Addressing a private meeting of the Council, Roza Otunbayeva reiterated to ambassadors that Taliban decisions including the ban on girls attending high school, preventing women from going to university, and barring them from doing humanitarian work, are all “grave violations of fundamental rights”, according to UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric. He told...
As the sun sets over the Celebes sea, and its orange glow turns the horizon gold, a couple of dozen tourists are on the pier at Budo, a village of 2400 perched on the ocean, 25 kilometres northeast of the regional capital Manado. They snap photos and marvel at the...
It often takes considerable bravery to stand up for the rights of women. The UN, which is committed to empowering women and girls, works relentlessly with activists and organizations across the world, to protect women from abuse, support health initiatives, and improve lives. Graduating university students in Afghanistan. Women are...
Top UN agency officials and civil society organization heads joined forces on Thursday to urge Afghanistan’s de facto authorities to reverse their ban on women working for NGOs that provide aid relief....
A statement issued by Spokesman Stéphane Dujarric said that Secretary-General António Guterres was “deeply disturbed by the reported order of the de facto Taliban authorities” and that the UN chief “reiterates the rights of all women to participate in the workforce thus contributing to the greater good.” According to media reports, the Taliban ordered all...
In a statement, the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) also urged the de facto authorities to “reopen girls’ schools beyond the sixth grade and end all measures preventing women and girls from participating fully in daily public life”. Clear and present violation UN Human Rights High Commissioner Volker Türk described the...
The allocation is from the Elsie Initiative Fund (EIF), which supports women’s meaningful participation in UN peacekeeping overall. The funding comes at a time when three countries that contribute police officers to UN field operations – Nigeria, Senegal and Togo – have committed to increasing and sustaining the deployment...
The 2023 Humanitarian Action Overview is UNFPA’s largest appeal ever and includes $289 million in Afghanistan, $70 million in Ukraine, $62 million in Somalia, and $23 million in Haiti. As the world faces multiple, intersecting crises, the agency calls for predictable and flexible humanitarian funding to save lives and ensure...
The study by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and UN Women was issued ahead of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, observed annually on 25 November. Of the 81,000 women and girls intentionally killed last year, 45,000 – around 56 per cent –...
In a statement kicking off the “UNiTE! Activism to End Violence against Women and Girls campaign”, they reminded that an estimated one in three women experience gender-based violence during her lifetime. Moreover, that last year, nearly one in five 20- to 24-year-old women had been married before turning 18 and...
“In recent months, violations of women and girls’ fundamental rights and freedoms in Afghanistan, already the most severe and unacceptable in the world, have sharply increased”, they said. In a statement pushing back on the Taliban’s violations, the Special Rapporteurs argued that gender persecution is a crime against humanity, which...
amplifyHER is a UN News production, supported by SoundCloud. The first episode is released Thursday, 24 November, on all major podcast platforms. Subsequent episodes will be released on a weekly basis. Episode 1: Milli (Thailand) Teenage superstar Milli became the first Thai artist to perform solo at the world-famous Coachella...