Women

IMO

UN shipping agency urges more women to climb aboard, fuel sustainable growth

26 September 2019

The historically male-dominated shipping industry should clear the decks for a new generation of women, whose empowerment would help fuel economic growth, and speed up the drive towards “safe, secure, clean and sustainable shipping”.

©FAO/Alessandra Benedetti

Steps taken to end Saudi ‘guardianship’ system for women, ‘encouraging’ start

8 August 2019
Middle East

Allowing Saudi women to apply for passports and travel without their guardians’ permission is “an encouraging move” towards the “complete abolition of the ‘guardianship’ system,” independent United Nations rights experts said on Thursday, but more action is needed to fully dismantle these restrictions.

UNICEF/Marco Dormino

Greater investment in family-friendly policies critical to support breastfeeding – UNICEF

31 July 2019
Global

While the benefits of breastfeeding for both children and mothers are extensive, policies that support nursing, particularly in workplaces, are not yet available to most mothers worldwide, the Head of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said on Wednesday.  

UNAMA/Fardin Waezi

Voices of Afghan women ‘must be heard at the table in the peace process and beyond’ UN deputy chief tells Security Council

26 July 2019
Middle East

Afghan women have “paid a high price” during their country’s nearly four decades of conflict, the United Nations deputy chief said on Friday, addressing the Security Council a day after Kabul had been hit with a fresh round of “horrific” bomb attacks.

UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe

New President of top UN economic and social body to push for development financing, fundamental freedoms ‘for all’

25 July 2019
Global

In her inaugural speech as President of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), Mona Juul, of Norway, underscored that the body’s mandate today remains “as relevant and compelling” as it did back in 1945 when it was tasked with “fostering international cooperation on economic, social, and cultural issues”.

UNAMA/Fardin Waezi

Inclusive peace in Afghanistan means ‘women at the centre’ urges UN deputy chief in Kabul

21 July 2019
Asia Pacific

The UN deputy chief issued an impassioned plea on Sunday for Afghans to reconcile with the past and put “women at the centre” of all efforts to forge a durable peace, and a truly inclusive political process where women’s voices are truly heard. 

© UNICEF/UN0322054/Kolari

UNICEF urges ‘transformative shift’ in family-friendly work policies to reap ‘huge’ benefits

18 July 2019

Because the “earliest years” of life are the most crucial, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) published a list of new family-friendly policy recommendations on Friday it says will likely reap “huge” benefits.

World Bank/Graham Crouch

25 years after population conference, women still face challenges to ‘well-being and human rights’, says UN chief

16 July 2019
Global

Many women and girls “still face enormous challenges to their health, well-being and human rights”, Secretary-General António Guterres told a High-level General Assembly meeting on Tuesday conevened to mark the 25th anniversary of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD), a milestone in reproductive health and rights. 

UN Women India

‘No hope’ global development goals can be achieved without women, says UN Assembly President

15 July 2019
Global

Without the full participation and leadership of women, “we have no hope” of realizing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the President of the United Nations General Assembly told gender equality leaders on Monday.

UN Women/Ruth McDowall

FROM THE FIELD: Changing world, changing families

25 June 2019
Global

The world is changing rapidly and so are families according to the United Nations gender-focused agency, UN Women.