Women

©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.

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”.

© UNICEF/Sokol

Friday’s Daily Brief: solidarity with Japan, call for DR Congo support, family-friendly workplaces, hottest June ever, Venezuela and Afghanistan updates

19 July 2019

In today’s Daily Brief: UN stands in solidarity with Japan; avoid panic over DR Congo Ebola emergency; ‘transformative shift’ needed towards family-friendly work policies; hottest June EVER; Venezuelan migrant dangers; stop targeting Afghanistan civilians call.

© 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/Natalia Cieslik

Tuesday’s Daily Brief: funding for Palestine refugees, families today, tech surveillance

25 June 2019
Global

This Tuesday, we cover: a key fundraising conference for the UN Palestine refugee agency (UNRWA); a new UN report on families in 2019-2020; a call by an independent human rights expert to ban surveillance technology; 20,000 migrants rescued in the Sahara; and malnutrition in India.

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.

UN Women/Mariken Harbitz

New UN report on families in a changing world puts ‘women’s rights at their core’

25 June 2019
Global

While women’s rights have advanced over the decades, gender inequalities and other fundamental human rights violations within families persist, according to a flagship study released on Tuesday, from the UN’s gender empowerment agency.

© UNICEF/Marko Kokic

FROM THE FIELD: Children in warzones denied right to education 

24 June 2019
Global

Millions of children around the world are being denied a “safe place to learn”, due to ongoing conflicts according to the UN Children’s Fund, UNICEF.

MINUSMA/Harandane Dicko

Wednesday’s Daily Brief: ending rape in war, Khashoggi, forced displacement, North Korea and Mali

19 June 2019
Global

On Wednesday, these are the main stories: International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict; the UN independent investigator for the killing of dissident Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi presents findings which show State responsibility; in 2018, world hit record number of war-displaced people; South Korea sends food aid to North; new attack in northern Mali.

UNICEF/Fuad

Yemen: maternal and newborn health ‘on the brink of total collapse’, UNICEF alerts

14 June 2019
Middle East

After more than four years of grinding conflict in Yemen, healthcare for mothers and their babies is “on the brink of collapse”, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) warned on Friday, in a report that highlights the difficulties of childbirth and parenting in a war zone.