On International Women’s Day, we celebrate women and girls around the world and we applaud all they have achieved in the fight for equality. Yet they still face immense obstacles. One of the key challenges in is an alarming lack of financing, with a staggering USD 360 billion annual deficit in spending on gender-equality measures. It’s time to provide support and funding to women’s organizations on the front lines. Let's join on 8 March, as we rally behind this year's call to “”.
by measures the impact of climate change on the poor, women, and youth. It demonstrates how climate stressors widen the income gap among rural people along the lines of class, and age. By combining socioeconomic data from rural people across 24 countries with over 70 years of climate data, this report reveals how climate change has more adversely impacted female-headed households' livelihoods than male-headed households’. We urgently need to increase awareness of these disparate climate impacts and to direct additional resources towards women's empowerment.
Gender and age are significant factors that affect how people perceive risks, vulnerabilities, and opportunities. Life events such as marriage, childbearing, or retirement often put women and girls at a higher risk of poverty. Providing social protection, such as health insurance or cash transfers, can help reduce poverty and vulnerability, and support people from childhood to old age. In this podcast, three officers: Ramya Subrahmanian, Nyasha Tirivayi, and Lauren Whitehead discuss Gender-Responsive and Age-Sensitive Social Protection.
More than 200 million girls and women today are survivors of female genital mutilation, a procedure that involves the partial or total removal of the external female genitalia or other injuries to the female genital organs for no medical reason. Female genital mutilation was outlawed in Kenya in 2011. While it's vital that the practice is banned, women- and survivor-led movements like Women Rising are key to driving real change. This community initiative includes a forum for mothers who have endured the practice and their daughters who will be spared.
Climate change pushes 158 million women and girls into poverty, making them more vulnerable to gender-based violence and less likely to access necessary resources. Women are underrepresented in decision-making positions at all levels, including in the field of climate change. A paradigm change is needed to ensure that women are in the driving seat of climate action. On the occasion of the International Day of Women in Multilateralism (25 January), UNESCO organized a global dialogue that became a platform for leaders, scientists, and activists to highlight the vital link between climate change and gender inequality.
Tackling some of the greatest challenges of the Agenda for Sustainable Development - from improving health to combating climate change - will rely on harnessing all talent. That means getting more women working in these fields. The International Day of Women and Girls in Science (11 February) is a reminder that women and girls play a critical role in science and technology communities and that their participation should be strengthened. Join the conversation during the 9th International Day of Women and Girls in Science Assembly (8-9 February) and advocate for women and girls in science leadership.
This year's International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation (6 February) focuses on the theme "Her Voice. Her Future - Investing in Survivors-Led Movements to End Female Genital Mutilation (FGM)." To reach our shared goal of ending FGM by 2030, we require more targeted, coordinated and sustained efforts. Each survivor's voice is a powerful call to action, and their choices contribute to the global movement against this harmful practice. Share #HerVoiceMatters to lead the #EndFGM movement.
Sandra is a law student and designer in Bolivia who faces the challenge of raising her daughter Nathaly as a single parent. She is supported by her mother and grandmother, who are also Cholitas. This is the name given to Aymara indigenous women from the Bolivian Andean region who wear traditional blankets, high top hats, and long voluminous skirts called polleras. Sandra juggles work, studies, and motherhood, but finds solace in weaving and listening to music. Traditional gender roles in Bolivia are changing as many women seek self-sufficiency. Sandra hopes that the moments spent with Nathaly will shape her into a strong woman.
Dr. Zuria Alberto is the leader of a mobile health team that operates in Cabo Delgado, the northernmost province of Mozambique. In this region, there are approximately who are displaced and living in difficult conditions due to climate crises and poverty. The mobile health workers travel by land or sea to reach women and girls living in rural and island areas of the province who may not have access to healthcare otherwise. The mobile team, supported by the (UNFPA), provides a comprehensive range of sexual and reproductive health services. This helps to reduce the risk of unwanted pregnancies, maternal mortality, and gender-based violence.
is an initiative led by the (UNDP) that aims to make economies work for gender equality. The earnings gap between men and women is only one part of a broader gender imbalance that has many causes and serious consequences for women's well-being and overall development progress. According to the if women earned the same as men over their lifetimes, the world could reap a significant 'gender dividend'. This is why lifting women out of poverty is critical to achieving Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5 on gender equality and has multiplier effects for all 17 Goals. Equanomics envisions a new path by dismantling economic structures that generate and perpetuate gender inequality, and it is helping countries take it by building expertise and supporting partners that want to transform their economies to work better for everyone.
In the village of Dotembougou in central Mali, Atoumata Nimaga, a mother of three, is now a local volunteer leader who teaches other village women about healthy eating. Not so long ago, Atoumata faced hunger so severe that it threatened her unborn child. With the help of the she was able to receive nutritious rations during her pregnancy. She is now part of a joint programme that helps families offset the negative effects of climate shocks and humanitarian disasters. The programme aims to put more than 38,000 women at the center of the development process, giving them the knowledge and tools to address the challenges many face.
In the year 2023, the (UNFPA) encountered a range of crises, including natural disasters, climate change, and man-made disasters. Despite these challenges, women and girls affected by those situations achieved significant milestones. They released fashion collections, asserted their economic and bodily autonomy, and found innovative ways to help girls complete their education. Additionally, the health agency provided safe delivery of babies on land and sea and delivered aid to women in crisis. UNFPA is urging donors to support women and girls in humanitarian responses. Investing in them means investing in a better future.
Approximately half of the world's 281 million international migrants are women and girls, but this demographic faces significant hazards during migration, including the risk of exploitation in domestic employment and increased vulnerability to violence.
The people of Gaza are in the midst of an epic humanitarian catastrophe. UNWOMEN of how women and girls in Gaza have endured attacks and displacement.
What would the world look like if it was designed by and for women? seeks to redesign the world with women in mind.