Generation Equality, and to draw on upon the specific recommendations of the Gender Equality Advisory Council for their actions both domestically and globally.

I am Generation Equality: Diane Ndarbawa, youth activist for economic justice

Date: Thursday, June 10, 2021



Diane Ndarbawa, President of Manki Maroua. Photo Courtesy of Diane Ndarbawa
I am Generation Equality because…

Three things you can do to become part of Generation Equality:
Promote reducing technological and digital barriers for women and girls
Help finance entrepreneurial projects and income-generating activities for young girls and women

Join the #GenerationEquality campaign by sharing stories like this with your friends and social media networks
“Everyone has a role to play in defending women’s rights. We must all actively support women and girls in our communities, so that they can have access to decent work and are not left behind.

I [believe in] financially empowering adolescent girls and women and supporting their professional growth. Through my organization, Manki Maroua, I work every day to foster respect for women’s economic rights, including improved working conditions.

Being an Action Coalition Leader is allowing me to raise the voices of women in my community and present our ideas and expectations for action on an international platform. I hope that participating in the Generation Equality Forum will help remedy the difficulties that women and girls encounter on a daily basis.

Accelerating equality, leadership and opportunity for women and girls worldwide

The Generation Equality Forum offers the opportunity to elevate the work of organizations that fight for the rights of women and girls, especially those most vulnerable and marginalized. The Forum is championing the work of young people and giving us a space where our views and ideas are listened to closely, while taking into account our diverse cultural and geographic backgrounds.

I hope that discussions are backed by technical and financial contributions to young people to support us in our innovative projects, in Africa and all around the world. It is critical that Forum commitments are put into action. Real change depends on that.

Driving economic justice

My #ActForEqual is helping women and girls to become autonomous and independent.



“We must all actively support women and girls in our communities.”



The Forum should support advocacy to ensure that governments adopt gender-responsive laws, especially as we recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, which has paralysed women’s economic activities, increased unemployment and the burden of unpaid work, and overall, accentuated extreme poverty. Legal change is urgently needed to speed-up progress on gender equality, economic justice, and safeguard this progress in the long-term.

Another way to secure economic justice is by supporting organizations that are working with women in local communities, for example, those that offer technical expertise and financial backing to girls and women entrepreneurs. 

Driving innovation is also important. One of Manki Maroua’s primary objectives is to maximize the use of digital technology in supporting income-generating activities, thereby transforming the daily lives of adolescent girls in Cameroon. The voices of women from diverse backgrounds should be at the heart of technological innovation.

Finally, all these actions must be placed in the broader context of the fight against climate change, which means that respecting and protecting the environment should always be a cross-cutting priority.”


Diane Ndarbawa is the President of Manki Maroua, an association of girl-child mothers in Cameroon. She also represents the Generation Equality ForumAction Coalition on Economic Justice and Rights, working to ensure that systems and structures are gender-responsive, equitable, free of violence and harassment, and resilient to economic shocks such as the recent ones brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. Ndarbawa’s action priority is improving technical and financial support for women’s and girls’ projects.

Take five: “Success at the Generation Equality Forum is when we are able to translate gender equality from a concept or policy into reality”

Date: Thursday, June 10, 2021


Mavic Cabrera Balleza. Photo: GNWP/Katrina Leclerc
Mavic Cabrera Balleza is the Founder and CEO of the Global Network of Women Peacebuilders (GNWP). She also represents the Generation Equality ForumCompact on Women, Peace and Security and Humanitarian Action (WPS-HA), driving action and resources to accelerate progress on the WPS-HA agenda. Balleza prioritizes localizing national action plans on women, peace and security and gender-sensitive humanitarian action to ensure that they respond to the needs of local communities and marginalized groups.

How has the COVID-19 pandemic impacted Women, Peace and Security and Humanitarian Action?

The COVID-19 pandemic is a conflict and crisis multiplier. It has aggravated the root causes of conflicts and crises, including economic inequalities, food insecurity, and the unavailability of basic social services such as health care and education. The pandemic has also exacerbated gender inequality, which is a major driver of conflicts. The lockdowns during the pandemic led to an unprecedented increase in the incidence of sexual and gender-based violence.

The pandemic has stalled the implementation of peace processes. Implementation plans that require the participation of government agencies and local populations and use of financial resources were stopped. Funding earmarked for many civil society organizations’ peacebuilding programmes has been diverted to support emergency health and humanitarian response.

The shortage of medical facilities, vaccines and supplies amidst new coronavirus variants shows that the pandemic will continue to impact our lives, including our peacebuilding efforts and humanitarian action.

Why is now a vital time to accelerate Women, Peace and Security commitments?

At the onset of the pandemic, women and youth peacebuilders were on the front line. They were the first to go to conflict-affected communities, refugee camps, and settlements for internally displaced persons, distributing relief materials and factual information on preventing the spread of COVID-19. However, they remain unrecognized, underfunded, and excluded in decision-making. To make matters worse, they face attacks and repression from authoritarian governments and armed groups who have taken advantage of the global health crisis to gain more power.

This is a critical time for the Compact to accelerate WPS-HA commitments. To do this, the Compact must call on policymakers, especially governments, to ensure local women’s and youth’s participation in peace negotiations and the implementation of peace agreements – and link formal and informal peace processes. The Compact must also challenge the long-established humanitarian system to re-design humanitarian response so that crisis-affected populations do not remain voiceless recipients of relief goods and services, but are empowered to participate in decision-making.

The Compact must work with donors to review their funding policies. We must advocate for and contribute to a minimum of a five-fold increase in direct assistance to local women and youth organizations. We must also guarantee financing for national and local action plans on WPS and other relevant national mechanisms on WPS-HA.

What changes are most urgently needed in WPS-HA, and why?

Local women and young people have a profound understanding of their countries’ peace and security situation, gender and power relations, and humanitarian needs, because they live this reality every single day. When local populations are able to shape the implementation of the peace, security and humanitarian agenda, it becomes inclusive, participatory, intersectional, and it fosters strong ownership (of local communities).

We need to empower local women and youth to design and implement humanitarian responses and Women, Peace and Security commitments to effectively respond to violent conflicts, the pandemic, and other humanitarian crises. To facilitate this, experts need to transfer their skills and knowledge and share their resources so that local populations can lead their own initiatives. As the Compact, we need to honour the agency, commitment and passion of local communities and get Members States and the donor community to provide funding for local actors in a predictable and transparent manner. 

