Government officials and members of civil society groups in Indonesia’s Aceh province have learned in a UN Women-supported workshop how they can work together to put into action a Regional Action Plan on Protection and Empowerment of Women and Children in Social Conflict.

Thailand’s stock exchange opened with a ceremonial bell-ringing event on March 8 in celebration of International Women’s Day.

[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.

The climate and resource crises, as well as global inequality, have not disappeared during COVID-19. If anything, the pandemic has underscored the critical need to address gender inequality if we want to successfully combat the global pandemic and the climate crisis. It has also demonstrated the leadership roles that women and girls are playing in health and disaster response, especially at the local level.

I was forcefully married off at the age of 16 to a man who only knew violence. The miserable household held my parent-in-laws, brother and sister-in-law, and my unemployed husband. Within three months of my marriage, I realized that my husband had no affinity to get himself a job, and that is when the abuse began. It was always for dowry, to fund his failed ventures one after the other while the rest of the household fell deeper into the grasp of poverty.

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.

[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 first regional review of the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration in Asia and the Pacific concluded today with a call for greater collaboration among countries in the region to implement this global framework for action to reap the benefits of migration for all.

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.

Phyu Lin is a strong advocate for gender equality and human rights in Myanmar. For more than 20 years, she has been promoting the empowerment of women and gender justice in the peace process in the country’s civil and ethnic conflicts. “I have spent my adult life advocating for gender equality and human rights in Myanmar. With our ongoing peace process, it is now more important than ever that women are part of the decision-making. Without women’s meaningful participation in the peace talks, sustainable peace will not be possible..."

For 17 years Pateemoh Pohitaedaoh has been promoting peace in Thailand’s southern provinces and the empowerment of women survivors of the region’s armed conflict, who include herself. “Since the violent conflict in Thailand’s southern provinces re-emerged in January 2004, many of us have lost friends and family members. From 2004 to 2011, I lost four siblings to the violence. While this breaks my heart, it also motivates me to help with women who continue to suffer from the consequences of armed conflict..."

Women’s rights activist Lucky fled from armed conflict in Myanmar and is now living in a refugee camp in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh. She is committed to improving the lives of Rohingya women and girls in the camps, particularly by advocating for their rights to education and decision-making. "Having to flee from armed conflict in Myanmar has changed my perspective on life. My father was in jail as a political prisoner when we fled, so I had to take a lot of responsibility for my family. These experiences first created a wound but are now giving me strength to work for my community and to help Rohingya women get a better life..."

Aileen Kesa Marie U. Hualde grew up in an indigenous community under martial law in the southern Philippine region of Mindanao. After having to flee her own home as a child, today she is advocating for other indigenous women who are still suffering from the consequences of conflict, violence and displacement. “Where I grew up, armed conflict and violence are intertwined parts of our story as a people. I was only a young girl when we were placed under martial law. To me, this is one of the darkest periods in the history of Mindanao..."

On July 10th, 2020, young leaders from China together with representatives from UN Women, research institutions, media and private sector companies attended “Promoting Gender Equality through Social Innovations” online dialogue co-organized by UN Women China and Tencent, one of China’s leading tech companies.

Tie Lingmei 40, lives with her family in Qiaotou Village of Qinghai Province in China. With her ambition and the help of UN Women, she improved living conditions for herself as well as for many other women in her village. “I used to work as a taxi driver along with my husband in the county. Because I could not leave my child alone in my hometown, I decided to sell the car, came back and set up an agricultural cooperative with the help of our village secretary.

[Press release] Today, the Committee on Ethnic Minority Affairs (CEMA) and UN Women held a consultation workshop in support of Viet Nam’s review of the report on the 25-year implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action and invited ethnic minorities to share their perspective. The Beijing Platform for Action is one of the world’s most comprehensive documents on women’s rights and empowerment. The workshop was funded by Irish Aid Viet Nam.

Members of civil society groups and of the Government are now better able to produce and use statistics to advance women’s rights, thanks to trainings organized by UN Women.A total of about 90 people participated in the trainings, held on 25 October for civil society groups and on 26 October for high-level Government officials. Jessica Gardner, the UN Women consultant who led the trainings, said she hoped that all groups would give...

Marking the mid-term of the implementation of joint humanitarian and development projects aimed at benefitting all communities in Rakhine State, the Government of Japan and seven UN Agencies namely IOM, UNDP, UNFPA, UNHCR, UNICEF, UNWOMEN and WFP, confirmed that the partnership, under the humanitarian-development nexus, has enabled the provision of substantial and vital support in Rakhine State including crisis affected areas. An agreement totaling 2.2 billion Yen (USD...