Author: WIP Office

Even after decades of progress toward the equality of women, almost 90 percent of countries surveyed in a recent study continue to have a law or regulation that prevents women legally from fully using their economic opportunities. Policymakers who tolerate such outdated legal restraints on women are, in effect, forcing their economies to fight with […]

Beaming with pride and excitement, Fanny Chirisa was among the 124 women sworn-in on 3 September as new Members of Parliament (MPs) in the 8th Parliament of the Republic of Zimbabwe. A long-time women’s activist, she said she hopes to use her knowledge and experience to familiarize other MPs with the gender equality and women’s […]

“I am here to share with you that the President of the Republic of Senegal Mr. Macky Sall has honoured me in proposing that I lead the new administration,” said Aminata Touré, in a press briefing in the capital city of Dakar on 1 September 2013, following the official announcement that she would become the […]

In her first press conference as Executive Director of UN Women, Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka stressed the organization’s urgent need for funding to sustain work on its key priority areas, and to ensure gender equality features prominently in the post-2015 Development Agenda. Speaking about her vision for the organization and immediate priorities against the backdrop of important […]

The Executive Board of the European Central Bank (ECB) has decided to introduce gender targets with the aim of doubling the share of women in management. By end of 2019, 35% of middle management positions (Heads of Division, Deputy Heads of Division, Heads of Section, Senior Advisers and Advisers) and 28% of senior management positions […]

The African Union (AU) Commission, Women, Gender and Development Directorate (WGDD) in collaboration with SOAWR (Solidarity for African Women’s Rights Coalition), and UN Women are organizing a Meeting on Domestication and Implementation of the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa in Lilongwe, Malawi, from […]

The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) has announced it will support programmes in eight African countries over the next three years to boost access to reproductive health services for millions of adolescent girls. “We are working specifically to ensure that the continent’s adolescent girls, between the ages of 15 and 19 – some 45 million […]

Defining the focus of the activities of the Malala Fund for Girls’ Right to Education and how its US$ 10 million will be allocated were key topics of discussion during the official visit of the UNESCO Assistant Director-General of Education, Qian Tang, to the capital of Pakistan on 21 July 2013. The Minister of State […]

MPs from nine countries are to meet in the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka to discuss ways to make parliament more accountable for improving women’s and children’s health. The IPU seminar, organised with the Bangladesh Parliament and the World Health Organization (WHO), involves MPs from countries with high maternal and child mortality rates which are also part […]

In Kenya, vouchers and information provided to high-school and college students help nudge more women into lucrative jobs like motor-vehicle mechanics and driving, jobs traditionally dominated by men. In Rwanda, improved land tenure security has empowered women land owners to boost their investments in soil conservation by 18 percent – twice the level of men. […]

New index from the Economist Intelligence Unit, commissioned by the Multilateral Investment Fund, scores 20 countries on their support for female owners of micro, small and medium enterprises Chile, Peru, Colombia, Mexico and Uruguay provide the best environments for female entrepreneurs in Latin America and the Caribbean, according to the Women’s Entrepreneurial VentureScope (WEVentureScope), a […]

What different forms of violence against women and girls occur online? How can we use new technologies to end gender-based violence? Tweetup on #OrangeDay and say NO to violence against women & girls in cyberspace! Thursday, 25 July, 8:30am IST (= 24 July, 11pm EDT) and Thursday, 25 July, 11am EDT Violence against women and […]

While the majority of people in countries where female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) is concentrated oppose this harmful practice, there are still 30 million girls at risk of being cut in the next decade, according to a report launched today by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). The report, Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting: A statistical overview and […]

United Nations officials marked World Population Day today by spotlighting the issue of adolescent pregnancy, and calling on Governments to take measures to enable girls to make responsible life choices and realize their potential. About 16 million girls under age 18 give birth each year, according to the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), which noted that […]

European Union Ministers of Justice agreed today at the Council of the European Union to pioneer a Europe-wide protection order for survivors of violence. The new regulation complements the ‘European protection order’ adopted in December 2011, extending its application from criminal to civil matters. It will guarantee that victims and survivors of domestic violence can […]

The European Union and UN Women signed an agreement today establishing a joint fund to support projects from civil society organizations that promote gender equality in Chile. These projects will focus on three strategic areas: eliminating violence against women, women’s economic empowerment and women’s political participation and leadership. The 520,000-euro fund, which will support up […]

Côte d’Ivoire MPs Devise Action Plan for Women’s Rights – Women MPs in Côte d’Ivoire have drawn up an action plan on improving women’s rights and gender equality, focusing particularly on education and political participation. It follows IPU training on advocacy, communication and leadership on women’s rights issues last April for Côte d’Ivoire’s 24 women […]

Former Supreme Court lawyer, Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury, is the first ever woman to take the top job in the Bangladeshi parliament and also the youngest. Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury became Bangladesh’s first woman Speaker of Parliament on 30 April 2013. At age 46, she also became the country’s youngest ever Speaker. A keen campaigner for women’s […]

MPs in Mali are strengthening their efforts to tackle violence against women and children in conflict and post-conflict situations with support from IPU. Women and children have been the principal victims of atrocities after armed groups took control of the north of the country at the beginning of 2012. Nearly half a million people have […]