women

The number of women working in STEM fields is growing.
Unsplash/wocintechchat

For women in e-commerce, ‘entrepreneurship means freedom’

8 August 2021
Women

Entrepreneurship can mean more freedom for women according to the first Latin-American advocate of eTrade for All, an initiative developed by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) to expand and promote the digital economy, especially in low and middle-income countries.

UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed meets women producers at a farmers’ market in Circo Massimo, Rome.
UN Photo

Farmers the ‘lifeblood of our food systems’, deputy UN chief highlights, ahead of key summit

24 July 2021
Women

Farmers, especially women and indigenous people, work tirelessly to put food on our tables. UN Deputy Secretary General Amina Mohammed met on Saturday women producers at a farmers’ market in Circo Massimo, Rome, ahead of the Food Systems Pre-Summit taking place next week.

File photo showing a general view of the Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council in session.
UN Photo/Jean-Marc Ferré

‘No place’ for coups in today’s world, UN chief tells Myanmar military 

22 February 2021
Peace and Security

On the opening day of a new UN Human Rights Council session on Monday, UN Secretary-General António Guterres reiterated his “full support to the people of Myanmar”, three weeks after the military takeover that has brought thousands out onto the streets in protest. 

A health worker distributes hygiene supplies to a family in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
UN Women/Fahad Kaizer

The virus that shut down the world: The yawning gulf between rich and poor

25 December 2020
Economic Development

Inequality between the rich and poor worsened during the COVID-19 pandemic and poverty increased, for the first time in decades. In part two of our series on how the virus has changed the world, we look at the ways the pandemic has pushed back efforts to create more equitable societies.

Labels with the names of victims of femicide, as well as the 'unknown' represent the victims of femicide at an exhibition in Mexico.
UN Women/Alfredo Guerrero

UN expert calls for urgent action to end ‘pandemic of femicide and violence against women’ 

23 November 2020
Human Rights

COVID-19 is overshadowing what has become a “pandemic of femicide” and related gender-based violence against women and girls, said independent UN human rights expert Dubravka Šimonović on Monday, calling for the universal establishment of national initiatives to monitor and prevent such killings.  

Promised a job in a pharmacy, this 21-year-old migrant woman was tricked into prostitution after leaving Nigeria to pursue a better life.
© UNICEF/Ashley Gilbertson

Greater equality a ‘prerequisite’ for overcoming global crises: Bachelet 

12 October 2020
Human Rights

In reviewing, assessing and acknowledging the effects of the Transatlantic Slave Trade, enslavement and colonialism, the groundbreaking Durban World Conference of 2001, represented a “milestone” in the common fight against racism, xenophobia and related intolerance, the UN human rights chief said on Monday. 

Martha Maocha runs a detergent manufacturing company but has recently started making hand sanitising gel which protects against COVID-19.
ILO/KB Mpofu

Zimbabwe: COVID-19 must not be used to stifle freedoms, says UN rights office

24 July 2020
Human Rights

The coronavirus pandemic should not be used as an excuse to clamp down on fundamental freedoms, the UN human rights office (OHCHR) reminded authorities in Zimbabwe on Friday.

Doctor taking temperature to a family of returnees quarantined in temporary shelter in Venezuela.
OCHA/Gema Cortes

Health experts concerned about indirect effects of COVID-19 on women and youth

12 June 2020
Health

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to escalate, the World Health Organization (WHO) is concerned about its impact on women, children and young people.

People shop in Azerbaijan's Sederek Market.
UN News/Elizabeth Scaffidi

New report from UN Economic Commission for Europe measures progress on Global Goals

17 March 2020
SDGs

As all eyes, hearts and minds focus on the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) garnered attention on Tuesday when a new UN report revealed that only ten countries in the European region have levels of air pollution below the World Health Organization (WHO) recommended limit. 

Malawian peacekeepers serving with the United Nations Operation in Côte d’Ivoire (UNOCI) greet children while on patrol in August 2012.
ONUCI/Patricia Esteve

‘Real change’ involving women in peace and security, still too slow, Guterres tells Security Council

29 October 2019
Women

The Women Peace and Security agenda must continue to be “one of the top priorities of the United Nations”, Secretary-General António Guterres told the Security Council on Tuesday, in an open debate on how best to accelerate change.