What inspired the Global Network of Women Peacebuilders (GNWP) to become a Board Member of the Compact on WPS-HA?

We are tired of increasing levels of conflict, insecurity for women and girls, and global military spending on the one hand, and endless commitments with no tangible impact, on the other. It has already been twenty years since the landmark UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security was passed, yet we have seen little progress and are suffering from policy fatigue.

GNWP wants everyone – Member States, the United Nations, regional organizations, the private sector, and the donor community – to acknowledge, value, and support civil society, including through funding. We want governments to guarantee our safety and protection as we work together to transform the commitments of the past decades into action. This is why the unique broad composition of the Compact is important; it will ensure a more inclusive and bolder, yet realistic, vision for the Compact throughout the coming five years.

What does success at the Generation Equality Forum look like to you?

Success at the Generation Equality Forum is when we are able to translate gender equality from a concept or policy into reality. This will only be possible if all of us who are now active in the Forum leave our echo chambers, speak with people on the streets, in schools, in factories and offices, in groceries, in markets, in local communities, and explain what gender equality is about. Most of them will probably hear about gender equality for the first time, but that would be our first indicator of success. We should then follow those initial conversations with more profound discussions and collective and transformative actions. 

To make this happen, as Compact members and Action Coalition leaders, we need to ensure that women, young women, girls, and LGBTQI+ persons from around the world – including those living in conflict and crisis-affected situations – are meaningfully included in decision-making on the priority issues of the Generation Equality Forum. This is the only way to ensure that the outcomes of the Forum meet their urgent priorities and needs. This is the what success looks like to me.

Read more about the Compact on Women, Peace and Security and Humanitarian Action here.

Commitments to action: Generation Equality Action Coalitions drive change
Find out how you can #ActForEqual and make a commitment.

Date: Monday, June 7, 2021


The Generation Equality Forum taking place in Paris from 30 June to 2 July will see world leaders and activists coming together to make game-changing commitments and bold actions under six Action Coalitions and the Compact on Women, Peace and Security and Humanitarian Action. These global, multi-stakeholder partnerships will create impact for women and girls everywhere through catalytic initiatives and investments to bridge the most critical and persistent gender equality gaps.

Now, more than ever, when the COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the widening gaps in gender equality, the Forum will channel global consensus, investment, and action in critical areas, like: economic justice, feminist climate action, gender-based violence, technology and innovation, feminist leadership, peace, security and humanitarian action, and sexual and reproductive rights.

UN Women is inviting women’s and feminist organizations, youth-led organizations, governments, philanthropies, international organizations, private sector companies and others to make bold commitments for equality at the Generation Equality Forum.

Commitments and actions come in all shapes and sizes, but they are scalable, measurable, and forged in partnership with others. They can be financial investments, advocacy to support transformative changes, policy changes and programmes on the ground.

Find out how your organization can make a Commitment under the Action Coalitions or take action on the Compact.

Hear directly from some of our inspiring Action Coalition and Compact leaders why their organizations are making commitments, and what they are looking forward to.

Why commitments matter

Kate Hampton, CEO of Children's Investment Fund Foundation. Photo: CIFF
Kate Hampton, CEO of Children’s Investment Fund Foundation, Bodily Autonomy and Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights Action Coalition

“There's a real opportunity as we build back from COVID-19 to place women and girls at the heart of recovery but achieving this will require the highest level of leadership to put gender equality on the agenda. This makes the timing of the Generation Equality Forum really exciting, as we need to have a global moment around gender equality to drive commitments and tackle the pushback against the rights of women and girls. I also hope that the Forum widens the base of supporters and advocates for gender equality. We need to re-energize global and local feminist movements, as well as broaden allyship across different sectors. Young people have a particularly important role to play in bringing new energy and diversity.”



Joanita Babirye. Photo courtesy of Joanita Babirye
Joanita Babirye, Co-founder of Girls for Climate Justice, Climate Justice Action Coalition

“Empowering young women and girls to become climate leaders is an essential part of provoking action. Women and girls should be able to demand climate justice, but this is only possible when they are equipped with the tools and knowledge to hold everyone accountable and to break the barriers that are hindering their access to resources. For me, the transformation needed is to make women and girls fully aware of the issues and leaders of the solutions.”


Why we #ActforEqual

Mavic Cabrera Balleza. Photo: GNWP/Katrina Leclerc
Mavic Cabrera Balleza, Founder and CEO of the Global Network of Women Peacebuilders, the Compact on Women, Peace and Security and Humanitarian Action

“We know that local women and young people have a profound understanding of the peace and security situation in their country, of gender and power relations, and of their humanitarian needs, because they live this reality every single day. However, we also know that they are not recognized as experts or acknowledged for what they can contribute to building solutions. As a result, there is no funding for these local actors to carry out the solutions that they have developed. We need local women and youth to be empowered to design and implement humanitarian responses and the commitments on Women, Peace and Security on their own. To facilitate this, experts need to transfer their skills and knowledge and share their resources so that local populations can lead their own initiatives.”


Diane Ndarbawa. Photo Courtesy of Diane Ndarbawa
Diane Ndarbawa, President of Manki Maroua, Economic Justice and Rights Action Coalition

“What motivates me is the desire to benefit adolescent girls and women in my community. I want to contribute to financially empowering the women and girls in my area and to support their professional integration. Overall, I am working every day to achieve respect for women’s economic rights, as well as to see the protection of the rights for women involved in economic activities, such as through the improvement of their working conditions.  Being an Action Coalition Leader has allowed me to raise the voices of women in my community and to bring our ideas and expectations for action to the international level.”


How the Action Coalitions will drive change:

Céline Bonnaire. Photo: Jean Luc Perreard
Céline Bonnaire, Executive Director of the Kering Foundation, leader of the Gender-Based Violence Action Coalition

“Our ambition is to share our experience, share our network, scale up our work and mobilize a broader group of companies to join us in combatting gender-based violence. We firmly believe that everyone has a role to play in putting an end to violence against women… After this Forum, everyone should understand how they can become an agent of change and promote gender equality and the elimination of gender-based violence at all levels, from the personal and family level up to the institutional and societal level as well. I hope that each participant will come away from the Forum knowing what change they could implement the next day to help achieve gender equality.”

