This report is based on an assessment of COVID-19 fiscal stimulus response and policy measures in nine countries in Asia and the Pacific (Cambodia, Fiji, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Thailand and Viet Nam).

This brief summarizes the key gender equality issues and key commitments in Nauru. Thematic areas covered in the brief include Women’s Human Rights, Women’s Representation and Leadership, Women’s Economic Empowerment, Education, Health/Sexual and Reproductive Health, Ending Violence against Women and Girls, and Gender and Protection in Humanitarian Action.

This report provides a background of gender-differentiated vulnerabilities in the context of climate change and disaster risk reduction, and the importance of civil society organizations (CSOs) in enhancing resilience of the most vulnerable, including women and girls.

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.

Women and girls in Cambodia are among the worst affected by climate change-induced disasters. Thus, the National Committee on Disaster Management of Cambodia and UN Women saw the need for more gender-inclusive disaster preparedness and response.

This in-depth, participatory research was conducted by BBC Media Action under the EmPower project to understand root causes of gender-based vulnerabilities to climate related hazards by reflecting on the experiences of men and women in two communities in Cambodia.

The report aims to provide a better understanding for policymakers in Asia about what focusing on human rights and gender equality in the context of climate change entails in practice.

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 EmPower: Women for Climate-Resilient Societies project, jointly implemented by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and UN Women and kindly supported by the Swedish Development Cooperation Agency, puts gender equality at the heart of climate action.

This index builds upon the South Asia Women's Resilience Index. It also builds upon ActionAid's Human Rights-Based Approach and Resilience Framework.

The report also provides a list of recommendation for actions to improve gender data in DRR and CC.

The Asia-Pacific region has witnessed progress in ending the HIV epidemic, with a decrease in AIDS-related deaths, increased access to treatment, higher domestic financing, and notable improvements in addressing stigma and discrimination. Yet, challenges related to ending the HIV epidemic persist with respect to gender relations and inequalities. An adequate response to the gender dimension of the HIV epidemic requires public policies that include and prioritize women’s equality, and that...

An overview of progress in Asia with evidence from Bangladesh, Cambodia and Viet Nam. Documented evidence from around the world demonstratesthat climate change and disaster impacts are not genderneutral. This also applies to Asia where available evidenceshows there are differences in how men and women areaffected by, cope with, and respond to the effects of climatechange and disasters....

The Sustainable Development Goals are the globally agreed goals guiding the new development agenda towards 2030. Gender is mainstreamed throughout the 17 SDGs while Goal 5 specifically calls on states to: Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls.

Increasing women’s participation in leadership and decision-making is not only critical for achieving gender equality, it is also essential for general economic and social development. Studies have found that longer exposure to women’s political representation increases women’s overall labour force participation, the share of public employment opportunities allocated to women and women’s increased access to public goods such as roads and health services. The Pacific...

Violence against women, in its many forms and manifestations, and across all settings, is a violation of human rights and fundamental freedoms. Violence against women takes place regardless of age, class, race and ethnicity, and impacts women across the world. This report looks at the proportion of women who ever had a partner, and if they ever in their lifetime have experienced physical, sexual and/or emotional violence. This is the first nationally representative, dedicated survey on intimate partner violence in Cambodia.

There has been progress towards gender equality and women’s empowerment in the Pacific, but it still remains a key challenge. The Millennium Development Goals have helped create awareness and gain political support for efforts to reduce poverty and achieve sustainable development across the globe. However, with the Millennium Development Goals coming to a close in 2015, the Pacific region’s progress towards achieving targets has been slow and uneven and many gender disparities still...

Indigenous women in Cambodia, Indonesia and India were targeted for this project because massive land alienation and land concession projects are taking place in the name of development, which are adversely affecting many indigenous communities. Among the destructive projects that are being implemented in these countries are large-scale rubber and palm oil plantations and mining. These projects have led to systematic violations against the individual and collective rights of the affected communities such as forced relocation, threats and harassments against protesting indigenous peoples and loss of livelihood among others. Indigenous women have been working alongside their communities to defend their land and livelihood from destructive projects but have not been spared as they are also subjected to harassments, rape and sexual abuse.

Global processes towards the achievement of gender equality

In partnership with the Ministry of Women’s Affairs, UN Women have developed a curriculum of training focusing on building the understanding and capacity of government and local authority officials on the issues surrounding migration and gender. The curriculum outlines three main modules that should be focused on in training, namely: (1) Gender & Migration; (2) Law & Policy; and (3) Safe Migration. All training materials have been translated into Khmer and been included in the appendices. This curriculum has been developed in close consultation with a representative group of government officials from the Ministry of Women’s Affairs, Ministry of Labor and Vocational Training and Ministry of Interior.