Women

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.

: IDN-INPS 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.

: IDN-INPS 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.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 16 October 2018

Image: The flag of Saudi Arabia (centre) flying at United Nations headquarters in New York. UN Photo/Loey Felipe

UN Urges Saudi Arabia to Release All Incarcerated Women Human Rights Defenders

By Jamshed Baruah

GENEVA (IDN) – For the second time since July 31, UN human rights experts are calling on Saudi Arabia to "immediately and unconditionally" release all women human rights defenders, including six imprisoned on charges relating to their peaceful defence of human rights.

The detained have been charged for being involved in pro-democracy demonstrations, and previously campaigning for the right of women to vote and drive. In late June 2018, a long-standing ban on women driving in Saudi Arabia, was lifted by royal decree, UN News reports.

: Jamshed Baruah; THE WORLD; Middle East & North Africa; 14 October 2018

Photo: UN Women Deputy Executive Director Åsa Regnér speaks at the 12th ODA International Conference session on “the role of inclusive ODA by realizing human rights and gender equality” in Seoul, the Republic of Korea. Photo: UN Women/Younghwa Choi.

Gender-Responsive Investments, ODA are of Vital Importance

Viewpoint by Åsa Regnér

Following are extensive excerpts from remarks delivered by Åsa Regnér, Assistant Secretary-General and Deputy Executive Director of UN Women at the session on “the role of inclusive ODA by realizing human rights and gender equality” at the 12th Seoul ODA International Conference in the Republic of Korea, on September 14, 2018. – The Editor

NEW YORK (IDN-INPS) – Gender equality is always a result of political will. Gender equality does not come automatically. It does not arrive with a new generation; we have to actively work towards it. In every country of the world, gender inequality is about an imbalance in power, which normally favours men over women. Achieving gender equality requires negotiations around how society should be and political priorities and positions to change.

: IDN-INPS UN Bureau; OPINION; 16 September 2018

Photo: 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. Credit: UN Women/Ryan Brown.

UN Gathering Pledges to End Gender Injustice & Discrimination

By J Nastranis

NEW YORK (IDN) – A landmark global gathering at the United Nations headquarters in New York has come up with a blueprint to ensure the rights and development of rural women and girls around the world.

Convened on the heels of an unprecedented global activism and public clamour to end gender injustice and discrimination worldwide, the 62nd session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW62) concluded on March 23 reaching a robust agreement highlighting the urgency of empowering and supporting those who need it most and have, for too long, been left behind.

: J Nastranis; SUSTAINABILITY; Gender Equality; 24 March 2018

Photo: ESCAP Executive Secretary Dr Shamshad Akhtar. Credit: UNIDO | Flickr

To Achieve Gender Equality, We Need Women Entrepreneurs

By Shamshad Akhtar

Dr. Shamshad Akhtar is the Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Executive Secretary of Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP).

BANGKOK (IDN) – In 2018, we have an opportunity to accelerate progress towards gender equality. Movements such as #MeToo have shone the spotlight on an unacceptable status quo and demonstrated how too many women the world over continue to be deprived of respect and equal opportunities. Let’s use International Women’s Day to build on this global momentum for change and suggest targeted solutions to empower women across our economies and societies. Women entrepreneurs have a key role to play.

: IDN-INPS UN Bureau; OPINION; 07 March 2018

'Unequal Realities' Hold Back Rural Women, Says UN On Eve of Women's Confab

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) – In the run up to International Women’s Day on March 8, the United Nations is renewing its call for concrete actions to address the plight of rural women who make up over a quarter of the world population yet are being left behind in every measure of development.

The theme of this year's International Women’s Day is: “Time is Now: Rural and urban activists transforming women’s lives”. This will also be the focus of the 62nd session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW62) at the United Nations Headquarters in New York from March 12 to 23.