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,...
Date: Wednesday, August 19, 2020 On 19 August, the world celebrates World Humanitarian Day to commemorate the humanitarian workers serving in crisis contexts around the globe. As we remember the humanitarians who were killed and injured in the course of their work, this year we also honour all aid and health workers who continue to...
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...
Egypt has approved a new law to protect the identity of women who come forward to report sexual harassment or assault in a move that aimed to encourage women and girls to report cases of sexual violence. The law, which will give victims the automatic right to anonymity comes as hundreds of women have started...
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...
The Central Regional Office of the National Population Council (NPC) says women and girls are the hardest hit by the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. “Apart from disrupting the livelihood of women, it has impacted negatively on the access to reproductive health services and led to an increase in sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) against...
In the last few months, as the coronavirus has spread across the world, African countries have registered a surge in cases of domestic violence and sexual violence, which has provoked public outrage. In May, South Sudanese activists protested the gang rape of an eight-year-old girl by three men while holding her mother at gunpoint, in...
