Women

In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Jeanette Buse Lasi, a widowed mother of four, sits with her children inside a communal shelter in an IDP camp in Bunia.
© UNICEF/Guy Hubbard

Widows must not be left out of efforts to build back better after COVID-19

23 June 2020
Global

When countries begin building back from the COVID-19 pandemic they must also work towards dismantling laws that discriminate against women, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said in his message for International Widow’s Day on Tuesday.

The UN Deputy Secretary-General, Amina Mohammed (centre), interacts with a young girl during a visit to Djibouti in the Horn of Africa in October 2019.
United Nations

First Person: Ending violence against women - ‘men and boys — I am talking to you’, says UN Deputy Chief

22 June 2020

Men and boys who “turn a blind eye” to violence against women, must accept that they are “accomplices to violence” according to the UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed. 

Tanzanian female peacekeepers interact with women in Beni, DRC.
TANZBATT 7/Ibrahim Mayambua

Women integral to battling coronavirus and pushing for lasting peace and security

11 June 2020
Global

The coronavirus pandemic has brought into sharp focus the differentiated impacts that COVID-19 is having on women, including new obstacles to their meaningful participation in peace processes.

Lucy Atokoru, 28 breastfeeds her baby at her home in Omugo, Arua District.
© UNICEF/Zahara Abdul

Countries need to do more to stop harmful marketing of breast-milk substitutes, says UN

27 May 2020
Global

Despite efforts to stop the harmful promotion of breast-milk substitutes, countries are still falling short in protecting parents from misleading information, according to a new UN report released Wednesday. 

A two day old child sleeps next to its mother at a maternity ward in Rajasthan, India.
© UNICEF/Prashanth Vishwanathan

Coronavirus: Health system overload threatens pregnant women and newborns

7 May 2020
Global

The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) estimates that 116 million babies have been born since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, and on Thursday called for governments to maintain lifesaving services for pregnant women and newborns that are under increasing threat from strained health services and supply chains.

A pregnant woman in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is cared for by midwives as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to spread across Africa.
© UNFPA DRC

UN celebrates midwives during COVID-19 crisis because ‘childbirth doesn’t stop for pandemics’

5 May 2020
Global

With many national health systems totally overwhelmed by the COVID-19 pandemic, midwives are demonstrating courage and resilience as they support women and newborns in the toughest of circumstances, the head of the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) said on Tuesday.

A woman in Mali works in a greenhouse which is pioneering substantial agricultural techniques close to the capital, Bamako.
© World Bank/Dominic Chavez

FROM THE FIELD: Women act as ‘agents of change’ in climate emergency

29 April 2020
Asia Pacific

Women around the world can act as “agents of change” and find solutions to the challenges provoked by the global climate crisis, according to the UN’s specialized gender agency, UN Women.
 

Displaced women and girls face an increased risk of gender violence due to the coronavirus pandemic.
©UNHCR/Ruben Salgado Escudero

Displaced and stateless women and girls face heightened risk of violence amid coronavirus pandemic

20 April 2020

As COVID-19 continues to take lives and change communities around the world, the virus is also creating massive protection risks for women and girls forced to flee their homes, a top official at the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) said on Monday, stressing that global protection staff are on high alert and adapting life-saving support programmes for those subjected to violence. 

A client in Cambodia supported by IIX’s WLB1 (Women’s Livelihood Bond 1).
Impact Investment Exchange

Put women and girls at centre of COVID-19 recovery: UN Secretary-General

9 April 2020
Global

Limited gains in gender equality and women’s rights made over the decades are in danger of being rolled back due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the UN Secretary-General said on Thursday.

The UN Deputy Secretary-General, Amina Mohammed (center left) joins a march in support of International Women's Day in Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea in March 2020.
United Nations

UN backs global action to end violence against women and girls amid COVID-19 crisis

6 April 2020
Global

The United Nations is advocating immediate global action to end all forms of violence against women and girls in the midst of a global upsurge related to the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic across the world.