UN Gender Focus: peacekeeping, displaced women and women's entrepreneurship
We need more women peacekeepers, says UN commander
It is vital that more women play a bigger role in UN peacekeeping operations, a veteran forces commander said on Wednesday. Major General Kristin Lund was speaking in Geneva, where she was attending a ceremony to honour more than 3,500 UN peacekeepers who've lost their lives since the first mission in 1948. Investing in human rights training for peace is also key amid “much more complex” missions, the former UN Cyprus force chief told Daniel Johnson.
Former refugee helps displaced women amplify their voices
Women and girls form the majority of displaced populations, which increases their vulnerability to exploitation, abuse and violence, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM). But far from being helpless victims, women and girls have much to contribute in responding to displacement crises, the agency adds. It’s a belief shared by Mina Jaf, founder and Director of Women Refugee Route (WRR), an NGO that focuses on women and girl refugees’ access to information on their rights. She took part in a recent IOM event at UN Headquarters in New York on "Amplifying women’s voices from the displacement Global Crisis." Mina was herself a refugee. Born in Kurdistan, she and her family were forced to flee to Denmark when she was 11 years old. She starts by telling May Yaacoub about that journey.
UN promotes women’s entrepreneurship in Western Afghanistan
Across Afghanistan, women’s employment opportunities are limited. In remote areas of the country, women rarely work outside the home because of cultural constraints and the ongoing conflict. Women who do work in rural areas typically find jobs in the public sector as teachers and healthcare professionals. Thanks in part to international support and government programmes, women in the western region of Afghanistan are coming together to focus on starting and running successful businesses. Fraidoon Poya at the UN mission in the country, UNAMA, has the story.
Presenter: Dianne Penn
Production Assistant: Ana Carmo
Duration: 10'00″