FROM THE FIELD: Changing world, changing families

UN Women/Ruth McDowall

Women in Makola market in Accra, Ghana, benefit from childcare services. (December 2018)

FROM THE FIELD: Changing world, changing families

25 June 2019 Women

The world is changing rapidly and so are families according to the United Nations gender-focused agency, UN Women.

Cielo Gomez (center) and her family live in Nariño territory, Colombia. She took a loan to by land. — **UN Women/Ryan Brown** | Cielo Gomez (center) and her family live in Nariño territory, Colombia. She took a loan to buy land.

The agency’s Progress of the World’s Women 2019-2020: Families in a Changing World, says that traditional perception of men as the heads of household is no longer relevant and modern families take many different forms.

Taking that into account, UN Women is urging that laws and policies should reflect that new reality.

Read more here about how families around the world are changing.

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News Tracker: Past Stories on This Issue

Changing families give rise to needed policy changes. Sao Mimol kisses her partner in Cambodia during an LGBT Pride event.

New UN report on families in a changing world puts ‘women’s rights at their core’

25 June 2019

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While women’s rights have advanced over the decades, gender inequalities and other fundamental human rights violations within families persist, according to a flagship study released on Tuesday, from the UN’s gender empowerment agency.

On International Day of Families, Ban spotlights need for gender equality, children's rights

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It is time to change social norms that support male control over women and reinforce discrimination against vulnerable family members, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said today on International Day of Families.