As the new Plan comes together, UN Women and its #BRIDGEProgramme partners, with support from the #MigrationFund, drew on the Global Compact for Migration and other international instruments to imagine what programs and services the Plan might include to benefit Filipino migrant workers and their families.

Infographics and videos on Renewable Energy: Powering Equality for a Green Recovery. Three women leaders from Bangladesh, Cambodia, and Viet Nam.

[Infographics] Women who migrate for work contribute greatly to stronger societies and economies in both their countries of origin and their countries of destination. For many, the decision to work abroad involves prioritizing their families’ welfare over their own personal comfort and desires. Women generally have fewer options than men for regular migration, and are often employed in lower paid, informal sectors with few, if any, labour protections.

These statistics set the tone for a series of conversations jointly hosted by UN Women and the French Embassy in Sri Lanka, in the broader context of COVID-19 and the parallel worsening of gender equality. In the course of the six discussions – each based on the thematic focus areas of the Generation Equality Forum – experts and activists repeatedly highlighted three underlying problems in relation to gender equality and women’s rights in Sri Lanka.

In 2020, Bangladesh faced a double disaster Cyclone and COVID-19 in Khulna and Satkhira districts amongst the hardest hit. Thousands of families lost their livelihoods and incomes overnight. While the government provided direct assistance to those affected, many women and girls fell through the cracks. At the onset of the pandemic, UN Women expanded the group of NGOs that it worked with and created the Gender Monitoring Network (GMN), a network of 28 civil society organizations (CSOs) and women’s rights organizations. Organizations from the GMN supported UN Women in identifying vulnerable groups of women and girls, including transgender and sex workers, for unconditional cash assistance.

The infographic was based on a policy research “Leveraging Digitalization to cope with COVID-19: An Indonesia case study on women-owned micro and small businesses” by UN Women in partnership with Pulse Lab Jakarta and Gojek, with the support of National Council for Financial Inclusion of Indonesia (S-DNKI).

The infographic was based on the survey on the socio-economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on women and men launched through SMS messages via Indosat Ooredoo mobile network, during April and July 2020 to collect data from randomly selected cellphone users with a link to a web-based survey. The report “Counting the Costs of COVID-19: Assessing the Impact on Gender and the Achievement of the SDGs in Indonesia” reveals how COVID-19 is exposing women’s vulnerabilities to...

According to new report from UN Women Asia Pacific on gender impact of COVID-19, the pandemic is triggering a mental health crisis in the region, as the emotional impact of the pandemic unduly falls on women’s shoulders in most countries. Increases in unpaid work, job and income loss, and the effects of the lockdown on gender-based violence are among the factors that may be contributing to higher rates of stress and anxiety among women.

The brief on Gender Based Violence against Women Migrant Workers was derived from Indonesian Ministry of Women’s Empowerment and Child Protections’ Protocols in Handling the Case of Gender Based Violence and Trafficking of Women Migrant Workers during the COVID-19, supported by UN Women.

Women are paid less than men globally, with the gender pay gap estimated at 16 percent. Women earn 77 cents for every dollar men earn for work of equal value – with an even wider gap for women with children. These discrepancies in pay have negative consequences for women and their families - a situation that is exacerbated during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Women and girls are part of the most vulnerable groups in times of humanitarian crisis such as COVID-19. To ensure all the information and available support are accessible to all, we need to ensure women’s representation and voices are visible at the decision-making level.

Women and girls face even more violence in times of humanitarian crises, such as this moment with COVID- 19 and past outbreaks when movement is restricted. Violence against women has been called a “shadow pandemic” because it has huge consequences on the health and well-being of women and girls, but they often suffer in the shadows which has socio-economic costs that will last beyond the pandemic.

Having been the first region to face the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, markets and businesses in Asia-Pacific are now showing early signs of revival and leading the way towards a new economic reality. But until more progress is made, the positive developments in closing the gender gap could come under pressure. Despite a growing number of resources made available to develop women’s entrepreneurship, gender inequalities still exist. 

The infographics examine the progress made and challenges faced in the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action in Asia and the Pacific 25 years after its adoption.

[POLICY BRIEF - 3] Implementing Gender-Responsive Employment Contracts analyses current methods used to monitor the implementation of contracts and makes recommendations to strengthen accountability against the terms of employment contracts...

[POLICY BRIEF - 2] Promoting the Rights of Women Migrant Workers through Employment Contracts identifies and compares existing contract provisions in the South Asia - Middle East corridor and summarizes strengths and gaps in protection in line with common right violations reported by women migrant workers themselves. It makes recommendations on addressing these gaps by creating enforceable rights-based, gender-responsive employment contracts...

[POLICY BRIEF - 1] Implementing Gender-Responsive Employment Contracts analyses current methods used to monitor the implementation of contracts and makes recommendations to strengthen accountability against the terms of employment contracts...

This three-part Policy Brief series identifies actions to develop and implement effective, rights-based and gender responsive protections for women workers migrating from South Asia to the Middle East. The policy briefs address three key stages during which protections for women migrant workers are developed, implemented, and monitored. Making International Labour Migration Governance Gender Responsive outlines the role of labour migration governance and policies in determining the living and...

The Toolkit provides comprehensive guidance on ensuring the protection and promotion of the rights of women migrant workers throughout the labour migration cycle. The Toolkit includes a policy brief series that describes the process of establishing national, bilateral and regional policy protections. The Gender-responsive Guidance on Employment Contracts supports relevant stakeholders to ensure these policies and protections are reflected in employment contracts. The Gender-responsive Self-assessment Tool for Recruitment Agencies provides recruiters with information on how to protect and promote the rights of women migrant workers in practice, throughout the migration cycle....

Over several years, UN Women has accompanied CSAGA in many women rights advocacy activities. In 2017, we decided to incorporate the prevention of sexual violence against women and girls as one of the main contents of the 16 Days campaign to end violence against women and girls, starting from International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women (25 th November) to International Human Rights Day (10 th December). A key activity in 2017 was the exhibition titled "Portraits of the...