2017 was a watershed year for women and women’s rights around the world.

From the Global Women’s March last January, to the #MeToo movement, women around the world stood up and demanded their right to be heard.

They insisted on the right to thrive in an environment free of violence, discrimination, harassment and stigmatization.

In this first edition of our UN News interview podcast, we speak with Lakshmi Puri, the Deputy Executive Director of the UN Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, or UN Women.

She was part of the original leadership team at the inception of the UN agency, in 2011, and is stepping down at the end of January 2018.

So how does the UN build on the huge momentum for women’s rights that’s impacting on politics, society and culture everywhere today?

Fatima Mendez sat down with Ms. Puri, to discuss the advancement of women and how UN Women plans to further the global agenda for gender equality; a goal to be reached by 2030.

Acronyms:

• CSW (Commission on the Status for Women)
• EPIC initiative (Equal Pay International Coalition)
• FGM (Female Genital Mutilation)
• IOM (International Organization for Migration)
• SDG (Sustainable Development Goals)
• Planet 50-50 by 2030
• Step It Up for Gender Equality Media Compact
• #Stoptherobbery
• #Unstereotype

Music:

• “Taking Flight by Chuck Lovejoy.  Licensed by OMNI.
• “Wounds” by Ketsa