Gender

Push Forward – Act Now to End Violence Against Women and Girls

By Sima Bahous
Five years ago, the global #MeToo movement brought new urgency and visibility to the extent of violence against women and girls. Millions of survivors came forward to share their experience. They forced the world to recognise a reality that shames every one of us. Their courage and voice led to a powerful collective activism and a sea-change in awareness.

End Violence Against Women and Girls

By Yasmine Sherif
As we now have entered the 21st century, we must end violence against girls and women. Attacking and abusing girls and women as a means of warfare, the war-machinery or domestic violence as a result of crisis, is absolutely abhorrent and unacceptable. Exposing half of the world’s population to the risks of violence because of their gender is not only a violation of international and domestic laws, but a disgraceful and brute breach of our very own humanity.

Pandemic Aggravated Violence against Women in Latin America

By Mariela Jara
Violence against women has failed to decline in the Latin American region after the sharp rise recorded during the COVID-19 pandemic, while preventing the causes of such violence remains a major challenge.

Ending Violence against Women: from Rhetoric to Action

By Jacqui Stevenson
Violence against women is a global crisis, prevalent in every community and society around the world. Globally, estimates published by WHO indicate that about 1 in 3 (30%) of women worldwide have been subjected to either physical and/or sexual intimate partner violence or non-partner sexual violence in their lifetime. Yet, there is limited coordination and insufficient funding to truly address the scale of the issue.

Ugandan Women Tackle Domestic Violence with Green Solutions

By Aimable Twahirwa
Constance Okollet Achom, a Ugandan woman from Tororo, a rural village located in Eastern Uganda, has helped several dozens of her peers affected by domestic violence to address the issue by equipping victims with skillsets to manufacture eco-friendly biofuels from agro-forestry waste.

Arbitrary Arrests in El Salvador Hit the LGBTI Community

By Edgardo Ayala
Police raids against gang members in El Salvador, under a state of emergency in which some civil rights have been suspended, have also affected members of the LGBTI community, and everything points to arrests motivated by hatred of their sexual identity.

US to Fight Sexual Abuse in International Organizations

By Thalif Deen
The United States, which recently laid down a set of guidelines to monitor sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA) by US citizens in international organizations, including the United Nations and its agencies worldwide, has implicitly accused the UN of faltering on a high-profile case last month.

Peruvian Women Still Denied Their Right to Abortion

By Mariela Jara
No woman in Peru should have to die, have her physical or mental health affected, be treated as a criminal or have an unwanted pregnancy because she does not have access to abortion, said Dr. Rocío Gutiérrez, an obstetrician who is the deputy director of the Manuela Ramos Movement, a non-governmental feminist center that works for gender rights in this South American country.

COP27: Climate Change Exacerbates Vicious Loop of Human Rights Inequity

By Busani Bafana
Climate change is worsening injustice globally, and the poor and vulnerable communities are the most affected. It is time the world acted on fulfilling human rights and building a liveable planet, says Yamide Dagnet, director for Climate Justice at Open Society Foundations.

Ending Gender-Based Violence in a World of 8 Billion

Whether to have children or not is one of the most life-altering decisions a person can make. But as UNFPA’s 2022 State of World Population report shows, people around the world – especially women and members of marginalized groups – are frequently denied any choice in the matter, with partners, relatives, health care providers and even governments making or strongly influencing these decisions.

Three Truths to Address Sexual Exploitation, Abuse & Harassment in the UN

By Peter A Gallo
The U.S. Government has recently published 'Engagement Principles' on Protection from Sexual Exploitation Abuse & Sexual Harassment within International Organizations', and while any involvement from Member States is to be encouraged, these principles do not address the fundamental need for either deterrence or for accountability.

UN Needs a Sea Change in its Handling of Sexual Exploitation & Abuse (SEA)

By Anwarul K. Chowdhury
Calling it “so disappointing and disheartening” in social media on 17 October, Dr. Rosie James, a British medical expert, announced that “I was sexually assaulted by a World Health Organization (WHO) staff tonight at the World Health Summit.”

What Does it take to Build a Culture of Equality & Inclusion at the UN? Reflections from Inside a Change Process

By Mumtaz Mia and Juliane Drews
The organisational is personal. Every day since the two of us were asked back in 2020 to co-lead the process of culture transformation at UNAIDS, the United Nations organisation which drives global efforts to end AIDS, we have both felt at our very core how crucial it has been to get it right.

Iranian Women Fight in the Streets, But Also from Home

By Arina Moradi
It’s been over a month since Bayan, a 30-year-old Persian language teacher, last left her home in the Kurdish city of Piranshahr, 730 northwest of Tehran. Her parents believe they must protect her from what might happen to a protester in Iran.

U.S. Political Divides on Demographic Issues

By Joseph Chamie
Given the upcoming midterm elections in the United States and the consequences of the outcome for domestic legislation and programs as well as the country’s foreign policy, it’s useful and fitting to review fundamental differences between America’s two major political parties on vital demographic issues.

Public Development Banks Can’t Drag Their Feet When It Comes to Building a Sustainable Future

By Bibbi Abruzzini
A coalition of civil society organisations is demanding public development banks (PDBs) to take radical and innovative steps to tackle human rights violations and environmental destruction. No project funded by PDBs should come at the expenses of vulnerable groups, the environment and collective liberties, but should instead embody the voices of communities, democratic values and environmental justice.

Saving Lives Can’t Ever Be Divisive

By Elena L. Pasquini
That’s why a new ship with a big white “E” will navigate the Mediterranean Sea. The vessel has a red hull, is more than fifty meters long and has low decks. Soon, it will leave the port of Genoa and go out into the open sea. If those living on the north shore of that ‘water cemetery’ bearing the name of Mediterranean had chosen life, the "Life Support" would not have been greeted by the applause of a people packed square, on a late summer night, in the Italian city of Reggio Emilia. It would not be ready to sail now; . if they had chosen life, that ship would have another job.

Rural Women Work the Hardest, Produce the Most, Eat the Least

By Baher Kamal
Make no mistake. Violence against women has been perpetuated, specially when it comes to those who have already been deprived of their basic human rights, as it is the case of rural women in over two-thirds of the world.

Local Solutions Boost Sustainable Micro-Mobility in Cuba

By Luis Brizuela
The incorporation of small electric vehicles for public transport, together with initiatives that encourage the use of bicycles, represent opportunities and challenges for Cuba to sustainably and inclusively combat the chronic problems in urban mobility.

Millions of Girls Abused in the Name of Toxic Masculinity

By Baher Kamal
A common feature to religions – including the monotheistic ones – is that groups of males have self-proclaimed themselves as the source for interpreting the “Word of God,” shaping them, and spreading them among the peoples of good faith.

Reform Needed As Big Business, Not Vulnerable Communities Benefit from Post-Pandemic Support

By Ed Holt
Governments and international financial institutions must adopt new ways of providing post-pandemic support, say campaigners after a report found that in many poorer countries, big business benefitted most from Covid-19 recovery funds. At the same time, vulnerable communities have been “left behind.”
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