The journey of women migrant workers begins in the village. Most of them come from the village, and it is an entry and exit point wherein information on overseas employment opportunities and requirements can be obtained. UN Women, in partnership with Kalyanamitra initiated "Strengthening the Capacity of village and Migrant Communities to Prevent and Respond to Violence against Women Migrant Workers and Trafficking" project in 2020-2022. The story of change from the villages is captured in this book to inspire everyone, including small village communities, that they can play their part in ending gender-based violence and trafficking.

Entrepreneurship is a catalyst for women’s economic empowerment. In China, as in the rest of the world, despite a recent surge in women’s entrepreneurship, women-owned businesses tend to be small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). SMEs are more vulnerable in emergencies than larger companies are, and many women-owned SMEs are situated in the service sector, which was hit the hardest by the pandemic.

Despite recent progress in advancing economic justice, the world economy still suffers from a gender gap, and China is no exception. The private sector is an important catalyst for sustainable and gender-inclusive development and economic growth.

Sabiha is a student of the UN Women – DanChurchAid (DCA) Second Chance Education Learning Programme being implemented in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh. UN Women with its implementing partner DCA has been implementing the Second Chance Education Learning Programme in the Rohingya Refugee camp and host community in Cox’s Bazar to support women and adolescent girls through a learning programme to enhance their self-reliance and empowerment.

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.

UN Women Indonesia rolled out the project from June 2020 through May 2021. At the end of the project, 610 women benefited from the cash-based interventions, 100 women received advocacy and leadership training, and more than 100 individuals received knowledge on coordinated quality services to better support and empower women's migrant workers. In addition, 11 women’s crisis centers and shelters across the country were supported to ensure that services for women’s survivors of violence could continue during the pandemic.

The World Economic Forum says that at the current rate of change, it will take 108 years to close the overall gender gap and 202 years to bring parity in the workplace. India has one of the lowest female labour force participation rates in the world and a majority of women work in the informal sector.

The “UN Women impact stories series”, updated quarterly, illustrates the human impact of UN Women’s work across Asia and the Pacific, highlighting the partnerships that make this work possible. These stories share how we and our many partners are striding forward to realize a better world for women and girls—one of equality and empowerment because that is what we do and who we are, as a leader, mobilizer, convenor, and provider of programmes.

This paper is a review of gender mainstreaming principles and examples of interventions by countries and organisations in Asia and the Pacific region. It also includes tools and approaches to mainstream gender into climate change and disaster risk reduction policies.

Women and girls have been disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 pandemic’s social isolation and economic fallout. They face increased violence, unpaid care work, and other inequalities and violations of their rights.

This brief highlights emerging evidence of the impact of the recent global pandemic of COVID-19 on violence against women and girls . It makes recommendations to be considered by all sectors of society, from governments to international organizations and to civil society organizations, in order to prevent and respond to violence against women and girls, at the onset, during, and after the public health crisis, with examples of actions already taken.

UN Women is working with national and provincial counterparts to strengthen rule of law institutions for enhancing women’s access to justice. Under the inception phase project “Strengthening the Rule of Law and Improving Access to Justice, FATA and Balochistan”, UN Women aims to analyse Rule of Law institutions and justice mechanisms from gender perspective, enhance institutional capacities and advocate for policy/legal reforms in Balochistan and FATA.

Part of UN Women’s Stories of Change series, this publication tells the story of Atefe Mansoori, an entrepreneur in Afghanistan who has defied her family and conservative factions to start her own saffron export business and provides training and employment opportunities to other women in Afghanistan.

Part of UN Women’s Stories of Change series, Ryahem Alem tells her story of going through UN Women’s intern programme. The 22-year-old from Badakhshan is a trainee midwife who was placed at Ali Seena Hospital in Kabul.

Part of UN Women’s Stories of Change series, this publication tells the story of Najiba and Lalbibi, two survivors of violence who sought help at a UN Women-funded Women’s Protection Centre, help that likely saved their lives.

Part of UN Women’s Stories of Change series, this publication tells the story of Zarmeena, a survivor of violence who sought help at a UN Women-funded Women’s Protection Centre. The support services, legal support and vocational training has helped her return to school and escape violence.

Part of UN Women’s Stories of Change series, this publication tells the story of Nabila Azizi, a university graduate who went through UN Women’s intern programme and was placed with the World Food Programme.