As the world steps forward to curb climate change and nature loss, finding solutions that work is vital. Our collective destination will not be reached without women’s equal participation and leadership. Gender-transformative work across Asia-Pacific is thwarting stereotypes, expanding opportunities, and implementing solutions. In this story from UNDP, you can read about Fadlun Bonde, a community ranger working to Combat Illegal Wildlife Trade and help stamp out crime in Indonesia; Chen Guanghui, who joined previously male-dominated professions becoming a ranger to protect black-necked cranes in China; Vi Thi Tuoi, who is working to redefine how medicinal herbs are cultivated and preserved in Viet Nam; and Vijeta, who is weaving a better future in India.

International Women’s Day recognizes the critical contributions of women human rights defenders and feminist movements, who use the transformative power of digital technology to connect, mobilize, and drive social change, while fighting against the persistent pushback of women’s rights. The digital world offers immense opportunities, but it isn’t immune to the persistent backlash against women’s rights and gender equality including gender-based violence and digital exclusion. “International Women’s Day reminds us of the patriarchal power dynamics, old and new, that hold our world back from fulfilling the rights of all women and girls,” said UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk, "The digital space has yet to undergo a much-needed feminist revolution – and it must."

Today women make up under a third of the workforce in science, technology, engineering, and maths (STEM). When women are under-represented in developing new technologies, discrimination may be baked in from the start. This International Women’s Day (8 March) with the theme “DigitALL: Innovation and technology for gender equality,” recognizes the women and girls championing transformative technologies and digital education. The observance explores the impact of the digital gender gap on widening inequalities and the importance of protecting women’s rights in digital spaces. #PowerOn to create an equal future.

Emerging technologies and digital access can greatly improve the well-being, education, health, and livelihoods of women and girls. However, a significant digital gender gap remains, limiting the equitable benefits of digital transformation. The Commission on the Status of Women – an intergovernmental body dedicated to gender equality and women’s empowerment – will address this problem in its 67th session (6-17 March). The group will revisit the gendered impacts of innovation and identify recommendations for a more inclusive and equitable digital evolution.

Somaya Faruqi is one of the lucky ones. She managed to escape from Afghanistan in August 2021, just as the Taliban overran the country’s capital. Today, while the 20-year-old engineering student pursues a degree in the US, her former classmates back home have been banned from the classroom.

In support of this week’s Education Cannot Wait conference in Geneva and its call for learning support in emergencies, Somaya has been speaking to UN News’s Daniel Johnson.

Photo: © Courtesy of Somaya Faruqi

Some 4.2 million girls are at risk of the harmful practice of female genital mutilation (FGM) during 2023 alone.  Partnerships with men and boys can make the largest global impact in reaching the Sustainable Development Goals target of eliminating FGM by 2030. Be part of the live event of this year’s  International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation (6 February) and share with the world: #MenEndFGM!

A group of worried women gathered at a community centre on the outskirts of Afghanistan’s capital, Kabul. Many have recently completed a livelihoods training project run by local NGO in partnership with the UN Refugee Agency. But the future of the project and the women hangs in the balance. Recent decrees issued by Afghanistan’s authorities have barred female employees with non-governmental organisations from going to work. If the decree is not amended, projects such as this one, which involves female NGO staff training other women, will be unable to continue.

In 2022, amidst conflict, crisis, and a growing global pushback on gender equality, UN Women pushed forward. Looking ahead to 2023, the UN agency is calling on everyone around the world to work together to ensure that women’s rights are upheld, their leadership is guaranteed, their needs are met in times of crisis, and their lives are always free of violence.

Emel Mathlouthi was named the ‘voice of the Tunisian revolution, after a video of her performing a version of the song ‘My Word is Free’, during a Tunisian street protest, went viral online during the Arab Spring.

Her music was banned by the regime, and she became known as the "voice of the Tunisian revolution." Three years later, she was invited to perform the song at the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony.

Over the years, Emel’s musical journey has led her to incorporate electronica and digital glitches, but it was clear from talking to her, that she hasn’t lost her revolutionary spirit.

Original music that appears in amplifyHER is included with the kind permission of the artists. All rights reserved.

Ranu was married at 14 and lost her first child in pregnancy at 16. To combat gender inequality and advocate for girls in her village, Ranu joined a UNFPA-supported group of activists in Bangladesh.

In conflict and crises around the world, women and girls from the frontlines are almost always hardest hit, yet against all odds, are ushering change.  Supported by UNDP and partners, women around the world are standing up and transforming their lives, their communities, and the world. Because when women’s voices are heard, development thrives, economies grow, and peace prevails.

“A gender equal world is a more accessible, more free, and more peaceful world,” said Pashtana Dorani. “It is a fascinating world, where men and women have equal pay; a world where girls and boys are not told which colour is for which or told they cannot play sports or do anything.” The efforts of women human rights defenders like Dorani continue to be indispensable for the rights of women and girls. UN Human Rights supports the courageous women demanding an end to discrimination and advocating for legal reforms to ensure their rights and justice.

Inas is now a volunteer at a UNFPA-supported safe space in Jabilya, in the Gaza Strip, where she was helped to leave an abusive marriage and get medical treatment for her cancer.

Around the world, women musicians are producing art in the face of the challenges they face in society, whether related to conflict, human rights, climate change, inequality, or simply because of their gender. AmplifyHER is a new UN podcast, where ten inspiring women musicians from diverse cultural backgrounds talk to us about their challenges as women in a male-dominated industry, overcoming barriers, and what drives them to continue creating music. Do not miss an episode!

Gender-based violence is one of the world’s most pervasive human rights’ violations. Every woman in every part of the world deserves to live without fear, threats and violence. UNFPA is taking action to prevent, respond to and address gender-based violence (GBV) in more than 150 countries.