From immediate relief to livelihood support, UN Women drives investment and support for women and girls impacted by COVID-19 in India

Date: Tuesday, June 1, 2021


Health workers participating in UN Women India’s Second Chance Education programme display their “Certificate of Completion Essential Upskilling for Nurses on COVID-19 Pandemic Management”. Photo: UN Women
“It is the responsibility of women to hold the social fabric together – be it at home, in health centres and schools, or caring for the elderly – all of this is unpaid care work (and it continues to increase),” explains Mita Lonkar from the Chaitanya Foundation in New Delhi, India, one of many NGO partners of UN Women in India, providing critical support to women and their families, as the country struggles to cope with the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The majority of those on the front lines of the pandemic are women, there’s need to provide resources like healthcare, education and training for women,” adds Lonkar. “Women are particularly vulnerable economically – their personal finances are weaker and their position in the labour market is less secure, as compared to men.”

Since January 2020, India has reported over 27 million cases of COVID-19 infection and more than 300,000 fatalities – figures that many believe are substantial underestimates. As infection rates peak, hospitals have run out of beds and oxygen, medication is running low, and there are vaccine shortages. Last week, the country also saw massive flooding and displacement in its coastal areas, as Cyclone Yaas made landfall.

The scale of the emergency is unprecedented and as with every crisis, women and girls, especially those from poor and marginalized communities, are among the hardest hit. Data from at least seven states indicate that women constitute 34 – 42 per cent of COVID-19 infections. The needs are exponential – from basic needs for food, personal protective equipment, hygiene and sanitation products, and vaccines, to longer term support to get women back into the workforce and access start-up financing.


Participants in UN Women India’s Second Chance Educational and Vocational Learning Programme. Photo: UN Women
Worldwide, COVID-19 has led to more job loss for women, and India is not an exception. Female labour force participation was on a downward trend even before the pandemic and women’s earned income was just one-fifth that of men’s – well below the global average. In the informal sector, the situation is worse and 91 per cent of women in India are engaged in informal and home-based sectors. The time that women in India spend on unpaid domestic chores is 10 times more than men. As the pandemic rages on, many women have had to stop paid work to care for their families.

Chaitanya Foundation has been working with UN Women since2019 to roll out its Second Chance Education and Vocational Learning programme in India, which has reached more than 50,000 women. The programme is now facilitating access to employment for women who have completed their training, as well as helping small entrepreneurs who need smaller capital investment, as many of their loans have been denied during the pandemic.

The crisis has made it clear to Lonkar and her team that society must take a hard look at how it values and pays for women’s work. 

Susan Ferguson, UN Women Representative in India, agrees: “Whether it’s at home, in the office or in the field, we must stop taking women’s work for granted. And, we must expand educational opportunities for women and girls.”

“UN Women India’s Second Chance Education programme is a good example of how we can simultaneously address the pandemic recovery and offer opportunities for women to advance their careers, by training front-line health workers while providing employment pathways,” adds Ferguson.


Right now, UN Women and its partners in India are providing masks, gloves and other personal protective equipment for front-line responders; training health workers in COVID-19 response; supporting women’s livelihood projects and offering cash transfers to women in need. To mitigate the heightened risk of gender-based violence against the backdrop of existing inequalities, UN Women is also supporting the training of counsellors, social workers and staff at One Stop Crisis Centres –facilities where women survivors can access a comprehensive set of services: medical attention, legal aid as well as temporary shelter.

UN Women is seeking immediate funding to sustain and expand these initiatives.

Access to information is another area of concern for women’s organizations on the ground. “Women’s development and empowerment depends on the availability and accessibility of quality information. Information penetrates every aspect of our daily lives… and yet, it appears that most women lack access to relevant, accurate and timely information,” points out Mita Lonka of Chaitanya Foundation. Misinformation about the COVID-19 disease and vaccination is widespread, and lack of information for women can have fatal consequences.

UN Women is launching communications efforts in partnership with civil society and youth groups to increase access to verified information, fight misinformation and improve women’s knowledge about COVID-19 disease prevention and vaccine, as well as how to access medical services, emergency accommodation or protection orders when escaping violence.

To support UN Women and its partners working to empower and protect women and girls in India, donate today.

Press release: Economic empowerment of rural women positively impacts social norms and strengthens food security

Date: Wednesday, June 2, 2021

Originally published by the World Food Programme

Economic empowerment of rural women as farmers, entrepreneurs and leaders contributes towards alleviating poverty, increasing food security and achieving gender equality. These findings, based on an evaluation of a six-year multi-agency global initiative implemented in Ethiopia, Guatemala, Kyrgyzstan, Liberia, Nepal, Niger, and Rwanda, were shared at a high-level event in Rome earlier this week.

The programme, 'Accelerating Progress towards Rural Women's Economic Empowerment’, implemented by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women and Girls (UN Women) and the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) together with national governments and supported by the governments of Sweden and Norway was evaluated at the end of its first phase of implementation and findings shared.

“Gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls are pre-conditions for the eradication of poverty and hunger and are essential to achieve all Sustainable Development Goals. By bringing four UN agencies and key partners together, the Joint Programme has achieved long-lasting change for rural women, their families and their communities," said WFP Deputy Executive Director Amir Abdulla. “By providing access to innovative tools and addressing barriers that hold women back, the project has shown that empowering rural women means empowering communities and unleashing the potential of future generations.”

The second phase of the programme that aims to build on the successes of the first phase, bringing more rural women into the programme and contributing to global learning and policy dialogues on the rights of rural women, will commence in January 2022.

Addressing stakeholders at the event, Eva Lövgren, Deputy Director for International Organisations and Policy Support, SIDA said, “Today’s event is another brilliant example of how learning can be shared. It is clear that the Joint Programme has built a foundation on which proven methods for strengthening women’s economic empowerment can be replicated and scaled. Now the programme stands ready to build on what works”.

Building resilience, decreasing vulnerabilities and promoting economic empowerment
The findings revealed that women participating in the programme benefited greatly from enhanced agricultural practices through access to productive assets, labor-saving technologies, market linkages and leadership training, which meant that they were able to increase their agricultural productivity, obtain more sustainable income and ensure a better diet for their families.

A positive shift in social norms was also observed, which meant that women played a greater role in household and community-level decision-making. For example, men in Nepal and Niger reported growing support to improve the status of women in villages as well as to contribute to household chores.

Women participating in the programme were more likely to be elected to local councils and engage in local governance as a result of improved self-confidence through leadership, technical and business-related training. For example, over 3,000 women in both Ethiopia and Liberia became members of land committees and were involved in decision-making processes.

The economic impacts of COVID-19 and climate change were also largely mitigated for women participating in the programme. Rural women and communities applied climate-smart agricultural practices supported by the programme. During COVID-19, women were able to maintain their income security through the increased availability of cash transfers or access to funds and savings.

