Gender

Accountability on Trial: UN’s Unabated SEA Crisis Erodes Trust in World Body’s Leadership

By Ambassador Anwarul K. Chowdhury
After taking oath of office in December 2016 as Secretary-General, Mr. Antonio Guterres described the eradication of sexual offenses by UN peacekeeping and all other UN personnel as the first item on his reform agenda.

UN Report Uncovers “Systematic Torture” in Myanmar

By Oritro Karim
Myanmar’s security situation has deteriorated significantly, with the nation still reeling from the devastating earthquake in March last year, and continued military offensives driven by the ongoing civil war. In 2025, the humanitarian crisis reached a critical turning point, with the United Nations (UN) underscoring a litany of severe human rights abuses inflicted on civilians by the military and armed groups.

UN Security Council Confronts South Sudan’s ‘Compounding Crises’

By Jennifer Xin-Tsu Lin Levine
The UN Security Council convened today (August 18) to discuss South Sudan and the "interlinked challenges of climate change and conflict" affecting the region.

Sexual Health Rights: Contradictions in East African Laws, Policies

By Wambi Michael
Sarah Namukisa nearly missed her final year exams earlier this year. She was subjected to a mandatory pregnancy test—the 25-year-old student at the Medical Laboratory Training School in Jinja was then expelled because she was pregnant.

The Hidden Backbone of Maternal Health: Asia’s Midwifery Gap

By Shreya Komar
Asia-Pacific’s midwives are a healthcare lifeline capable of delivering nearly 90 percent of essential maternal and newborn services. Yet the region grapples with severe shortages, underinvestment, and systemic neglect.

From the Margins to the Courts: St Lucia Joins Caribbean Fight to Dismantle Anti-LGBTQI+ Colonial Laws

By Inés M. Pousadela
When Kenita Placide co-founded United and Strong, St Lucia’s first LGBTQI+ organisation in 2001, death threats were routine. Over the years, several friends were murdered for being gay. But 24 years on, Kenita’s Caribbean island nation has become the latest to overturn a colonial legacy that criminalised LGBTQI+ people.

Women in Sudan are Starving Faster than Men; Female-Headed Households Suffer

By Maximilian Malawista
The food crisis in Sudan is starving more day by day, yet it is affecting women and girls at double the rate compared to men in the same areas. New findings from UN-Women reveal that female-headed households (FHHs) are three times more likely to be food insecure than ones led by men.

Women From Landlocked Developing Countries Set Sights on Open Horizons

By Joyce Chimbi
“Progress towards gender equality and equity remains uneven and far too slow. One in four women in landlocked developing countries (LLDCs) live in extreme poverty, and this is nearly 75 million women,” said Rabab Fatima, Secretary-General of the Third United Nations Conference on Landlocked Developing Countries or LLDC3 ongoing in Awaza, Turkmenistan.

Why Should We Ask for Angela When You Don’t Have to Ask for Alex?

By ElsaMarie D’Silva
It’s a quiet code with a loud message: “Ask for Angela.”

Haiti Faces a ‘Critical Turning Point’ Amid Escalated Violence and Funding Cuts

By Oritro Karim
The humanitarian situation in Haiti has deteriorated significantly in the past few weeks, with the United Nations (UN) underscoring a growing list of abuses committed by armed groups, including killings, kidnappings, and sexual violence. The gap between the vast scale of needs and the supply of available resources has widened, leaving millions of Haitians in dire need of humanitarian support.

Japan’s Right-wing Populist Rise

By Andrew Firmin
Rice queues – something once unthinkable – began appearing around May. As the country’s staple food hit record prices, frustrated shoppers found themselves breaking a cultural taboo by switching to rice from South Korea. It was a symbol of how far Japan’s economic certainties had crumbled, creating fertile ground for a political shift.

Why Locally Led Development Works and How Funders Can Get It Right

By Naomi Ayot Oyaro and Tais Siqueira
In Uganda, local communities are routinely sidelined in development processes, despite knowing most about their own needs. When a Moroto District officer remarked, ‘This is the first time local leaders were truly heard’, it offered a powerful reminder of what so often goes wrong: development fails when communities are excluded.

Marital Rape: Confronting Religious Misinterpretations, Social Stigma, Despite Legal Clarity

By Zofeen Ebrahim
“The last thing she asked for was a sip of water,” recalled Najma Maheshwari, referring to 19-year-old Shanti, a newlywed who died last week after brutal sexual violence allegedly inflicted by her husband, who is now in custody.

In Syria’s Sectarian Fights for Power, Humanity is the Loser

By Jennifer Xin-Tsu Lin Levine
As sectarian violence rises in Syria, the number of displaced people has climbed exponentially since Syrian forces joined clashes between the Druze and Bedouin groups in the Sweida region.

Violence Escalates in Sudan as Humanitarian Aid Struggles to Meet Growing Needs

By Oritro Karim
Earlier this month, Sudanese civilians began facing a considerable escalation of hostilities, with the most recent attacks from the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) claiming dozens of lives. Amid a rapidly growing scale of needs and an overwhelming lack of funding, the United Nations (UN) and its partners have struggled to deliver adequate amounts of humanitarian aid.

US Republican Lawmakers Don’t Care About Mortality in the Country

By Joseph Chamie
The recent legislation passed by the US Congress, oddly named the One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB), and signed by the US President, reveals that Republican lawmakers in the nation’s capital do not care about excessive and premature mortality in the United States.

Protect Women’s Rights, Especially in a Time of Equality Backlash, Say Activists

By Naureen Hossain
Discriminatory laws and the absence of legal protections impact more than 2.5 billion women and girls worldwide in various ways. Legal reform is paramount to securing gender equality, and the world cannot afford to roll back on decades of progress in women’s rights.

Intersectional Feminist Leadership Needed to Realise Global Goals

By Jesselina Rana
In its 80-year history the UN has never once been led by a woman. As the international community convenes for the 2025 High-Level Political Forum (HLPF) to review progress on gender equality and other Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), this remains a fundamental hypocrisy at the heart of global governance. How can an institution that has systematically excluded women from its highest office credibly champion gender justice worldwide?

From Gaza to Georgia, Human Rights Defenders Pay a High Price for Change. Here’s How You Can Help

By Takaedza Tafirei and Asma Darwish
Across the globe—from Gaza’s rubble to the streets of Tbilisi—people are standing up for justice, dignity, and basic rights. But far too often, they are paying with their freedom, their safety, even their lives.

HLPF 2025: Civil Society Is Not A Service Provider – We Are The Frontline Of Transformation

By Christelle Kalhoule and Sarah Strack
As delegates gather in New York over the coming weeks for the 2025 High-Level Political Forum (HLPF), we see this moment as a test. A test of whether world leaders are serious about rescuing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) - or content to let the promises of Agenda 2030 drift quietly into irrelevance.

Gender-Discriminatory Nationality Laws are Fueling Poverty & Violence Against Women

By Maithreyi Kamalanathan
Around a quarter of countries still have nationality laws that deny women the same rights as men to acquire, retain, or change their citizenship, or to pass citizenship onto their children or foreign spouses.
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