Gender Equality

Photo: Ibtisam Majareesh, head of the refugee camp women’s committee and member of the camp refugee committee briefs UN Secretary-General António Guterres on cash-for-work opportunities available for Syrian refugee women at the UN Women-run centre in the Za’atari refugee camp. Photo: UN Women/ Benoît Almeras.

Women NGOs Warn of UN's Loss of Credibility in the Middle East

By Jutta Wolf

BERLIN (IDN) – While warning UN Secretary-General António Guterres of a growing lack of trust in the Security Council throughout the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), a group of Women Civil Society Organisations has proposed far-reaching measures "to advance women’s rights and set the UN back on track as an Organization that works for the common interests of our shared humanity."

In an open letter, Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) and 25 MENA Women Civil Society Organisations state that popular feeling in the Middle East and North Africa "is one characterised by a lack of faith in the United Nations' ability to implement its mandate in line with the principles of the Charter."

: Jutta Wolf; UN INSIDER; 01 April 2017

Photo: Members of the Tambourine Army during their March 11 protest. The radical social-justice movement is fighting gender violence and rape culture in Jamaica.

Jamaica’s ‘Tambourine Army’ on the Gender Violence Warpath

By Desmond Brown

KINGSTON, Jamaica (ACP-IDN) – In the wake of an alarming upsurge in domestic violence and abuse of women and girls, a new group has emerged here with the promise of a revolution for social change, combating gender-based violence in particular – the “Tambourine Army”.

On its Facebook page, the Tambourine Army describes itself as a radical social-justice movement committed to uprooting the scourge of sexual violence and safeguarding the rights of women and girls.

The group first came to public attention on Sunday, February 8, when 14 women staged a peaceful protest at the Nazareth Moravian Church in the central parish of Manchester, rallying support for a 15-year-old St Elizabeth school girl allegedly abused by the pastor of the congregation.

: Desmond L. Brown; THE WORLD; Latin America & the Caribbean; 28 March 2017

Photo: Ambassador Anwarul K. Chowdhury. Credit: Mitsu (Eric) Kimura, SUA Archivist.

'If We are Serious About Peace and Development, We Must Take Women Seriously'

By Ambassador Anwarul K. Chowdhury

Without peace, development is impossible, and without development, peace is not achievable, but without women, neither peace nor development is possible, writes Ambassador Anwarul K. Chowdhury, former Under-Secretary-General and High Representative of the United Nations. He is an internationally recognized initiator of the UNSCR 1325 as the President of the UN Security Council in March 2000.

NEW YORK (IDN) - The biggest annual gathering of activists on women’s issues from all parts of the world converging at the United Nations ended on March 24 after its two-week meeting. That gathering is the regular sessions of the Commission on the Status of Women. This year it was the Commission’s 61st session (UN CSW 61). Many of the participants at these sessions have direct grassroots connections with their feet on the ground and understand the challenges and obstacles – physical, economic, political, societal, cultural and attitudinal – which women face on a daily basis.

: IDN-INPS UN Bureau; UN INSIDER; 26 March 2017

Photo: UN Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka and actress Patricia Arquette join the campaign for equal pay. Credit: UN Women/Ryan Brown

Women Still Trail Behind Men in All Aspects of Life, Says UN

By Shanta Roy

Women make 77 cents for every dollar men earn. Up to 90 percent of women workers are informally employed. Advancing women’s equality in total could bring a potential boost of 28 trillion dollars to global annual gross domestic product (GDP) by 2025.

NEW YORK (IDN) – The statistics unveiled at an annual meeting of women at the UN were disturbingly revealing: On a global average, women only make 77 cents for every dollar men earn.

There is still a “myriad of laws” in over 150 countries which openly discriminate against women, affecting more than three billion worldwide – and relating to virtually every aspect of women’s lives.

: IDN-INPS UN Bureau; UN INSIDER; 19 March 2017

Wanted Constructive Impatience for Change in Women's Status

By Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka

Following are excerpts from the opening statement on March 13 by Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, UN Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of UN Women for the 61st session of the Commission on the Status of Women.