“The programme has increased people’s resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic, including in those countries that suffered double crises as a result of natural disasters. Given the current context with the pandemic, the increasing devastating consequences of climate change and vulnerabilities to natural disaster, we must apply a resilience lens across all our interventions and ensure that rural women and men have the capacities, assets and resources, as well as access to the services they need to withstand shocks. The potential to build resilience will be an integral part of the programme’s design in the second phase,” said FAO’s Senior Gender Officer, Susan Kaaria.

“The joint programme’s integrated approach allowed rural women to cope with the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic through strengthened social networks, savings groups, and solidarity that facilitated access to food reserves and cash savings to withstand household income and food insecurity in the aftermath of the crisis. For the next phase, we can build in greater resilience to climate and other shocks and reducing women’s and girls’ disproportionate share of unpaid care and domestic work that is always exacerbated in times of crisis,” said Acting Chief of Economic Empowerment for UN Women, Seemin Qayum.

The success of the first phase of the project that ran from 2014 to 2021 has been attributed in part to the benefits of building synergies and capitalizing on the four implementing agencies' comparative advantages: FAO's policy assistance on agriculture and food security; IFAD's rural investment programmes; WFP's food assistance innovations; and UN Women's technical and policy expertise on women's economic empowerment.

"Today has been an opportunity to reflect and celebrate the progress we have made in advancing gender equality and women's empowerment, and to look forward to what more we need to do," said Meike van Ginneken, IFAD's Associate Vice President, Strategy and Knowledge Department. "Now more than ever, in the wake of the pandemic and the increasingly devastating consequences of climate change and biodiversity loss on rural women and communities- we must continue these efforts. The Joint Programme on Rural Women's Economic Empowerment is well placed to do this and stands ready to scale up."

Launched in 2014, the Joint Programme was the first such initiative to bring together the three UN Rome based agencies and UN Women — with the goal to spearhead a comprehensive UN system response in support of rural women's economic empowerment and securing women's livelihoods and rights. The programme has reached over 80,000 rural women in Ethiopia, Guatemala, Kyrgyzstan, Liberia, Nepal, Niger, and Rwanda. A second phase of this programme will be launched in January 2022.

UN Women Executive Director visits Mozambique, calls for women’s leadership in peacebuilding and ongoing humanitarian efforts, and bold commitments for the Generation Equality Forum
During her official visit to Mozambique from 24-26 May, and in the lead up to the Generation Equality Forum in Paris, UN Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka meets women leaders, government officials, the donor community and youth activists to promote women’s leadership in the Women, Peace and Security agenda, and invites Mozambique to commit to Generation Equality Action Coalitions.

Date: Thursday, May 27, 2021

At the meeting with Ms. Nyelete Mondlane Brooke, Minister of Gender, Children and Social Actions of Mozambique, Ms. Mlambo-Ngcuka commended the Ministry’s efforts to promote the Generation Equality campaign and requested further support to ensure Mozambique’s bold commitments ahead of the Generation Equality Forum in Paris. The Minister of Gender has announced that the Government will commit for two Action Coalitions, on Gender-Based Violence and Economic Justice.


UN Women Executive Director, Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka meets with Ms. Verónica Nataniel Macamo Dlhovo, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation of Mozambique, to discuss achievements and challenges on gender equality and women’s empowerment. Photo: UN Women/Jamal Lino André
With civil society leaders, Ms. Mlambo-Ngcuka discussed the challenges they face in promoting the implementation of Women, Peace and Security agenda in Mozambique, and their involvement in the ongoing peacebuilding process and response to the humanitarian crisis in the north. She commended Mozambican women leaders’ efforts in advocating for much-needed laws and representation of women in public institutions and urged them to continue their work.

“I want to congratulate you for the many laws that have passed which advanced women’s rights in Mozambique. I also want to congratulate you for the representation of women in public institutions in Mozambique. Don’t let it slip back. If you pushed it in the public sector, it is easy to push in the private sector,” she said. “Mozambique has strong women who have been present with us, for us, all this time. I think this time again you will be able to rise. We need to make sure that we don’t lose the progress we achieved”.

“We want to make sure that we continue to pass laws around issues that you are working on and that WPS issues in a Compact is taken forward,” the Executive Director concluded.

Quiteria Guiringane, Social Activist from the Network of Young Women Leaders, said: “There are reasons of pride in the fight of women thanks to the sacrifice of activists throughout the country, the pandemic forced us to reinvent ourselves. Relying on technologies we made use of the webinars for women to connect. Making use of the photo-voices we showcased challenges of women and girls from all over the country. We did not celebrate the national women´s day in a festive environment until the situation of insecurity of our sister was not addressed. As a result of our position, the President of the Republic, dedicated April 7 (National Women´s Day) to women from Cabo Delgado province. Platforms on Women, Peace and Security, Network of religious women, movement of activists led by women, rise autonomously all over the country and we launched the first women’s observatory as a dialogue space where civil society, parliament, legal, government, private sector, media, academia, church leaders come together, a space for production of evidence and accountability to discuss priorities, budget allocation, representation and understanding of different realities.”


Ms. Mlambo-Ngcuka with Mozambican women leaders. Photo: UN Women/Jamal Lino André
During her visit, Ms. Mlambo-Ngcuka also met with various advocates for gender equality and leaders, including Ms Myrta Kaulard, UN Resident Coordinator in Mozambique, Professor Armindo Ngunga, President of the Agency for the Integrated Development of Northern Mozambique (ADIN)and other partners to understand the current situation in the Northern Province of Mozambique and its impact on women and girls. In all these meetings, the Executive Director strongly urged partners to further prioritize women, youth and other vulnerable groups given the differentiated and disproportionate impact caused by conflict.

On the second day of her visit, Ms. Mlambo-Ngcuka attended the High-Level Dialogue on Women, Peace and Security and Humanitarian Action in Mozambique and called for enhanced political leadership, increased funding and bold actions to ensure women’s rights are met across the spectrum of peace and security, and to ensure safety for women and girls at high risk in northern Mozambique.

“Women in Cabo Delgado must not feel that they are alone. In every war situation women are more vulnerable. They die because they don’t carry arms, their children are displaces, their families are disintegrated”, said Ms. Mlambo-Ngcuka, adding that “women’s vulnerability is the vulnerability of their families and the entire community”.

