Gender Equality

UN Focuses Yet Again on Protecting Indigenous Peoples’ Rights

By UNDESA

Note: The following Feature appeared in April 2018 issue UN DESA VOICE, the newsletter published by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs. It is being reproduced with slight modifications. – The Editor

NEW YORK (IDN) – Indigenous communities play a vital role as custodians of our planet, possessing vital knowledge that will support global efforts to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). But despite progress to protect their rights, many of the world’s 370 million indigenous peoples face discrimination and threats to their livelihoods and ancestral lands.

To tackle these challenges, more than 1,000 representatives of indigenous people’s organizations, Members States and UN agencies will gather for the 17th session of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues taking place at UN Headquarters on April 16-27, 2018.

: IDN-INPS UN Bureau; GLOBAL GOVERNANCE; United Nations; 02 April 2018

Photo: Members of the women's cooperative use climate-resilient organic compost and biopesticides in their farm. Credit: UN Women

Women Farmers in Africa Fight Impact of Climate Change

By Ronald Joshua

NEW YORK | BAMAKO (IDN) – Fatou Dembele is a farmer in landlocked Mali, where half of the population engaged in agriculture are women. Agriculture is a key sector to lift women out of poverty. But the increasing degradation of land and natural resources caused by climate change is making women more vulnerable.

Therefore when Dembele’s plants first started dying, she thought the plot of land was ruined, and her livelihood was at risk. “We thought the land was sick. We didn’t know that there were live parasites that attacked the roots of the plants and could kill them,” says Dembele.

: Ronald Joshua; THE WORLD; Africa; 27 March 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: A glimpse of the conference. Credit: WUNABN

Under-representation of Women in UN System is Mendable

By Fausia Abdoel*

VIENNA (IDN) – Women are under-represented at the managerial and leadership levels within the United Nations system. The world body intends to mend this situation and achieve gender parity at all levels by 2028.

But indications are that it's going be an uphill task. Statistics published by UN Women, the UN Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, show that at the current average annual increment from the P-3 to upper-managerial levels it would take on average 22 years to achieve gender parity in all United Nations agencies. In line with the status of gender parity at a global scale it will take 217 years.

: IDN-INPS UN Bureau; SUSTAINABILITY; Gender Equality; 17 March 2018

Photo: Vocational training centre for women in Faizabad, Bakakshan province. Credit: UNAMA | Fardin Waezi

UN Pushes for Gender Equality in War-Torn Afghanistan

By Devinder Kumar

NEW DELHI | KABUL (IDN) – The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) has documented that, in 2017, 359 women were killed – five per cent more than in the previous year – and 865 injured. Altogether about 10,000 civilians lost their lives or suffered injuries in 2017.

It is against this backdrop that the UN in Afghanistan marked International Women’s Day on March 8, recognizing the global movement for women's rights and the work of activists who have been central to the push for gender equality.

Afghanistan ranks 154th in the UN Gender Inequality Index, and this year’s Women's Day – under the theme 'Time Is Now: Rural and Urban Activists Transforming Women’s Lives' – sought to draw attention to rural and urban women who are left behind in many areas of development.

: Devinder Kumar; UN INSIDER; 12 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.

: Global Information Network; SUSTAINABILITY; Gender Equality; 06 March 2018

UN at Pains to Weed Out Sexual Exploitation and Abuse

By Santo D. Banerjee

NEW YORK (IDN) – At a critical moment when allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse from within the United Nations are mounting, and a leaked UN staff survey shows fears over whistleblowing and ethical accountability, Secretary-General António Guterres has in his message for International Women's Day on March 8, called for the UN setting "an example for the world," adding: "I recognize that this has not always been the case."

Guterres continues: "Since the start of my tenure last year, I have set change in motion at United Nations Headquarters, in our peacekeeping missions and in all our offices worldwide. We have now reached gender parity for the first time in my senior management team, and I am determined to achieve this throughout the Organization."

: Santo D. Banerjee; UN INSIDER; 05 March 2018

Photo: Panel Debate about Veiling/Unveiling at UN Office in Geneva

Experts Stress Acceptance of Headscarf in Abrahamic Faiths

By Jaya Ramachandran

GENEVA (IDN) – The headscarf that sparks heated debates in Europe is a source of commonality between the three main Abrahamic religions Islam, Christianity and Judaism, according to experts who participated in a debate at the United Nations office in Geneva.

The event on February 23 focused on: Veiling/Unveiling: The Headscarf in Christianity, Islam and Judaism. The Geneva Centre for Human Rights Advancement and Global Dialogue (Geneva Centre) and the Permanent Mission of Algeria to the UN in Geneva organized the discussion in the run-up to the 37th regular session of the UN Human Rights Council scheduled for February 26 to March 23, 2018.

: Jaya Ramachandran; SUSTAINABILITY; Gender Equality; 23 February 2018

Equal Rights to Economic Resources Vital to Gender Equality

By Heather Wokusch*

This is the eighth and last in a series of reports on the Vienna UN Conference from January 10-12, 2018, which discussed actions and challenges linked to the Sustainable Development Goal 5 (SDG 5) and in the spirit of SDG 17. The Vienna Liaison Office of the Academic Council on the United Nations System (ACUNS) organized this Conference co-ordinated by Heather Wokusch. – The Editor

VIENNA (IDN) – Women across the world face discrimination in accessing economic resources. As the resulting disparity hinders a range of development goals, such as reducing poverty and improving the welfare of children, a multidisciplinary conference at the United Nations Vienna recently explored possible solutions.