women

A mother and her new born baby at the National Health Center for Mother and Child, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. (4 September 2015)
UNICEF/Jan Zammit

Breastfeeding ‘for a healthier planet’

1 August 2020
Health

World Breastfeeding Week got underway on Saturday, with the UN urging communities everywhere to “support breastfeeding for a healthier planet”. Health agency (WHO) and the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) issued a joint call for governments to protect and promote women’s access to skilled breastfeeding counselling - a critical component of breastfeeding support.

A 10-year-old girl, who was a victim of abuse, stands in front of her house in Maradi, Niger.
© UNICEF/Frank Dejong

COVID-19 intensifies ‘brutal crime’ of sexual violence in conflict 

19 June 2020
Human Rights

Conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV) is “a brutal crime” that is being exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, the UN chief underscored on Friday, the International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict.

New Orleans-based Kai Bussant repairs and refurbishes hats.
ILO Photo/John Isaac

FIRST PERSON: Feeling the milliner’s vibe

25 December 2019
Women

The International Labour Organization (ILO) is marking its centenary in 2019 and as part of the commemoration has launched a photography project called “Dignity at Work: The American Experience” to document the working life of people across the United States. UN News joined the ILO on a visit to the southern US state of Louisiana. 

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.

2018 Nobel Peace Prize winner, Nadia Murad, is the UNODC Goodwill Ambassador for the Dignity of Survivors of Human Trafficking. In this photo from 2017, she is participating in a panel discussion at UN Headquarters in New York.
UN Photo/Manuel Elías

Nobel Peace Prize goes to UN Goodwill Ambassador and Congolese doctor, highlighting sexual violence

5 October 2018
Women

Nadia Murad, a Yazidi rights activist and the first Goodwill Ambassador for the Dignity of Survivors of Human Trafficking of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), and Denis Mukwege, a gynecologist who helps victims of sexual violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), were awarded the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize on Friday.

Participants at the 62nd session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women rejoice as the Commission adopts Agreed Conclusions to ensure the rights and development of rural women and girls.
UN Women/Ryan Brown

UN Commission delivers a blueprint to ensure the rights and development of rural women and girls

24 March 2018
Women

The United Nations’ largest annual gathering on gender equality and women’s rights wrapped up Friday in New York with the strong commitment by its Member States to achieving gender equality and the empowerment of rural women and girls.

In Mexico, UN Women commemorated International Women’s Day by inaugurating 50 women-only buses, known as Athena.
UN Women/Juan Luis Cedeño

FEATURE: ‘Overwhelming majority’ of women experience some form of harassment, sexual violence in their daily journeys

3 May 2017
Women

From rude comments and unwanted touching and groping to rape and murder, sexual violence and harassment has reached pandemic proportions, according to the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women), which recently launched a campaign in Mexico City to tackle the issue on public transport.

María Emma Mejía Vélez, Permanent Representative of Colombia to the UN, at the opening of the exhibition “HERstory: A Celebration of Leading Women in the United Nations.”
UN Photo/Mark Garten

HERstory: A celebration of leading women in the United Nations

23 December 2016
UN Affairs

A celebration of women’s achievements has been taking place at United Nations Headquarters in New York this month, through photography. On 13 December 2016,  UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Secretary-General-designate António Guterres attended the launch by the Group of Friends for Gender Parity of an historic exhibit to illuminate some of the crucial contributions that women have made throughout the world body’s history – or, as they refer to it, ‘herstory.’

21 March 1958 – Margaret Anstee, shown here during her tenure as Officer-in- Charge of the Technical Assistance Board Field Office in Montevideo, Uruguay.
UN Photo/MB

INTERVIEW: Margaret Anstee – first woman to become UN Under-Secretary-General

19 September 2016
UN Affairs

“A woman of firsts” is perhaps only a summary description of Dame Margaret Anstee, the first woman to serve as a United Nations Under-Secretary-General.

Transparent.
Belinda Mason, Silent Tears

‘Without stories, there is silence’ – women speak up at the UN about violence and disability

24 March 2016
Women

Like for many of the 21 other women in the project – which is expanding as more choose to break their silence – Silent Tears has been an integral part of Betty’s healing. The exhibition was recently featured during the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), an intergovernmental body exclusively dedicated to the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women.