This brief will help stakeholders formulate workable strategies to develop gender-responsive plans, projects and programmes at the local or national level and to allocate the necessary budgets for the effective implementation of those strategies.

The toolkit provides a grounding in risk control and business continuity, with particular reference to the COVID-19 pandemic response. With its step-by-step guidance, checklist, and various tools, the toolkit becomes a self-learning tool for SME leaders across the world, so that they can better address risks and build their own gender- responsive business continuity management system.

In this edition: [*] Rohingya women share their stories with the Swedish delegation [*] Cox’s Bazar Police strengthening their skills in gender responsive policing [*] Community Feedback Mechanism (CFM) Pilot Project Launched in Camp [*] International Women’s Day 2022... and much more...

This Gender Equality Update highlights the impact of COVID-19 on women and excluded groups, preparedness measures implemented by different bodies of the Government of Nepal, challenges faced while responding to the pandemic and recommendations to be considered for future planning.

Funded by the Swedish International Development Agency, the EmPower project aims to contribute to the implementation of climate change and disaster risk reduction actions in Asia and the Pacific that address the key drivers of gender-based vulnerabilities while enhancing human rights.

There are many benefits from partnering with UN Women. To recognize valuable work and generous contributions, UN Women provides communications and public relations support for maximum visibility of the partnerships. In addition to global recognition and visibility, partners have the opportunity to build corporate networks and relationships with like-minded businesses, philanthropic leaders, and client bases in UN Women-led initiatives such as the Generation Equality Forum, HeForShe, the Unstereotype Alliance, and the Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs). Our private sector partners may also experience positive effects on their overall businesses through collaborating with UN Women, for example, higher sales, stronger customer and supplier relationships, and a boost to employee morale and loyalty.

The note is intended to support universities and university administrators, UN staff working with universities in this area, civil society partners, students and other relevant stakeholders—particularly in middle- and low-income countries where there are few resources for addressing violence against women. Universities should adopt targeted measures to address the needs of specific groups, including those most vulnerable and at risk (e.g. students with disabilities, migrants, and those from ethnic minorities, lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, transgender, intersex, and queer (LGBTIQ) individuals).

The COVID-19 pandemic has increased the extent to which women peace builders use ICT and digital solutions to support their work. Although gender biases in these technologies hinder equal and safe online engagement, digital peace building and online civic engagement are venues for increased opportunities for women peace builders to advance their work. Digital solutions will play important roles in several key peace building areas. This brief outlines some of the challenges and opportunities that AI carries for the implementation of the Women, Peace and Security agenda in Southeast Asia.

UN Women and UNDP have piloted a training programme on Non-Violent Communication – a method which has found success in international mediation and conflict resolution settings – in Bangladesh, the Maldives and Sri Lanka. The project was generously supported by the Government of Australia and the European Union. This brief provides an overview of the approaches used in the pilot project and presents results from the evaluations of the trainings.

This GE Update focuses on Cash transfer programming - the facilitation of cash to vulnerable people - that is increasingly used as a critical approach in humanitarian action offering targeted opportunities for women. This type of programming allows the receivers the voice and power to determine their own needs, and the agency to plan their own humanitarian response, while also supporting local economies and businesses.

This report identifies both the persistent trends and changing gender dynamics of violent extremism in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, based on an expert survey and interview research conducted between July and November 2021. It examined how and to what extent misogyny and hostile beliefs are fuelling violent extremism in the Southeast Asian region during the pandemic, the degree to which misogyny and hostile beliefs in the ASEAN region are fuelling violent extremism, and how these manifest themselves in the offline space.

This facilitator’s handbook is designed for women peace activists and women leaders. Its purpose is to empower women leaders and women peace activists by giving them the necessary tools that will not only promote and increase their effective participation in the peace processes but equip them with the information and techniques to train other women peace activists.

The Peace Village Initiative, implemented by the Wahid Foundation since 2017 with the support of UN Women and other donors, is an ambitious initiative that aims to address the drivers of extremism among women by mobilizing community members, especially women, to promote social cohesion across Java Island in Indonesia.

To better understand the differential conditions, risks, and impacts in disaster situations in Southeast Asia, this research on the Gender and Age Inequality of Disaster Risk in Southeast Asia was conducted in 2021, building upon methodology developed through the global study developed in this area by UN Women, UNICEF, and Practical Action. The research aimed to consolidate and analyze information on the gendered and generational nature of disaster risks in preparing for, withstanding, and recovering from disasters in the region during this last decade, and presents key findings and recommendations to advance gender-responsive DRR in the region.

The brief showcases the contributions of UN Women Viet Nam in supporting and working with the Government of Viet Nam, civil society, and other stakeholders to advance gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls in Viet Nam. The brief is meant to be accessible to any reader by providing an introduction to UN Women and what we do; by sharing the about impact on 4 areas of our work: Policy Advocacy, Programmes, Coordination, and Outreach.

The regional project Empowering Women for Sustainable Peace: Preventing Violence and Promoting Social Cohesion in ASEAN aims to achieve the ultimate goal that ASEAN Member States will advance and strengthen the implementation of the WPS agenda, including preventing violence against women and girls and promoting social cohesion in the region.

The regional project Empowering Women for Sustainable Peace seeks to operationalize a simple but revolutionary idea first introduced in the landmark United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 (2000) – that peace is inextricably linked to equality between men and women.

This study addressed this gap in the literature by analysing primary and secondary data from private, formal enterprises in the manufacturing, trade, and service sectors to understand the attributes of firms that influence the demand for women workers.

This photobook is developed to share the typical journey of change of selected teachers and students who joined efforts to reduce gender-based violence in schools. These courageous teachers and students participated in piloting the Toolkit “Connect with respect: preventing gender-based violence in schools: Classroom Programme for Students in Early Secondary School (age 11-14)”, which was jointly implemented by the Department for Political Education and Students Affairs, Ministry of Education and Training (PESAD-MOET) and the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UNWomen) in Viet Nam, from end of 2018 to mid of 2020, in 5 secondary schools at 5 provinces.

UNODC and UN Women jointly developed three training modules aiming to strengthen the capacity of law enforcement to apply a gender-responsive and victim centered approach to carry out investigations related to trafficking in persons and other criminal activities.