15th Anniversary: UN Women Asia and the Pacific Highlights

For ALL Women and girls:

In Pakistan, police superintendent Pari Gul Tareen shares why woman leaders make a difference.

UN Women and its partners have pushed women’s leadership further than ever before. We ensure women are supported before, during, and after elections, enabling them to run, win, and thrive in public office and to champion inclusive policies in public and private leadership. Women-led organizations, among our most important and enduring collaborators, hold decision makers and whole societies to account, demanding more change, faster.

Impact 2024/5: India devoted its highest-ever share of total government spending to gender equality, nearly $40 billion.

In Bangladesh, UN Women supported feminist groups in shaping a powerful, inclusive Charter of Demands that is driving legal reform and policy advocacy on gender equality nationwide.

Our first 15 years

UN Women-backed quota systems have reset political power. The number of countries with equal shares of men and women in parliament almost quadrupled, from 7 to 27. In Asia and Pacific, countries like Nepal, New Zealand, Timor-Leste, Viet Nam, and the Philippines have made significant strides toward gender-balanced parliaments through a mix of political commitment, quotas, and public demand for inclusive leadership.

For ALL Women and Girls:

The invisible care burden carried by women in Nepalese households, especially magnified during festivals.

UN Women plants seeds of change that make economies grow for women. Our focus is the fundamentals of a fair economic order, such as decent jobs, social protection at every stage of life, shared care responsibilities, digital tools and access to markets. Women in over 70 countries count the gains in incomes and empowerment. Where women win, entire economies thrive.

Impact 2024/5: More than 50,000 women vendors are improving their businesses, saving money, and feeling safer in markets across the Pacific islands. In Nepal, UN Women supported women entrepreneurs in Belauri Municipality, particularly returnee migrant workers and those from marginalized communities, from startup to scale-up. We empowered women farmers in Nepal to boost agricultural productivity, achieve financial independence and reshape social norms. A total of 64,000 women now have access to resources and entrepreneurship opportunities, with 1,100 women-led ventures.

In China, UN Women supported women-led cooperatives and a Tibetan community to adopt renewable energy, saving over 3,600 hours of unpaid care work annually, cutting carbon emissions, and generating 100,000 yuan ($14,000) in economic benefits. More than 2,000 women gained skills in e-commerce, finance and clean energy, strengthening their leadership in climate action.

Digital wallets helped nearly 12,000 home-based workers in Pakistan increase income by 73 per cent. Over 2.2 million women migrant workers in Indonesia benefited from information and services through ”SARI”, a gender-responsive AI chatbot on the Safe Travel mobile application. Viet Nam made pensions more accessible to women in the informal economy.

In classrooms across Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh states in India, young women are mastering AI, building digital confidence, and preparing for the jobs of tomorrow. Nearly 700 students have begun hands-on training in 2025 — turning ambition into action and closing the digital gender gap one skill at a time.

Work-life balance and better care policies are among the many improvements for 39 million employees of the 11,000 companies globally that have signed the Women’s Empowerment Principles.

Our first 15 years

UN Women has pushed care work towards the centre of economic policymaking. It’s about time. Care’s $10 trillion annual global contribution, made mostly by women, is larger than the tech industry.

For ALL Women and Girls:

No more killings, no more excuses. This 16 Days campaign takes a global stand against femicide.

UN Women and women’s movements: together, we are unstoppable in ending all forms of violence against women and girls. With unflagging advocacy and far-reaching alliances, we’ve tightened protections and stood behind tough new laws that make such violence a crime. By changing norms so people agree that violence is intolerable, not permissible, we prevent it from happening altogether.

Impact 2024/5: UN Women supported 19 countries and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to improve survivor-focused responses to violence against women through new regional guidelines and coordinated multisectoral services. Samoa launched a 10-year action plan for government entities, communities and civil society to dismantle attitudes and practices that perpetuate violence. In Nepal, UN Women and its partners drove a nationwide campaign to commit 365 days to end gender-based violence against women and girls and create a wave of awareness, solidarity and change. In Bangladesh, UN Women, working closely with the Government and civil society, supported the passage of two major legal reforms to protect women and girls: a landmark law ensuring safety in workplaces and schools, and a critical amendment to the 1872 Evidence Act. The latter modernizes the use of digital evidence and prohibits intrusive questioning of rape survivors in court without judicial consent, thus reducing re-traumatization and strengthening access to justice.

UN Women helped bring about a milestone in China’s judiciary system with the Supreme People’s Court adopting Ten Guiding Cases on domestic violence that integrate into national legal practice the principles of the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). Over 500 service providers are using UN Women’s training tools in China, strengthening coordinated responses to domestic violence across police, justice and front-line services. In Viet Nam, we supported the Government to pioneer the first “one-stop shop” model that provides free essential services for survivors.

Marshalling its extended partnerships, UN Women banded together with regional and international organizations, civil society, parliamentarians and traditional leaders to end child marriage in Pakistan's remote villages. Prosecutors in Thailand are prepared to handle cases of violence against women. They vowed to listen to survivors, protect their dignity, and prioritize their safety throughout the legal process. Students aged 12–16 in southern Thailand joined the efforts to prevent violence against women and girls through UN Women’s Voices against Violence programme, which is reaching over 2,500 peers in schools and communities.

With UN Women’s technical support, Fiji made history in June 2023 as the first Pacific Island nation — and only the second globally — to adopt a fully inclusive, costed, and evidence-based national action plan dedicated to preventing violence against all women and girls.

