All crises have gendered impacts – simply put, they affect women and men, girls and boys in different ways. COVID-19 is no different. Six months into the pandemic, what have we learned? What do policymakers and activists need to do to ensure that decades of progress on gender equality is not rolled back and efforts...

Monrovia, Liberia, The Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection in collaboration with the Adolescent Girls Advisory Panel have observed this year’s National Young Women and Girls Conference. National Young Women and Girls Conference is a yearly program designed by the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection and its partners to afford young women...

Legal amendment comes as school closures due to COVID-19 raise fears of a rise in sexual abuse and unwanted pregnancies. Zimbabwe has made it illegal for schools to expel pupils who get pregnant, a measure women’s rights campaigners said would help tackle gender inequality in the classroom and stop many girls from dropping out of...

The Ministry of Communications, in partnership with its agencies, is conducting training for about 570 schoolgirls in the Oti Region. As part of the annual National Girls in Information & Communications Technology (ICT) celebrations, these girls and young women will be encouraged and empowered to enter into ICT related studies and careers. It is also...

Only 29% of women in Kenya between the ages of 15 and 49 are empowered, according to the new Kenya women’s empowerment index. The study, developed by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics in partnership with the State Department for Gender, UN Women, and UNICEF, is “the first comprehensive and systematic measure” for women’s and girls’ empowerment in Kenya,...

Representatives of humanitarian organisations have called for improved welfare for internally displaced women and girls in Nigeria. The stakeholders from within and outside Nigeria emphasised the need to protect and empower internally displaced women and girls to enable them take on the challenges arising from the COVID-19 pandemic. They made the call during a virtual...

A virtual ministerial roundtable meeting organized by UN Women on 5 August 2020 brought to the forefront the need to safeguard women’s rights and put in place deliberate measures to advance gender equality, as part of COVID-19 response and recovery interventions. The event, titled Ensuring Progress Towards SDG 5 Amid the COVID-19 pandemic – from Response...

2020 theme: COVID-19 and indigenous peoples’ resilience Date: Sunday, August 9, 2020 The global COVID-19 crisis has exacerbated longstanding structural inequalities for the most marginalized, with indigenous women and girls some of the most affected. On the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples we consider not only the enormous challenges faced by indigenous women,...

Wanting a different life for herself and other girls, Savadye started the Zimbabwean women’s movement Roots Africa seven years ago fighting for, among many things, legislation change to better protect women’s rights in her region. Under the lockdown, Savadye is one of a band of female activists in Africa pushing for stronger laws to protect...

Earlier this month, the Zambian government and the World Bank have signed a credit agreement for additional financing to support the Girls Education and Women’s Empowerment (GEWEL) Project. The additional financing, approved by the World Bank Board of Directors in March 2020, will support the government’s goal to increase access to livelihood support for women...