Children Tapped to End Child Marriage in Indonesia

The Indonesian government is tapping children as advocates against child marriage in this Southeast Asian country where over 340,000 girls get married before they reach 18 years old every year.

Women’s Progress Uneven, Facing Backlash – UN Rights Chief

“The women’s movement has brought about tremendous change but we must also recognise that progress has been slow and extremely uneven and that it also brought its own challenges,” warned the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein.

Women and Girls, One Third of World’s Drug Users

Women and girls comprise one-third of global drug users yet are only one-fifth of those receiving treatment, a UN-Backed independent expert body warned.

Why a Feminist Foreign Policy Is Needed More than Ever

Lately, the world has tended to present itself in increasingly darker shades. In many places, democracy is questioned, women’s rights are threatened, and the multilateral system that has taken decades to build is undermined.

New Maternity Legislation in Cuba Ignores Fathers

A new set of regulations to strengthen the maternity rights of working women and encourage people to have children in Cuba were seen as a positive step but not enough, because they do not include measures to encourage more active participation in child-rearing by men.

Breaking Barriers for Women Is a Short Cut to Economic Growth and Development

In South Asian societies, as elsewhere, it is all too common for women to be held back, time and again Women's potential remains largely untapped - which is not only morally wrong, but also economically unwise. According to recent projections, harnessing women's full potential throughout South Asia would increase GNP by more than half by 2025. In absolute terms, women could earn countries in South Asia an additional 400 billion dollars in the next ten years! clearly, women hold the key to economic success for South Asia: their empowerment can fuel further development. The Netherlands has invested substantially in the economic empowerment of women in this region. Our successes, achieved in collaboration with many stakeholders, show what can be achieved if we keep up these efforts.

Seven Scary Facts About Widening Gender Gap

Women across the globe are facing new threats, which risk dismantling decades of hard-won rights and derailing the effort to end extreme poverty, an international confederation of civil society organisations has revealed ahead of International Women’s Day on March 8.

Women’s Rights Activists: “Nevertheless, We Persist”

Human rights groups have expressed concern for the future of global negotiations on women’s rights in a climate of restrictive policies ahead of an upcoming annual UN meeting on the status of women.

“Women in the UN Working Together to Improve the Lives of Women Worldwide”

This International Women’s Day we celebrate women in the changing world of work, recognizing the need to fully realize women’s working potential in order to achieve Agenda 2030. We know that when women earn money, they spend it on feeding their families and educating their children. It is estimated that if women farmers had the same access to resources as men, the number of hungry people in the world could be reduced by up to 150 million.

These Women Cannot Celebrate Their Day

This is a story that one would wish to never have to write—the story of hundreds of millions of life-givers whose production and productivity have systematically been ‘quantified’ in much detailed statistics, but whose abnegation, human suffering and denial of rights are subject to just words.

Aging, Depression and Disease in South Africa

Old age is often characterised by poor health due to isolation, morbidities and disabilities in carrying out activities of daily living (DADLs) leading to depression.

Improved Cookstoves Boost Health and Forest Cover in the Himalayas

Mountain communities in the Himalayan region are almost entirely dependent on forests for firewood even though this practice has been identified as one of the most significant causes of forest decline and a major source of indoor air pollution.

Female Genital Mutilation is a Gruesome Impediment to the Empowerment of Women

On 06 February 2017, the world marks the 14th International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation (FGM).  

Trump’s Global Gag a Devastating Blow for Women’s Rights

The image of a group of men in suits making decisions about the rights of women is becoming an emblematic sign of the backlash against our human rights, particularly those related to women´s bodily integrity and reproductive and sexual freedoms.

A Crisis of Overweight and Obesity in Latin America and the Caribbean

Obesity and overweight have spread like a wildfire throughout Latin America and the Caribbean, threatening the health, well-being and food and nutritional security of millions of people.

A Women’s March on the World

Just one day after the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump, hundreds of thousands of women are expected to attend one of the largest demonstrations in history for gender equality.

Family Planning in the Philippines: Stalled Again

With the landslide victory of the tough talking city mayor of Davao City, Roberto Duterte to the Presidency of the Philippines in May 2016, news reports of the South-East Asian country have been dominated by the President's often controversial statements and policies, especially toward those involved in the illegal drug trade. One such notable event, which slipped below the radar was the granting of a second temporary restraining order in 2016 by the country's Supreme Court on the distribution of most contraceptives.

Ending AIDS Needs Both Prevention and a Cure

Eighteen million people, just slightly under half of the people living with HIV and AIDS globally, are now taking life-saving medication, but global efforts to end the disease still largely depend on prevention.

Debate Roils India Over Family Planning Method

The Indian government's decision to make injectable contraceptives available to the public for free under the national family planning programme (FPP) has stirred debate about women's choices in the world's largest democracy and second most populous country.

Wonder Woman: Not the Hero the UN Needs

For those of us who ever feel conflicted about the United Nations, the past month has been an exercise in managing absurd cognitive dissonance. First, on October 21 2016, the United Nations announced that the 1940s comic book heroine, Wonder Woman would be its new mascot for promoting the empowerment of women and girls.