“I would like to highlight that at the moment we have nearly 800, 000 people that are displaced in the province of Cabo Delgado, about 100 000 have moved to the province of Nampula, several other thousands to Niassa, several hundreds to Zambezia province. The vast majority of internal displaced people are women. So you can imagine the tragedy for the displaced people, displaced women,” said Myrta Kaulard, UN Mozambique Resident Coordinator.

“The promotion of Gender Equality is one of the major priorities commitments of the government of Mozambique and the participation of women on different fronts is a fundamental condition for sustainable development. We are aware and it was mentioned here that women and girls are the first to be hit in a conflict context, therefore, one important thing to do is to reinforce dialogue around peace in the family and community context, enhance assistance to women and girls and other affected groups to help them recover and reintegrate so they can have an independent life”, said Mr. Sansão Buque, Deputy National Director of Gender, Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Action.


Ms. Phumzile Mlambo Ngcuka, UN Women Executive Director addressing Mr. Sansão Buque, Deputy National Director of Gender, Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Action, during the High-Level Dialogue on Women, Peace and Security, 25 May, 2021. Photo: UN Women/Jamal Lino André
The Executive Director also met with a vibrant group of Mozambican youth leaders and social activists at the Generation Equality Interactive Session, where she invited Mozambique to commit to Generation Equality Action Coalitions.

“My province has a high rate of early marriages and unwanted pregnancies, so there is a huge responsibility for boys like me to use the Generation Equality platform to engage more boys for behavior change and to work side-by-side with the feminist activists to eradicate gender-based violence and the early marriages”, said Tino Daniel, a youth activist attending the meeting.

Another participant, Clara Armando, emphasized the importance of platforms like Generation Equality. “We need more discussions around Women, Peace and Security; it is important to create this forum where the youth can express their aspirations.”

 Listening to their challenges, achievements and aspirations, Ms. Mlambo-Ngcuka said: “I commend the efforts of civil society organizations, and particularly youth, for helping to raise awareness on the increase in women’s and girls’ vulnerability in Cabo Delgado”. The Executive Director called on them to continue advocating for women’s and girl’s rights to fast-track gender equality in Mozambique.


UN Women Executive Director with Mozambican youth activists. Photo: UN Women/Jamal Lino André
The Generation Equality Forum taking place in Paris from 30 June to 2 July will see world leaders and activists coming together to make game-changing commitments under six Action Coalitions and the Generation Equality Compact on Women, Peace and Security and Humanitarian Action. These global, multi-stakeholder partnerships will create impact for women and girls everywhere through catalytic initiatives and investments to bridge the most critical and persistent gender equality gaps.

Press Release: Celebrities and world leaders from government, business and academia convene at UN Women’s global HeForShe Summit to release pioneering solutions for gender equality

Date: Thursday, May 27, 2021

Media Contact: Dinal Limbachia, dinal.limbachia[at]unwomen.org

Over the last six years, a unique group of 35 world leaders across government, business and academia made over 90 commitments to address some of today’s most pressing gender issues.
Known as HeForShe Champions, part of UN Women’s HeForShe initiative, they are Presidents, Prime Ministers, CEOs and academic leaders.
Convening as part of the global ChangeNOW online event, these HeForShe Champions shared their journey and their Proven Solutions: innovative and concrete ways to eliminate global gender issues.
(New York, 27 May 2021) - In the context of COVID-19 where gender inequalities have been exacerbated through a disproportional negative impact on millions of women and girls, HeForShe Champions convened at the virtual HeForShe Summit today to release their tried and tested methods that aim to accelerate positive progress.

“I am delighted that each of the HeForShe Champions is sharing what they have learned by launching their Proven Solutions” said Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of UN Women. “After today, with our partners providing almost 40 solutions, no one can say they do not know where to start. No one can be a bystander.”

Adding his voice to the global movement, former UK Prime Minister, Tony Blair, urged men to join him in backing the initiative and expressed the need for more male leaders to be part of the solution. “Gender equality, the advancement of rights for women and girls, is a just cause and it concerns everybody,” he said. “That’s why it’s so important that men and male leaders, who have so often been part of the problem, should become now part of the solution.”

HeForShe proven solutions: Key highlights
Each HeForShe Champion joined the initiative by making ambitious commitments designed to accelerate progress towards gender equality. At the HeForShe Summit, they released the culmination of these commitments: their Proven Solutions.

Engaging Tomorrow’s Leaders: To address the gender gap in STEM, US-based Stony Brook University’s Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) program offers a recruitment, retention and partnership plan. WISE has expanded the number of women in its incoming cohort by 25 per cent.
Ending Gender-Based Violence: HeForShe Champion Vodafone became the first company to offer 10 days' paid leave to domestic-abuse victims across all their territories. Their Bright Sky app also provides critical support services to around 100,000 survivors of abuse.
Pursuing Economic Justice: With a persistent global gender pay gap of around 23 per cent, Head of State Champion Iceland developed a groundbreaking new Equal Pay Certification that requires companies of 25 employees or more to undergo an audit ensuring equal pay for equal work.
Gender Equality Data: Key Highlights
Since 2014, HeForShe Champions from the private sector and academia have shared annual data on the representation of women. Below are key insights and trends over the last six years:

Over half of the corporate partners now have at least 40 per cent of their Board made up of women
62 per cent of corporate partners have increased the representation of women in their overall company compared to men, ranging from 24 per cent in 2014 to 57 per cent in 2020
The percentage of women in senior leadership positions has increased in 90 per cent of the university partners, ranging from 11 per cent in 2014 to 58 per cent in 2020
In a joint collaboration between HeForShe, YPO and the Financial Times, the Summit also saw the release of a unique Global Chief Executive Gender Equality Survey fielded to uncover groundbreaking insights about the journey women and men take to the corner office. Conducted earlier this year with 2,079 YPO member chief executives responding from 106 countries, the Survey provides needed research on what gender specific roadblocks leaders face in their path toward becoming a chief executive and gleaned actionable insights on how to remove them for future generations of leaders. Complete survey results can be found on the HeForShe and YPO websites.

The HeForShe Summit continues to build momentum towards the landmark Generation Equality Forum taking place from 30th June -2nd July: a global inflection point for gender equality. The Forum will see the launch of six Action Coalitions: multi-stakeholder partnerships that aim to make gender equality a reality for our generation. In the framework of the Generation Equality Action Coalitions, the new HeForShe Alliance, kicking off in 2021, will convene a fresh slate of heads of state, global CEOs and third sector leaders to engage men and boys as allies for gender equality across the six Action Coalitions.

