Even as countries buckle under the devastating social and economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, they must consider the links between gender inequality and crisis, particularly in communities affected by climate change and conflict. That’s the premise of a new UN report which argues that understanding these connections can help policymakers and donors to mitigate...
Group of protesters on Friday stormed the Nigeria Police Force Headquarters in Abuja, and police command in Lagos to protest the rising spate of rape, sexual violence, assault against women, incest in the country. Unanimously, they demanded that there should be declaration of state-of-emergency on gender-based violence in the country. The protesters who demanded justice...
“Since the first case of COVID-19 was reported in Ethiopia, one-stop crisis centres and shelters haven’t been able to support survivors because of the lack of isolation rooms for newcomers and insufficient human resources and personal protective equipment. To fill this gap, a transitional shelter was opened to serve as a space where survivors could...
The pandemic is gifting us an unprecedented opportunity to take innovative action and comprehensively confront the scourge of violence against women. We have a unique window in which, as a human family, we are able to boldly address the social ills Covid-19 is unearthing, and redesign and rebuild our social fabric. In this process of...
Following are UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina J. Mohammed’s remarks, as prepared for delivery, to the ministerial round table on “Transformative approaches: State support to promote women’s participation in peacebuilding”, in New York today: I thank the Government of Sweden and the International Peace Institute for convening this virtual platform. 2020 was set to be a...
A new report documents major challenges to women’s access to justice in light of the COVID-19 pandemic and puts forth recommendations to accelerate action and push back against threats to progress. Date: Thursday, May 21, 2020 21 May 2020 – The COVID-19 pandemic escalates threats to women’s access to justice, according to a new joint report, Justice for...
This commentary is co-signed by Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Ghana; Kamina Johnson-Smith, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Jamaica; Kang Kyung-wha, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Republic of Korea; Retno Marsudi, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Indonesia; Grace Naledi Mandisa Pandor, Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, South Africa; Marise...
The COVID-19 pandemic is a disaster that has severely disrupted the normal functioning of populations around the world and continues to proliferate indiscriminately. Disease outbreaks like COVID-19 threaten the health of all. But women and girls are disproportionately affected. During epidemics, the very measures taken to protect populations and keep health systems afloat leave women and girls especially...
Calls to helplines have soared in many countries as lockdowns leave women trapped with abusive partners. U.N. chief Antonio Guterres has called on governments to take urgent measures to tackle a “horrifying global surge” in domestic violence fuelled by worldwide lockdowns to curb the spread of the new coronavirus. Calls to helplines have doubled or...
