This brief provides an evidence-based analysis of recent trends in online hate speech. Focused on Bangladesh, Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand, this brief analyses misogynistic hate speech which has occurred in the context of increasing polarization, shrinking democratic space and the ongoing gendered impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The last year has posed many hardships from the continued spread of COVID-19 and measures to stop it. Yet solidarity and support for realizing women’s rights never wavered in China. UN Women forged ahead through collective efforts and partnerships. We are proud to share some of our best results from 2022, knowing these are the foundation for much more to come in 2023.

The project works across the Mekong subregion, namely in Thailand and Viet Nam, where the concept of SD-GRP is still in the nascent stages of development. Despite regional and national initiatives prioritising the financial inclusion of micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), there is currently a limited amount of gender-sensitive data available to promote SD-GRP practices and policies in the project’s geographical focus areas.  

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.

The guideline provides detailed instructions for companies to publicly report on progress of promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment within the most widely used reporting frameworks including corporate social responsibility (CSR) reports, sustainability reports, and environmental, social and governance (ESG) reports, in line with the women’s empowerment principles (WEPs).

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.

UN Women is a lead technical partner for supporting gender mainstreaming in the programme. In 2021, in addition to the establishment of partnership, as a result of UN Women’s advocacy and technical support, a Gender Action Plan has been developed, with an aim for enhancing the gender responsiveness of the programme interventions, at a total cost of USD 173 million. The Gender Action Plan has been integrated into the Project Management Manual for local government partners for guiding implementation at 10 pilot counties in Hunan from 2022 to 2026.

Check out the profiles of the 2020 gender champions and learn the impacts they have created in enabling a more gender-equal business world.

Skills development is key to economic empowerment of women migrant workers and improvements of their lives in Thailand and after returning to their countries of origin. Especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, skills development become more necessary and should be given to women migrant workers to overcome inequalities in economic and social development which are increasingly exacerbated. Skills development can improve productivity and help women migrant workers diversify their employment opportunities enhancing their possibilities to secure employment during the crisis and as part of recovery.

UN Women and the Rockcheck Puji Foundation are committed to upholding women’s rights and their leadership potential in pandemic preparedness, response and recovery. In May 2020 UN Women China, funded by the Rockcheck Puji Foundation, launched Supporting women to recover from the socio-economic impacts of COVID-19, a project that focused on women entrepreneurs, workers and women-owned small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

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.

These Action Cards provide practical actions for frontline service providers to consider and apply when they support women migrant workers who are at risk of, or subjected to violence. These 10 things in the Action Cards are based on the international principles and standards including the Essential Services Package for Women and Girls Subject to Violence with specific consideration of the needs of women migrant workers.

Effective coordination and referrals are essential to respond to the needs of women migrant workers subject to violence. Safe and Fair has created a regional service directory for this purpose. The service directory enables referrals of women, including women migrant workers survivors of violence, by sharing information on available violence against women (VAW) specialized service providers across the region.

The 2019 Annual Report of the United Nations in China highlights results and impacts in the following priority areas; poverty reduction and equitable development, improved and sustainable environment, enhanced global engagement with an emphasis on cross-cutting areas such as gender equality, and leaving no one behind.

Trafficking is prevalent across the Greater Mekong subregion, yet the specific gendered experiences of those affected remain underexplored. Relatively little is known about the extent to which initiatives aimed at prevention, return and response and reintegration are gender-responsive. This report aims to fill these gaps. It brings together a wide-ranging literature and policy review and primary qualitative data to provide insights into how gender and trafficking intersect across Cambodia, Myanmar and Thailand. It identifies a range of gaps and challenges and identifies priorities for future policy and programming.

This bulletin features stories, events, announcements, publications and resources as well as updates on the implementation of WeEmpowerAsia programme.

Now, nearly a decade later, the TRIANGLE in ASEAN programme (ILO) and Safe and Fair programme (ILO and UN Women) have conducted a similar survey of 4,099 nationals to track trends of attitudes in three of the above countries. One of the original four countries was changed, with the Republic of Korea replaced by Japan, given its emergence as an important destination country for low-skilled migrant workers in Asia. Certain questions from the first survey were repeated to allow for identification...

“Safe and Fair: Realizing women migrant workers’ rights and opportunities in the ASEAN region (2018-2022) ” is part of the multi-year EU-UN Spotlight Initiative to Eliminate Violence against Women and Girls. The programme is implemented by the ILO and UN Women, in collaboration with UNODC, and aims to reduce women migrant workers’ vulnerabilities to violence and trafficking and increase their access to coordinated and responsive quality services.

16 things you can do to help end violence against women and girls