Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has clearly outlined her commitment to eliminating this scourge of violence against the women of Bangladesh. Nothing hurts her more, she has said, than violence against women. Her government has enacted several strong policies and action plans to promote gender equality and address violence against women, including the Domestic Violence Protection and Preservation Act 2010, National Women Development Policy 2011, Prevention and Suppression of Human Trafficking Act 2012 and the Child Marriage Prevention Act 2017, which clearly demonstrate the will to make changes.

With funding from the Government of Australia, UN Women has trained a group of 14 journalists in Papua New Guinea on how to help promote gender equality and women in leadership, and prevent violence against women and girls during elections. Violence typically flares around elections in Papua New Guinea. Votes are currently being counted from this month’s general election.

About 100 people with disabilities from all provinces of Papua New Guinea gathered in Port Moresby to review the National Disability Policy (2015-2025), and some of them talked about the problems they still faced in their daily lives. The National Capital District Diff-Abilities Advocacy Agency, a non-government organization, organized the 27 June-1 July event with support and funding from UN Women and the Government of Australia.

[Press release] Rising violence and insecurity are forcing women in Myanmar to stay away from jobs and healthcare services, says a new UN survey of over 2,200 women, which signals a deterioration of development gains in the country.

Gender-based violence Rapid Response Teams in 17 communities, led by local police, and consisting of a Women’s Union Officer and a Justice Officer, Youth Union Officer or Community Leader, deliver timely and coordinated responses and protection for women and girls experiencing violence in their communities.

Thirty Bangladeshi journalists have learned from UN Women and Deutsche Welle Akademie trainers how to write about women in more sensitive and empowering ways. The 22-24 June workshop encouraged a “gender-responsive journalism” in which, for example, journalists writing stories about crimes against women protect the woman’s privacy and focus on solutions instead of just preventing her as a “victim”.

[Press release] The European Union and its partners launched a programme that aims to promote the rule of law and enhance the criminal justice system in Pakistan, with a specific focus on the provinces of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Balochistan. Anchored in the vision that an enhanced and reformed justice sector is the only sustainable solution for addressing critical and systematic weaknesses in justice delivery, the programme spans from 2021 till 2025, and is financed with EUR20 million.

The Ministry of Women, Children and Poverty Alleviation (MWCPA) held a high-level public event today to mark the launch of the national consultations across Fiji to produce a whole-of-government and whole-of-community, evidence-based, measurable, inclusive and funded five-year National Action Plan (2021-2026).

Naiyapak Chaipan works for the 1300 Hotline, managed by the Thai government’s Social Assistance Centre that assists women seeking to leave abusive and violent situations. Ms. Chaipan’s work has doubled as the COVID-19 lockdown and travel restrictions have left many women confined with their abusers at home.

Women’s land rights are key to their economic independence and better decision-making power within families. In many parts of the world, research shows that lack of land rights makes women more vulnerable to gender-based violence. Dhana*, 38, is among the 218 gender-based violence survivors who have received life-saving assistance from the ‘Provision of Emergency Legal Assistance to Survivors of Gender-Based Violence in the COVID-19 Context’ project.

UN Women offices around the world have partnered with tech giants like Google, Twitter and Facebook to provide important information about helpline services for domestic violence survivors.

Subina Shrestha is an award-winning journalist and filmmaker from Nepal. Subina has steered major news coverage, often as the only international broadcast journalist on the scene; and told stories of people whose lives have been affected by natural and human-made disasters - from undercover reporting in Myanmar during cyclone Nargis, to investigating child slavery, and to covering Nepal’s earthquake and its aftermath.

[Prress release] Netflix and UN Women today launched “Because She Watched”, a special Netflix collection of series, documentaries, and films to celebrate International Women’s Day. “This collaboration is about taking on the challenge of telling women’s stories and showing women in all their diversity. It's about making visible the invisible, and proving that only by fully representing and including women on screen, behind-the-camera and in our narratives overall, society will truly flourish,” said Anita Bhatia, UN Women Deputy Executive Director. Created for International Women’s Day.

To strengthen the criminal justice sector response to sexual violence, it is essential to establish quality essential justice services for victims that prioritize their safety, protection and support, today’s workshop by UN Women and partners concluded. To improve the quality of and access to essential services for victims of gender-based violence, it is necessary to enhance understanding of the essential services for women and girls subject to violence- what...

The United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) and the Swiss Development Corporation (SDC) today signed a one-year partnership agreement to enhance the capacity of the Women Parliamentary Caucus (WPC) of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) to integrate a gender perspective in new provincial laws and policies and review of existing legislation. Through this project “Capacity Enhancement of the Women Parliamentary...

Women’s groups in the National Parliament and civil society are jointly pushing to enhance women’s political leadership in Timor-Leste by supporting female candidates in the upcoming village and national-level elections. A Strategic Framework 2016-2021 to mobilize female voters and candidates was launched on 11 October by the Women’s Caucus of the National Parliament and ‘100% Hau Prontu’ (I am ready) movement of 15 local and...

On 30 March 2016, a senior-level United Nations Delegation led by Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs, Mr. Miroslav Jenča, held an official full-fledged ASEAN-UN Secretariat-to-Secretariat Meeting with the ASEAN Secretariat leadership, headed by the Secretary-General of ASEAN, H.E. Le Luong Minh, at the ASEAN Secretariat in Jakarta. Other senior UN officials participating in the meeting included: Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian...

United Nations Country Team in Pakistan condemns in the strongest terms, the murderous attack on hundreds of people at Gulshan-i-Iqbal Park in Lahore, mainly women and children. All people in Pakistan have the right to peaceful lives. Brutality such as that in Lahore contradicts that universal right. Our thoughts are with the Pakistani people, with the victims and their families.

The Secretary-General strongly condemns the suicide bombing on 27 March 2016 at Gulshan-e-Iqbal Park in the Pakistani city of Lahore, killing at least 60 people and wounding over 100, including many women and children. The Secretary-General calls for the perpetrators of this appalling terrorist act to be brought swiftly to justice, consistent with human rights obligations. He urges the Government to do its utmost to put in place protective measures to ensure the personal...

The news media play a crucial role in helping people to understand the role of women and women’s issues as countries attempt to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. With that in mind, UN Women recently organized a workshop on this topic for 50 journalists from India, Maldives, Bhutan and Sri Lanka. The workshop, held on 7-8 December in New Delhi, improved the ability of the print, television and online journalists to hold their countries...