"Generation Equality: Picture it!" is a global competition to mark the 25th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration. The submission deadline is 21 March 2021.
Women and Gender Equality
UNFPA’s biggest stories of 2020 all stemmed from one story: COVID-19. Here are the highlights of how the pandemic affected women and girls, but also how people worldwide met the challenge.
Imen, like so many Tunisian youth, she struggled to find a paying job. In 2019 she submitted a proposal for a camel-rearing business to the the Support Fund for Project Holders and it was accepted. Camel raising is traditionally an exclusively male occupation. In fact, on the day her proposal was accepted, Imen became the first woman camel farmer not just in Tunisia, but all of North Africa. So how did a young woman with no relevant experience succeed? Put simply, she was determined and tenacious.
Some 2 million people and 20 million livestock inhabit the semi-arid plains of East Darfur. A rising population and more frequent climatic variability, combined with ineffective governance and policies have put a severe strain on natural resources, such as water and land. These challenges have been exacerbated by a major armed conflict in Darfur that began in 2003. In a number of communities across East Darfur, things are slowly starting to change, with women playing a greater role in various decision-making processes.
Journalist and author Isha Sesay from Sierra Leone has joined UNFPA as its newest Goodwill Ambassador to help raise awareness of gender-based violence and support efforts in ending it.
For the #16Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence (25 Nov – 10 Dec),
UNFPA collaborated with documentary photographer and visual artist Etinosa Yvonne on a multimedia storytelling project "Unheard Voices From Nigeria" for the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence. The Abuja-based Etinosa interviewed, photographed, and filmed 16 women in internally displaced persons (IDP) camps in northeastern Nigeria, a region afflicted by insurgent groups that have forced millions to flee their homes. For too long, the stories of these women—child marriage, domestic abuse, abduction and rape—have gone untold. Breaking the silence starts now. Each day through 10 December, one woman's story will be released.
The International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women (25 November) marks the launch of 16 days of activism against gender-based violence, to conclude on the International Human Rights Day (10 December). This year, under the title “Orange the World: Fund, Respond, Prevent, Collect!”, the campaign focuses on amplifying the call for global action to bridge funding gaps, ensuring essential services for survivors of violence during the COVID-19 crisis, and strengthening prevention and collection of data that can improve life-saving services for women and girls.
Violence against women and girls, particularly domestic violence, has intensified since the outbreak of COVID-19. As cases continue to strain health services, essential services, such as domestic violence shelters and helplines, have reached capacity. In the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women (25 November), we all must commit to prioritize addressing this issue in our response to the crisis. UN Women provides up-to-date information and support to vital programmes to fight the Shadow Pandemic.
In Palestine, it is widely understood that vulnerability to breast cancer can be hereditary. As a result, some women avoid getting screened because they fear a breast cancer diagnosis could affect their daughters’ marriage prospects. Women with breast cancer have also faced gender-based violence and abandonment. A recent UNFPA study showed that breast cancer stigma is a major cause of delayed detection and treatment.
UN Women shines a light on the need for funding, essential services, prevention and data that shapes better-informed responses to violence against women and girls.
Women and girls in Honduras are at high risk in the aftermath of Hurricane Eta. More than 400,000 women have been directly affected by the widespread destruction and are now left without access to essential health services. More than 1.6 million people throughout the country have been affected. Some 12,000 are now staying in shelters, a precarious situation due to the COVID-19 pandemic. UNFPA is supporting a rapid needs assessment and working to restore access to sexual and reproductive health services.
One stillbirth happens every 16 seconds. That’s about 2 million babies stillborn every year. What makes these deaths even more tragic is that the majority could have been prevented through quality care during pregnancy and at birth. Beyond the devastating loss of life, the psychological and financial costs for women, families and societies are severe and long lasting. Here are the answers to key questions about stillbirths.
Chief Inspector Doreen Malambo from Zambia, who serves as the Gender Adviser at the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), has won 2020 UN Woman Police Officer of the Year Award, in honour of her work supporting vulnerable groups, such as women, girls, children, and people with disabilit