Women

Photo: A woman humanitarian aid worker in Cameroon. Photo: UN Women/Ryan Brown

Women and Girls Severely Impacted by Crises

Many Work in Some of the Most Dangerous Corners of the Globe

By Santo D. Banerjee

NEW YORK (IDN) – An unprecedented number of people are living through humanitarian crises today. Armed conflict, natural disaster, disease and violent persecution have forced more than 70 million people from their homes, notes UN Women.

While women and girls are often severely impacted by crises, they are also leaders in recovery and resilience. This year, World Humanitarian Day (19 August) is honouring the women humanitarian workers who work on the front lines in their communities to help people in need.

: Santo D. Banerjee; UN INSIDER; 17 August 2019

Photo credit: Women Deliver 2019 Conference

Ghana’s President Stuns Women with Demeaning Remarks

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) – In this day and age of “Me Too” shaking up outdated gender relationships around the world, it was somewhat unsettling to hear Ghana’s President Nana Akufo-Addo demean his country’s working women as insufficiently activist and dynamic enough to obtain better leadership jobs.

Did he really say this at the Women Deliver 2019 Conference from June 3-6 at Vancouver attended by gender activists from around the world? Really?

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 11 June 2019

Image credit: knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu

UN Study Urges a More Gender-Equal Digital Space

Flays Feminization of Voice Assistants

By Rita Joshi

BERLIN | PARIS (IDN) – "I think if we wake up 20 years from now and we see the lack of diversity in our tech and leaders and practitioners [that we see today], that would be my doomsday scenario," said Li Fei-Fei, co-director of Stanford University’s Human-Centered AI Institute and one of the few female leaders in the field of Artificial Intelligence, during testimony to the U.S. Congress.

: Rita Joshi; SUSTAINABILITY; Gender Equality; 08 June 2019

Photo: Participants rejoice as the 63rd session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women adopts Agreed Conclusions, delivering a roadmap that ensures women’s social protection, mobility, safety, and access to economic opportunities. Photo: UN Women/Ryan Brown

A 'Level Playing Field' for Women and Girls Key to Achieving Sustainable Development Goals

By Caroline Mwanga

New York (IDN) – UN Member States have agreed to safeguard and improve women's and girls' access to social protection systems, public services and sustainable infrastructure, ensuring that their design and delivery is transformed to prevent discrimination and create a "level playing field" for women and girls.

This is the upshot of the two weeks of intense dialogue, the 63rd session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW63), concluded March 22 in New York.

: UN Bureau; SUSTAINABILITY; Gender Equality; 23 March 2019

Women Leaders Call for Gender Equality and Inclusion

By Caroline Mwanga

NEW YORK (IDN) – In the lead up to International Women’s Day on March 8, twenty-six high ranking female officials who have worked across the United Nations have penned an open letter to world leaders calling for greater investment in policies and legal and social frameworks to achieve gender equality and inclusion.

The group notes in the letter that despite progress there are concerns that in some places the basic rights of women are interpreted as direct and destabilizing challenges to existing power structures.

: UN Bureau; SUSTAINABILITY; Gender Equality; 02 March 2019

Photo credit: Women's March Action Network

Women To March For Gender Equality Around The World

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) – Building on the vision and mission of the 2017 National Women’s March in the U.S., women around the world will mark January 19 with marches and other actions “supporting the advocacy and resistance movements that reflect our multiple and intersecting identities".

The main march in 2019 will be in Washington D.C., but there are dozens of other marches that are scheduled for the same day. So far, there is least one in every state.

Some states will hold multiple marches: California will have 20; Michigan and Florida will each have eight; and Pennsylvania, New York and Texas will each have seven.

: Global Information Network; SUSTAINABILITY; Gender Equality; 15 January 2019

ICC Leaders Join in Global Initiative to Break Down Gender Barriers

By Robert Johnson

THE HAGUE (IDN) – Top officials of the International Criminal Court ("ICC" or "the Court") – President Chile Eboe-Osuji, Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda and Registrar Peter Lewis – have joined the International Gender Champions network, an important initiative to break down gender barriers at all levels.

This global leadership network brings together decision-makers determined to break down gender barriers and make gender equality a working reality in their spheres of influence.

The network was launched in July 2015 at the Palais des Nations in Geneva and hubs have been established in New York, Vienna, and Nairobi. It counts over 200 active Champions and Alumni worldwide, including the UN Secretary General, heads of UN offices and organizations, ministers, ambassadors and permanent representatives, and NGO, academic and business leaders.

: Robert Johnson; SUSTAINABILITY; Gender Equality; 04 December 2018

Stop Preventable Scourge of Violence Against Women

By UN Women

NEW YORK (IDN-INPS) – To commemorate this year's International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, the Secretary-General's UNiTE Campaign is calling upon us to stand in solidarity with survivors and survivor advocates and women's human rights defenders who are working to prevent and end violence against women and girls. Our duty is not only to stand in solidarity with them but also to intensify our efforts to find solutions and measures to stop this preventable global scourge with a detrimental impact on women's and girls' lives and health.

: UN Bureau; OPINION; 25 November 2018

Photo: (L-R) Moderator, news anchor Richard Lui; Maria Fernanda Espinosa Garces, President of the General Assembly; António Guterres, UN Secretary-General; and Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, UN Women Executive Director participate in a panel discussion during the UN . Photo: UN Women/Ryan Brown

UN Kicks Off 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence

By Caroline Mwanga

NEW YORK (IDN) – Worldwide movements and corporate walk-outs have exposed the magnitude of violence against women and girls and highlighted how often such violence is normalized. Research shows that violence against women and girls affects one in three women worldwide and that no country is immune to this pandemic. Yet instead of holding perpetrators accountable, women and girls who experience violence are often blamed and their testimonies systematically called into question.

: UN Bureau; GLOBAL GOVERNANCE; United Nations; 19 November 2018

Photo: Hauwa Leman, an aide worker with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), killed by a faction of Boko Haram. Credit: Business Day

Young Medical Worker Executed by Boko Haram Caliphate

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) – "We urge you: spare and release these women,” begged Patricia Danzi, director of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Africa. .. “Like all those abducted, they are not part of any fight."

"They are daughters and sisters, one is a mother – women with their futures ahead of them, children to raise, and families to return to." Nonetheless, the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), a self-declared caliphate of Boko Haram, rejected their entreaties and executed 24 year old Hauwa Liman, an aide worker. The insurgents further vowed to make another captive, schoolgirl Leah Sharibu, a slave for life.