Join the conversation: Follow @HeForShe@UN_Women on Twitter using the hashtag #HeForSheSummit#GenerationEquality

Strengthening police responses to gender-based violence crucial in lead up to Generation Equality Forum in Paris
As the world prepares to meet for the Generation Equality Forum in Paris, key global influencers in law enforcement commit to promoting gender-responsive policing to help end violence against women and girls around the world.

Date: Tuesday, May 25, 2021

UN Women, in partnership with the International Association of Women Police (IAWP) and the United Nations Office on Drug and Crime (UNODC), convened a global roundtable to discuss the benefits of gender-responsive policing in ending violence against women and girls.

Data shows that less than 1 in 10 women who seek help after experiencing violence turn to the police, and only a minority of cases of gender-based violence are ever formally reported to the police, with even fewer cases resulting in convictions.


The online event on 21 May included key global and regional decision-makers and influencers from within law enforcement and policing who considered how best to implement the recently launched Handbook on Gender-Responsive Police Services for Women and Girls Subject to Violence, and shared good practices from the criminal justice system in responding to violence against women and girls, including increased engagement of senior police leadership and support to survivors’ families.

“Cultural changes inside the police force can have extended impact, affecting more broadly how the justice system interacts with the public,” said Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, Executive Director of UN Women. “If we are to see real change for women and girls, we must address the many institutional and structural barriers, patriarchal systems and negative stereotyping around gender that exist in security, police and judicial institutions.”

“Professionally trained and equipped female officers can also play a vital role in removing the barriers that women and girls face in navigating complex criminal justice systems. We know that when female officers are more visible, women and girls in the community are more likely to believe that their concerns are being heard and seriously addressed,” said Mlambo-Ngcuka.

Miwa Kato, Director of the Division of Operations at UNODC, agreed adding that policing must do no harm to survivors of violence..

 “We know from our longstanding experience in supporting police institutions across the world that police responses are crucial, not only to protect women and girls from violence, but also to increase the trust that reported cases will be taken seriously and survivors treated with respect and dignity,” said Kato. “Police responses to violence against women and girls must be provided with due diligence and must not cause further harm or secondary victimization to survivors.”

With the Generation Equality Forum in Paris happening next month, strengthening police and justice sector responses is firmly at the centre of the work of the Generation Equality Action Coalition on Gender-based Violence – a multi-stakeholder and inter-generational partnership with the objective of driving long-term change and end gender-based violence.

In addition to discussing the implementation of the new Handbook that is being rolled out in over 20 countries, the roundtable shared experiences on police responses during COVID-19, as well as the importance of institutional self-reflection and ‘doing things differently’. Participants also emphasized the importance of listening to survivors and understanding their needs and greater investment and emphasis on prevention of violence against women and girls.

“Gender-responsive policing has long been regarded as a vital component of building trust with the communities served,” said Deborah Friedl, President of IAWP. “This principle applies to all countries, and never more so than in these difficult times, when we have seen trust and confidence in law enforcement shaken. Ensuring that our policies and practices encourage equality of protection for all citizens is an essential first step.However, gender-responsive policing also requires an assurance that policies and culture reflect gender sensitivity and inclusion. This ensures that agencies are able to be reflective of the communities they serve.”

Participants at the roundtable included members of UN Women, the IAWP, the UN Police Division, the International Association of Chiefs of Police, the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police, the Association of Caribbean Commissioners of Police, Interpol and the European Network of Policewomen, among others.

“Without effective community engagement, even the most well-trained police personnel will remain ill-prepared to prevent, detect and investigate crimes, especially those happening in the domestic space against women and girls.” Said UN Police Adviser, Luís Carrilho“Working in partnership with the Generation Equality Action Coalition on Gender-based Violence offers a sound cooperation frameworkfor UN Police to work together with national, regional and global colleagues to draw attention to, and actively address, this pernicious form of violent crime."

Current gender-responsive policing efforts are focused on building trust between the police and local communities, improving collaboration with other service providers, and supporting police middle managers to deliver survivor-centred approaches, such as placing the obligation on perpetrators to leave the home, not victims and survivors.

You can find the Handbook here and follow the links for more information on UN Women’s work on essential services and UNODC’s work on police and justice responses to gender-based violence against women.

Media Advisory: Celebrities and global leaders convene at UN Women’s HeForShe Summit to unveil innovative solutions for gender equality
Musicians and film stars join forces with presidents, prime ministers, global CEOs and university heads to share best practices as HeForShe Champions

Date: Monday, May 24, 2021

Over the last six years, a unique group of 35 world leaders across government, business and academia made over 90 commitments to address some of today’s most pressing gender issues. Known as HeForShe Champions, part of UN Women’s HeForShe initiative, they are Presidents, Prime Ministers, CEOs and academic leaders. Convening as part of the global ChangeNOW event, these Champions will share their journey and share their “Proven Solutions”, innovative and concretes ways to eliminate global issues such as unequal pay, lack of equal representation at leadership and gender-based violence.

WHO:

H.E. Mr. Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada
H.E. Mr. Paul Kagame, President of Rwanda
H.E. Mr. Guðni Th. Jóhannesson, President of Iceland
H.E. Mr. Sauli Niinistö, President of Finland
Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, Under-Secretary-General & Executive Director, UN Women
Anita Bhatia, Deputy Executive Director for UN Coordination, Partnerships, Resources and Sustainability, UN Women
Geri Horner, Singer-songwriter, Author and Businesswoman
Simon Pegg, Actor, Comedian, Screenwriter & Producer
And many others – see full list of speakers here
WHERE: Virtually, as part of the global ChangeNOW Online Summit

WHEN: Thursday, 27 May, 10:00 - 12:00 P.M. EST / 4:00 - 6:00 P.M. CET

AGENDA & REGISTRATION: https://www.heforshe.org/en/summit

Media wishing to attend the event should register by May 27 at 9:00 A.M. EST / 3:00 P.M. CET. For media interview requests please contact dinal.limbachia[at]unwomen.org.

Join the conversation: Follow @HeForShe @UN_Women on Twitter and share your messages using the hashtag #HeForSheSummit#GenerationEquality

From where I stand: “I deserve to live, and work and do whatever is needed to make my daughter happy.”
Former Lebanese prison inmate Oula Abdo, 24, reflects on the challenges of life after prison and how she is getting back on her feet to embrace life again.