NEW YORK (IDN-INPS) - The Commission concerns itself with the status of women. It reviews the progress made by women and girls, and assesses the remaining challenges. It is a barometer of the progress we are making on achieving a world that is free of gender discrimination and inequality, a world that leaves no-one behind. It will help us measure achievement of the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. It also helps us to pursue action in priority areas and benefits from the Commission’s Agreed Conclusions.

: IDN-INPS UN Bureau; OPINION; 14 March 2017

Finland Launches Landmark Gender Equality Prize

By Rita Joshi

NEW YORK (IDN) - In run-up to the sixty-first session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women, CSW61, in New York from March 13 to 24, the government of Finland has launched the International Gender Equality Prize, which will be awarded for the first time later this year.

The prize, intended to promote gender equality worldwide, to support discussion on equality between women and men and to celebrate Finland’s 100 years of independence, was launchded by Prime Minister Juha Sipilä in Tampere on southern Finland on March 8, the International Women's Day.

: Rita Joshi; SUSTAINABILITY; Gender Equality; 12 March 2017

Photo: “Rape is primarily an act of violence against the person and the law leaves much to be desired in many countries around the world. In some it is even practically condoned”. Credit: Courtesy of Equality Now

The Shameful Epidemic That Is Rape

By Phil Harris

ROME (IDN) – Do legal systems around the world give women and girls true protection from rape and other forms of sexual violence? Do the victims of rape and sexual violence have access to real justice if violence is perpetrated?

The answer is ‘no’, says a report issued March 6 by Equality Now, an international human rights organisation working to protect and promote the rights of women and girls.

Are governments ensuring that adequate laws dealing with sexual violence are enacted, developed and enforced? Are governments living up their commitments to end all forms of violence – including sexual violence – against women and girls?

: Phil Harris; SUSTAINABILITY; Gender Equality; 06 March 2017

Photo: UN Women Deputy Executive Director Lakshmi Puri. Photo: UN Women/Ryan Brown

Japan Federation to Advance Women’s Economic Empowerment

Note: This article first appeared on UN Women website as part of a series on International Women's Day, 8 March 2017

NEW YORK (IDN | UN Women) - During their first visit to the United Nations Headquarters in New York on March 2, leading female executives from Keidanren (Japan Business Federation), joined UN Women Deputy Executive Director Lakshmi Puri for a roundtable discussion on women’s economic empowerment.

The Keidanren is the largest Japanese economic federation with a membership of more than 1,300 corporations. The Keidanren Female Executives Mission was led by Haruno Yoshida, the first female Vice Chairman of the Board of Councillors at Keidanren, and includes five additional female executives from various industries in Japan.

: IDN-INPS UN Bureau; UN INSIDER; 03 March 2017

Photo: Soledad Rotella and daughter Kiara at the Child and Family Care Center of Tres Ombúes, a neighborhood northwest of Montevideo. Credit: UN Women/Agostina Ramponi

Care Law Catalyses Change and Breaks Stereotypes in Uruguay

Note: This report is part of a series on International Women's Day, 8 March 2017

NEW YORK (IDN-INPS | UN Women) - Uruguay’s Care Act has changed the concept of “care”. Under the new law, all children, persons with disabilities and elderly persons, have the right to get care. The state not only provides care services, but also guarantees their quality by providing training and regulations.

It is the day before the school year begins at the Child and Family Care Centre of Tres Ombúes, a neighborhood west of Montevideo. Soledad Rotella is mother to one of the 89 children in the neighborhood who attend the centre yearly.

: IDN-INPS UN Bureau; UN INSIDER; 02 March 2017

Photo: UN Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka. Credit: Marco Grob.

Women in the Changing World of Work: Planet 50-50 by 2030

By Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, UN Women Executive Director

Note: This is the text of message by UN Women Executive Director as part of a series on International Women's Day, 8 March 2017

NEW YORK (IDN-INPS | UN Women) - Across the world, too many women and girls spend too many hours on household responsibilities – typically more than double the time spent by men and boys. They look after younger siblings, older family members, deal with illness in the family and manage the house.

In many cases this unequal division of labour is at the expense of women’s and girls’ learning, of paid work, sports, or engagement in civic or community leadership. This shapes the norms of relative disadvantage and advantage, of where women and men are positioned in the economy, of what they are skilled to do and where they will work.