Asia and the Pacific

Sopheap has since also invested in an electric rice cooker modified to use with biogas, saving her even more time. Photo: UN Environment and UN Women/Prashanthi Subramaniam

Biogas helps offset the effects of climate change

Nearly 85 per cent of rural Cambodia relies on firewood. Breaking this habit by switching to biogas means cooking and heating water now goes much faster, and no longer has to collect or buy, chop and clean firewood... Learn more

Kalpana Viswanath, Co-Founder and CEO of SafetiPin. Photo: UN Women/Pairach Homtong

Lack safety has a lot of implications on women’s and girls

Kalpana Viswanath, Co-Founder and CEO of SafetiPin spoke to UN Women on the sidelines of the 63rd Commission on the Status of Women, which is dealing with sustainable infrastructure, among other topics... Learn more

Padma Chaudhary, a 38-year-old. Photo: UN Women/Merit Maharjan

Taking the wheels of her destiny on the roads of western Nepal

Padma Chaudhary, a 38-year-old mother of two, leaves early in the morning from her home in the village of Phulwari to her e-rickshaw stall almost 20 km away, in Dhangadhi bazaar... Learn more

#MyRedLine: Farahnaz Forotan

I am Farahnaz Forotan. I am a journalist. #MyRedLine is my pen and my freedom of expression. What’s yours? Learn more

Sangeet Kayastha, Y-PEER Asia Pacific Center. Photo: UN Women/Minji Lee

“If we have policies and services but no one knows about them, it’s useless”

Nepal has some good examples of policies and associated services, but no one is going to read through them on paper or online to know what is on offer. The communication needs to be done... Learn more

Highlights

#MyRedLine

A social movement cataloguing where Afghan’s stand on women’s rights and peace... More

Mobile Service Delivery to ‘REACH’ people in remote communities in Samoa

More Samoan citizens living outside of urban communities will soon have better access to government, legal and women’s services through a new mobile service delivery initiative launched... More
Partners unite to use faith to prevent violence against women and girls

Faith-based activities in Fijian communities are expected to contribute to preventing violence against women and girls as part of House of Sarah’s new Preventing Violence Against Women in Fiji’s Faith Settings (PVAWFFS) initiative... More
In Focus: International Women’s Day 2019: Think equal, build smart, innovate for change

The theme for International Women’s Day 2019, which will take place on 8 March, is “Think equal, build smart, innovate for change”. The theme will focus on innovative ways in which we can advance gender equality and the empowerment of women, particularly in the areas of social protection systems, access to public services and sustainable infrastructure... More
Regional stakeholders say a holistic and gender-responsive approach to social protection is needed

Gender inequalities remain profound and entrenched across Asia and the Pacific, despite recent rapid economic progress. Women’s inequitable access to health, education and other basic social services starts young and has a life-long, cumulative impact on their social and economic opportunities... More
Advocates convene to promote women’s right to a nationality in Myanmar

Almost a third of the population of Myanmar does not have an identity document – more than half of those are women. Myanmar is home to one of the largest populations of stateless persons in the world, and inter-generational discrimination in accessing basic services and protection due to their lack of official identity documents is a huge problem affecting many... More
Finland and UN Women partnership to advance gender equality and women’s empowerment

Through this partnership, UN Women Nepal will be able to support elected and appointed women representatives; increase women’s representation and leadership in peace and security; strengthen gender responsive development and economic empowerment; implementation and monitoring of laws, policies, plans, budgets... More
Gender equality, 2018 year in review

From the continued momentum of the #MeToo movement to numerous new laws on violence against women to the first world leader taking maternity leave, this timeline is a selection of some of the noteworthy moments for women’s rights and gender equality from around the world... More

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“Think Equal, Build Smart, Innovate for Change”

In her statement for International Women’s Day, UN Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka calls to put innovation at the centre of efforts to reflect the needs and viewpoints of women and girls and to resolve barriers to public services and opportunities. Remoteness need no longer be an exclusion issue when mobile money technology and digital payments can deliver social benefits to even the most remote households. Lack of roads need not prevent life-saving medication from reaching patients... More

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This #WomensDay, we’re innovating for change

What does it mean to innovate? From mobile banking to artificial intelligence and the internet of things, it is vital that women’s ideas and experiences equally influence the design and implementation of the innovations that shape our future societies.

Featured Publication

Gender Equality and the Sustainable Development Goals in Asia and the Paciﬁc

The report provides a baseline for monitoring progress on gender equality within the SDG framework and identifies priority actions towards achieving gender equality in the region. It provides the first assessment for Asia and the Pacific of how the 2030 Agenda is to be achieved by addressing gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls... Read more