Date: Sunday, April 25, 2021

Originally published on UN Women's regional website for the Arab States and North Africa


Oula Abdo. Picture UN Women/Dar Al Mussawir

 My ex-husband was very abusive and a drug addict; sometimes he would lock me up at home for days, leaving me with whatever food there was at home. He was formerly a taxi driver and used to own a bakery, but he sold everything for drugs, even the furniture in our house.

I endured the abuse for a long time and never said anything, but when he started hitting my daughter, I could not take it anymore. I left him, and I filed for divorce and moved in with my parents.

In my community, it is unacceptable for women to divorce, and my family treated me like an outcast. My siblings kicked my daughter and I out of the house, so I sought help from friends who rented me a small apartment. My ex-husband could not accept the reality that I was living alone with my daughter in a house rented by my friends, so he falsely reported me to the police on charges of prostitution, but the accusations did not stick. He would pass by occasionally to see our daughter and would even ask me to get back together with him.

One time, my daughter was playing in the living room, and she found two bags of drugs under the couch; I immediately handed the bags over to my ex-husband and asked him not to come to my house again as long as he was still on drugs. He eventually turned himself in and accused me of selling drugs with him, and that is how I went to prison for a year and three months. 

My mental health in prison deteriorated a lot, and my daughter, who was staying with my parents, had frequent asthma attacks and would be rushed to the hospital for emergency care, and I could not be there to hold her hand. I used to cry every day - everything reminded me of my daughter.

I signed up for the training programme with Tripoli-based NGO Al Jamhiyaa al Loubnaniya Al Khairiya lil Islaah Wal Taahil two months before my release - I was the second to sign my name because I was in dire need of psychological help. Initially while I was still in prison, I was receiving psychosocial support.

I left prison three months ago, and enrolled in the second phase of the training, at a sewing workshop run by Al Jamhiyaa al Loubnaniya Al Khairiya lil Islaah Wal Taahil. None of us who attended the training skipped a single day because we wanted to be there; we wanted to get out of the house and to be part of a community where all we do is learn, laugh and be there for each other. It helped me feel like I could overcome my depression and that I could stand on my own feet again. It made me realize that I must not remain broken.

I used to self-harm; now I refuse to. I deserve to live, and work and do whatever is needed to make my daughter happy; I need to live if not only for myself, but also for my daughter. I refuse to let my daughter live what I lived through. When I first got out of prison, I refused to look at anyone in the eye; I would walk with my head down, but everything has changed now. My personality is more vigorous, and I am confident to face society; I believe in myself. Now, I dare to reply back to anyone who disrespects me.
My parents have also become more supportive. Thanks to this training, they regained their trust in me, and they are happy that I am leaving my house and that I am working. I already have two clients who asked me to shorten a pair of pants and a jacket, and I plan to work on these newly acquired skills to provide income for my daughter and me." 




Oula was part of a UN Women programme catering to current as well as former female inmates in Lebanon, conducted in partnership with Tripoli-based NGO Al Jamhiyaa al Loubnaniya Al Khairiya lil Islaah Wal Taahil (The Philanthropic Lebanese Association for Reform and Rehabilitation) and made possible by the generous support of the Government of Japan. The programme supports the rehabilitation of prisoners, and their transition from prison back into society. It includes psychosocial support sessions while inmates were still in prison, as well as skills-based training in sewing, and cooking for inmates who were released. At the end of the six-month training, trainees were provided with assets to enable them to start their own businesses.

Together: Resisting, supporting, healing!

Date: Friday, May 14, 2021

Originally published on un-women.medium.com

For many people with diverse sexual orientations, gender identities, gender expressions, and sex characteristics, acts of resistance, support, and healing are a way of life. A dream held fast, a fist raised in solidarity, a listening ear—these life-preserving acts, seen and unseen, big and small, are performed each day in the face of stigmatization, discrimination, and violence experienced by LGBTIQ+ people.

In every region of the world, LGBTIQ+ people are routinely denied their rights to freedom, safety, and equality. They may face pervasive discrimination, experience intolerable acts of violence that go unpunished, and lack access to justice. These experiences cannot be separated from struggles they may also face on account of other intersecting identities.

Throughout this year’s moments of collective crisis, celebration, and all that is in between, LGBTIQ+ activists have continued to fight against inequalities, anchored in and strengthened by the work of Black people, Indigenous people, and people of colour, to push for a safer, more equal world.

This year, the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia (#IDAHOBIT) , 17 May, comes as we head towards the Generation Equality Forum in Paris (30 June – 2 July), which will mobilize a series of ambitious and transformative actions to address the most critical barriers to gender equality, across all sectors, age groups, and recognizing people in all their diversities – including LGBTIQ+ communities.

On IDAHOBIT, we bring you the voices of eight LGBTIQ+ activists sharing their stories of resisting, supporting, and healing.

Bianka Rodríguez

Bianka Rodríguez. Photo Courtesy Bianka Rodríguez.
Bianka Rodríguez is President and Executive Director of the San Salvador-based NGO Comcavis Trans and winner of the UNHCR Nansen Refugee Award, a prestigious annual prize that honours those who have gone to extraordinary lengths to support forcibly displaced and stateless people.

“My work as an activist and human rights defender promotes the empowerment and autonomy of LGBTIQ+ people,” says Rodríguez, who works with communities to provide education on LGBTIQ+, human rights, and political topics. In the past four year, Rodríguez has created seven secure spaces for individuals seeking protection from discrimination, humiliation, and violence in El Salvador. “Many LGBTIQ+ people decide to leave the country to preserve their life,” she says.

Working in collaboration with multiple organizations, Rodríguez helped to pass legislation in January 2020 that protects, aids, and offers durable solutions to internally displaced people, including LGBTIQ+ people, and today she is pushing for a law that would recognize and give rights to trans people in El Salvador.

“Every achievement gives me strength to carry on fighting for the rights and improving life conditions of LGBTIQ+ people and other vulnerable groups,” she shares.

Dandara Rudsan

Dandara Rudsan. Photo: Yvi Oliveira.
Dandara Rudsan is a Black and trans activist from Altamira, in the Brazilian state of Pará. She currently serves as an environmental racism specialist in the Public Defender's Office of Pará State. Rudsan says her activism began when she realized the invisibility of Amazonian bodies, particularly LGBTIQ+ Amazonian bodies.

“For the thirteenth time, Brazil leads the global ranking of trans people murdered. Imagine if trans women from the Amazon rainforest, who are invisible, were counted?” says Rudsan. “Visibility is linked to our survival.”

