women and girls

Students in grades 1 to 6 have restarted school in Herat, Afgahnistan, but girls in grades 7-12 have not been attending classes.
© UNICEF/Sayed Bidel

Afghanistan: Girls’ education must be a given, urges deputy UN chief

24 September 2021
Human Rights

Ensuring all Afghan girls can be educated must be “a zero condition” for the Taliban, before international recognition of their de facto authority, UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed said on Friday.

In 2016, UNFPA and UNICEF launched a global programme to tackle child marriage in twelve of the most high-prevalence countries, including Nepal.
UNFPA-UNICEF/Kiran Panday

Harmful practices rob women and girls of ‘right to reach their full potential’

30 June 2020
Women

Urgent, and accelerated action is needed to end female genital mutilation, child marriage, and other “harmful practices” and abuses carried out against women and girls, the UN sexual and reproductive health agency (UNFPA), said on Tuesday, in its latest major report on the state of the world’s population. 

Students in computer programming class at Al Shami Girls Secondary School in the West Bank.
World Bank/Arne Hoel

Teenage girls' education, ‘an indispensable foundation’ for achieving development goals: Guterres

11 February 2020
Women

Promoting education for adolescent girls is an “indispensable foundation for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals”,  Secretary-General António Guterres declared at the launch event of the Drive for 5 education initiative at UN Headquarters on Tuesday, hosted by the Irish Mission to the United Nations.

A schoolgirl in Uganda interacts with classmates.
© UNICEF/Zahara Abdul

Day of the Girl Child spotlights 25 years of progress, with more on the horizon

11 October 2019
Human Rights

The world’s one billion young girls, are being celebrated on Friday as an “unscripted and unstoppable” force for change, with 11 October designated each year the International Day of the Girl Child.  

The UN Trust Fund in support of victims of sexual exploitation and abuse has supported women in the Democratic Republic of the Congo receive vocational trainings like mushroom farming. (October 2018)
MONUSCO/Michael Ali

Righting a wrong: UN Fund helps thousands of sex abuse survivors rebuild their lives

21 June 2019
UN Affairs

About 3,340 women, children and men, many of whom are victims, have been given support to recover from or help put an end to the scourge of sexual exploitation or abuse (SEA) by United Nations personnel, thanks to a Trust Fund established in 2016. On Friday, a meeting was held at UN Headquarters in New York, to report on the progress and impact made, and collect new pledges from Member States.

An Auxiliary Nurse Midwife performs critical ante-natal services in Shrawasti, India.
UNICEF/Vishwanathan

International Day of the Midwife: 5 things you should know

5 May 2019
Women

Why are midwives important? What impact have they had on mothers’ and babies’ health? As the United Nations celebrates midwives across the world on Sunday, here are five things you should know about the critical role they play in communities.