women

Jeniffer Moreno – Verification official & photographer, UNVMC, Colombia
UNVMC

News in Brief 30 October 2020

30 October 2020
News in Brief
  • Women the ‘driving force’ for peacebuilding in Colombia: Deputy UN chief 
  • Israel: Accountability call as illegal settlement approvals reach highest rate 
  • Kenya relief bid begins to avert hunger crisis among poor workers hit by COVID 
Audio -
3'34"
A street vendor in India wears a face mask to protect herself against COVID-19.
© UNICEF/Vinay Panjwani

News in Brief 13 October 2020

13 October 2020
News in Brief
  • COVID impacting health, food and work
  • Digital economy shift 
  • Cash boost for refugees in Iran
Audio -
3'1"
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. 

One of the youth Advisors in SG's Advisory Group, Archana Soreng from India.
UN India/Archana Soreng

Forest protection and tradition inspires young Indian to tackle climate crisis

11 August 2020
Interviews

In early July, the UN Secretary-General António Guterres, announced the names of seven young climate leaders – between the ages of 18 and 28 years old – who will be advising him regularly on how best to accelerate global action and ambition to tackle the worsening climate crisis.

Archana Soreng, from India, was among them, joining a prestigious circle of advocates and activists, as part of the UN’s Youth Strategy aiming to “show the world what bold leadership looks like”. 

Audio -
8'37"
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 worker prunes trees on a farm in South Africa.
World Bank/Trevor Samson

Trade pact could boost Africa’s income by as much as $450 billion: World Bank

27 July 2020
Economic Development

The African Continental Free Trade Area represents a major opportunity for countries to boost growth, reduce poverty, broaden economic inclusion and help “expand opportunities for all Africans”, hailed a World Bank official on Monday, which if fully implemented, could boost regional income by around $450 billion.

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.

Women and children sit on mattresses on the floor at a detention centre in Tripoli, Libya.
© UNICEF/Alessio Romenzi

Rise in women prisoners and COVID measures, ‘making sentences worse’

16 July 2020
Human Rights

More than 700,000 women are in prison around the world, and that number is growing much faster than men, the Human Rights Council has heard.

A woman stands before a window at a women's prison in Herat, Afghanistan.
© UNICEF/Sebastian Rich

News in Brief 16 July 2020

16 July 2020
News in Brief
  • Yemen: 11 dead in second airstrike in three days
  • Nuclear testing legacy is ‘cruellest’ environmental injustice, warns rights expert
  • Alarm over rise in women prisoners; mental health effects of COVID measures
Audio -
4'11"
Madina Walizada, a young entrepreneur in Kabul, Afghanistan.
UN Australia

Online learning boosts struggle for equal opportunities in Afghanistan

9 July 2020
Interviews

When you are a girl, growing up surrounded by war and violence in a country like Afghanistan, it’s hard to study and finish your education, due to social barriers and sexual discrimination, one young Afghan has told UN News.

But a new online learning app is helping break through some of those barriers, allowing girls to learn about topics that enable them to feel confident, and to create business models that are more inclusive.

Audio -
7'25"