Rudsan says that while she celebrates the Brazilian Supreme Court’s 2019 decision to uphold the criminalization of homophobia and transphobia, continued and collective work is needed for true healing. “When I talk about collective work, it is not only among LGBTIQ+ people,” says Rudsan. “A very solid alliance between trans and cisgender women is strengthening our work, and, together, we can work on tools for the defense of life.”

Read more about Rudsan’s work to protect the traditional communities in the Amazon and their territories.

Kamanda Bosco

Kamanda Bosco. Photo courtesy of Kamanda Bosco
Kamanda Bosco, from Uganda, is a transgender youth activist from Uganda, advocating for LGBTIQ+ rights. As a member of the Generation Equality Youth Task Force, a Youth Voices Ambassador at the 2018 AIDS Conference, and a 2020 United Nations Religion Fellow of OutRight Action International, Bosco has worked in a variety of ways to challenge systems of oppression and empower transgender and gender-diverse persons.

Bosco highlights that pushing for LGBTIQ+ rights is particularly important today, as we battle COVID-19 and its fallouts, because the pandemic has brought many challenges for LGBTIQ+ people; homelessness due to homophobic families or landlords, mental health challenges, disparate levels of unemployment, police brutality against LGBTIQ+ sex workers at curfew hours, and decreased access to healthcare services such as anti retro-viral therapy and hormone replacement therapy are just some of the issues Bosco seeks to change.

“Social, cultural, and legal change is the result of collective actions of awakened consciousness: equality, respect, empathy and love,” shares Bosco.

As part of the Generation Equality Task Youth Force, Bosco is pushing for the acceleration of women’s rights and gender equality at the upcoming Generation Equality Forum in Paris (30 June – 2 July). The Forum will announce a set of catalytic Action Coalitions to address the issues that matter to all women and girls—from gender-based violence to climate change, technology, health, and economic systems. “We need to advance gender equality using a human rights approach that recognizes and includes women, in their diversity,” says Bosco.

Sofiia Hrubova

Sofiia Hrubova. Photo courtesy of Sofiia Hrubova
Sofiia Hrubova is a LGBTIQ+ and disability rights advocate and ally from Ukraine. She works as a psychologist, providing counselling and support to LGBTIQ+ people. “Through psychological support, I help my patients find confidence and connect to their feelings, physical, and emotional states,” says Hrubova.

Supporting individuals in their journeys to safely integrate with communities is another aspect of Hrubova’s work, and she notes that, in some cases, the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated pre-existing issues and brought new challenges for LGBTIQ+ people. Many have faced poor working conditions, disrupted social connections, difficulty communicating with partners, anxiety, and more.

Despite the difficulties, Hrubova says she sees people striving for a better future, finding solutions, and building their own boundaries—a skill that can be learned at any age, she adds.

Matcha Phorn-in

Matcha Phorn-in. Photo Courtesy Matcha Phorn-in.
Matcha Phorn-in, 41 years old, is a lesbian feminist human-rights defender in Thailand. For fifteen years, Phorn-in has led the Sangsan Anakot Yawachon Development Project, a civil society organization that has empowered approximately 4,000 stateless and landless indigenous women, girls, and young LBTIQ+ in Chiang Mai, Mae Hong Son and Tak provinces.

Every year, people in these provinces are affected by landslides, floods, and fires, and the needs of LGBTIQ+ people are often ignored by disaster relief programmes in the aftermath. “Humanitarian programmes tend to be heteronormative and can reinforce the patriarchal structure of society if they do not take into account sexual and gender diversity,” Phorn-in explains. For instance, lesbian couples may not be recognized as family units and excluded from relief efforts.

“In addressing structural change, we are advocating for and working towards equality of all kinds: non-discrimination, non-violence, and non-heterosexism for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, queer, questioning, and asexual people,” says Phorn-in. “We will never give up the fight.”

Read more about how Phorn-in advocates for inclusivity in the humanitarian system.

Rafiul Alom Rahman

Rafiul Alom Rahman. Photo Courtesy Rafiul Alom Rahman.
Rafiul Alom Rahman is the founder of The Queer Muslim Project, South Asia’s largest youth-led online network of queer, Muslim, and allied individuals. Through digital storytelling, affirmative art practices, and the creation of sustained, supportive online and offline networks, the project has fostered a growing global community of more than 27,000 people.

“By creating avenues for queer, Muslim youth to represent their own stories, identify opportunities for solidarity, collaborate across borders, and heal, we are shifting public perceptions, building a stronger, more intersectional South Asian queer movement, and affirming our existence and fundamental rights,” says Rahman. He notes that it is important that the project is rooted in India but for a global audience. “In this way we are reclaiming and affirming queer, Muslim visibility in India to the world, which is especially important with rising Islamophobia in the past years.”

When asked what inspires his activism, Rahman cites the everyday resilience, courage, and hope of LGBTIQ+ youth around the world, who continue to learn, grow, thrive, and tell their stories.

Noor KC

Noor KC. Photo: Roli Shrestha.
Noor KC, 21 years old, is a trans woman who advocates for trans women’s rights in Nepal.

KC says she developed a feminist perspective from a young age; her mother was the head of her family in a community where women are seldom seen in decision-making positions. When KC came out as a trans woman, her family was supportive.

Throughout her transition, KC sought the help of counselling services, and today she offers those same counselling services to LGBTIQ+ people.

“Sharing and connecting brings us together and makes us feel lighter. We become a support system for one another,” says KC.

Currently, KC is working to advance gender recognition and name change issues in Nepal’s citizenship processes.

“Currently, those who do not identify as male or female are clubbed under ‘Other’,” says KC. “We want it to be more specific, so that our citizenship does justice to our identity. We want to belong.”

LZ*

LZ. Photo: UN Women/Dar Al Mussawir.
LZ is an advocate for women, trans people, and gender minorities in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. She works to produce Arabic language information for trans individuals, assess the needs of trans people in the MENA region, and collaborate at regional and international levels, such as creating a regional trans network and holding consultations for the 2021 high-level meeting of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS.

“The fight for LGBTIQ+ rights is of the utmost importance, especially for transgender people in MENA,” says LZ. “They have always been represented by people other than trans people and without any significant change throughout the years.”

LZ’s own experiences of injustice are at the heart of her work and activism. “I have experienced discrimination in many places of work and education, had difficulty finding shelter, and faced prejudices just for being trans,” she says. “I am trying to prevent others from feeling what I have felt in the past.”

*This individual’s name has been changed to protect their identity.