Our first 15 years

With UN Women's support, 90 countries, home to 3 billion women and girls, have made services responding to violence more available and centred on putting survivors first.

For ALL Women and Girls:

Gender-responsive drought and climate resilience support for vulnerable women in Viet Nam.

In every crisis, when and where it matters most, UN Women brings women and girls to the heart of humanitarian responses. We continuously invest in women’s front-line activism and leadership. From climate-induced disasters to conflict zones, women have the skills and vision for recovery, and the courage to lead and move forward.

Impact 2024/5: In Afghanistan, UN Women has stood its ground in defending women’s rights against erasure. Our commitment to work “by women, for women” has sustained 240 women’s organizations in all 34 provinces to deliver services and livelihoods for women and girls. In Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh we assisted 120,524 women and girls in the refugee camps (97,591) and in the Bangladeshi communities around the camps (22,933) with protection and empowerment services at our Multi-Purpose Women’s Centres. In Viet Nam, we improved clean water access for over 10,000 people, particularly women and children in drought-prone Ninh Thuan and Ca Mau provinces; and 3,600 vulnerable women inHo Chi Minh City and Tien Giang received cash grants and technical assistance to rebuild their livelihoods, benefiting over 14,300 individuals in their households. In Wuhan and Tianjin — two of China’s hardest-hit cities during COVID-19 — UN Women and its partners supported over 1,000 women-led businesses and 6,000 women workers with grants and services that boosted income and market access.

Through the Inter-Agency Standing Committee, UN Women brings the entire international humanitarian system together to act for women and girls. From Colombia to South Sudan, 100 per cent of published humanitarian response plans now have provisions to stop gender-based violence. In 60 countries, national governments, more than 600 women’s organizations and 49 United Nations organizations are mitigating disaster risks through a gender-lens. In Afghanistan and Myanmar, UN Women strengthened women’s leadership in crisis response by increasing their representation in humanitarian decision-making and boosting funding to women-led organizations — by 900 per cent in Afghanistan and by $1 million in Myanmar.

Our first 15 years

UN Women has steered the humanitarian system to engage women and girls not just as beneficiaries but as leaders with rights to claim space, shape solutions and demand accountability. In 19 countries, humanitarian teams routinely seek guidance from local women’s organizations and gender experts.

For ALL Women and Girls:

Evidence makes a compelling case: Women improve the prospects for peace.

From the front lines of conflict to the corridors of diplomacy, UN Women links women’s movements in the quest for peace. Together, we demand the full and equal representation and participation of women in all levels of peace processes and security efforts. Women lead peace efforts that centre not power, but people - building just, inclusive and resilient societies where every voice counts.

Impact 2024/5: In Indonesia, UN Women backs a coalition of 100 women grass-roots peacebuilding organizations to establish a network of civil society organizations to promote the United Nations women, peace and security agenda and influence peace policies. In Central Sulawesi province, women are determined to foreground women’s leadership in peacebuilding, including recovery and healing from both social and natural crises. The Philippines now has the region's highest share of women peace negotiators, and is implementing its fourth national action plan on women, peace and security in partnership with UN Women.

 In Sri Lanka, over 3,000 women entrepreneurs have economic independence and are seen as leaders in their communities – key drivers for fostering inclusive communities and sustaining peace. Seven countries in South-East Asia are forging ahead with translating into national policies ASEAN’s Regional Plan of Action on Women, Peace and Security into national policies.

UN Women’s tireless advocacy has pushed forward global norms, with a steady increase in Security Council resolutions incorporating gender. The Pact for the Future adopted by United Nations Member States in 2024 endorses dedicated action on women, peace and security. UN Women deployed 23 gender experts to United Nations-mandated human rights investigations in 2024. We supported the global Peacebuilding Fund in allocating 43 per cent of its funds to gender-responsive peacebuilding, far surpassing a 30 per cent target.

Our first 15 years

UN Women has influenced the growth of an entirely new public policy area through national action plans on women, peace and security. Adopted by 112 countries or territories – including 13 in Asia and the Pacific – up from only 32 in 2011, the plans guide steps to realize gender equality as fundamental to peaceful societies.

For ALL Women and Girls:

We are power! And we demand change for ALL women and girls!

UN Women is built to persuade and engage, to inspire hope and unrelenting action. We spark movements that push past backlash to change the world. Our connections go deep: women leaders in all their diversity from all generations, governments, businesses, sports heroes and more. We are open to all who are with us for rights, equality and empowerment for 4 billion women and girls.

Impact 2024/5: Mirroring a new wave of fearless, youth-led movements rising across the world, Generation Equality, a global coalition of activists, has delivered nearly 2,000 new or stepped-up policies, 4,400 programmes and 5,700 advocacy actions. Two million HeForShe activists have racked up achievements such as closing gender pay gaps in governments, sports and businesses. The global Unstereotype Alliance harnesses the persuasive power of 240 advertising firms from five continents. In 2024, they aligned over $100 billion in global ads with progressive social norms.

The 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence global campaign fired up the next generation of feminists, with record rates of engagement among women aged 18-24 in 2024. In Chile, digital tools empowered a wave of 3,000 Indigenous women leaders. One of our newest movements, the UN Women AI School in Asia and the Pacific, links change-makers intent on harnessing AI for gender equality.

Our first 15 years

As digital technology took off, so did UN Women, the youngest, digitally native United Nations organization. Our creative, often award-winning social media outreach has made gender equality visible, viral and impossible to ignore, attracting 15 million followers and counting.