Gender Equality

Attaining gender equality for and eliminating all forms of discrimination against women are fundamental human rights and United Nations values. Women around the world nevertheless regularly suffer violations of their human rights throughout their lives, and realizing women’s human rights has not always been prioritized. Indeed, achieving equality between women and men requires a comprehensive understanding of the ways in which women experience discrimination and are denied equality so as to develop appropriate strategies to eliminate such discrimination. This publication provides an introduction to women’s human rights, covering the main provisions in international human rights law and exploring particularly relevant concepts for fully understanding women’s human rights.

As violent extremist activities around the world increasingly target women and women’s rights, this training manual is designed for actors involved in the prevention and countering of such violent extremism in Europe and Central Asia. It aims to support the relevant actors, including state officials, NGOs, community activists, UN staff, and international and regional organizations, in understanding violent extremism’s gender dimensions. While women are often portrayed only as victims in the face of the sexual and gender-based violence used to terrorize communities, they are also on the frontlines of prevention and response, leading civil society organizations and bolstering social resilience. Promoting women as agents of peace recognizes and respects their contributions to and perspectives on peacebuilding and renders Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism (P/CVE) more effective, sustainable and meaningful.

Après avoir énoncé des principes généraux sur le recours à la force, les orientations examinent les normes et règles internationales relatives à l'utilisation d'armes moins létales selon des scénarios et des armes spécifiques, avec un accent particulier sur le maintien de l'ordre dans les réunions. Si un utilisateur sur le terrain tente de déterminer si les forces de l'ordre ont utilisé une arme moins létale de manière inappropriée lors de la surveillance d'un rassemblement, il peut trouver une description de l'arme et se référer à divers scénarios d'utilisation légale, ainsi que des scénarios d'utilisation illégale. Fondamentalement, il ou elle peut également trouver le seuil spécifique de conduite, qui rend l'utilisation de cette arme autorisée.

The report will look into the social, institutional, economic and legal forces that determine how much power a woman has over her body and to make her own choices, the extent to which she has access to quality, non-discriminatory information and services, and how gender inequality underpins all of these. The report will also analyze retrospective data to measure bodily autonomy for girls and draw on case studies on bodily autonomy among marginalized groups: LGBTIQ+, indigenous and disability communities. The report also reveals how serious many of the shortfalls in bodily autonomy are; many have worsened under the pressures of the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic. Right now, for instance, record numbers of women and girls are at risk of gender-based violence and harmful practices such as early marriage.

El informe analizará las fuerzas sociales, institucionales, económicas y legales que determinan cuánto poder tiene una mujer sobre su cuerpo y para tomar sus propias decisiones, en qué medida tiene acceso a información y servicios de calidad y no discriminatorios, y cómo la desigualdad de género sustenta todo esto. El informe también analizará datos retrospectivos para medir la autonomía corporal de las niñas y se basará en estudios de casos sobre la autonomía corporal entre grupos marginados: LGBTIQ +, comunidades indígenas y con discapacidad. El informe revela numerosas lagunas en materia de autonomía corporal; muchas de ellas se han agravado debido a la presión de la pandemia de COVID-19. Ahora mismo, por ejemplo, la cifra de mujeres y niñas expuestas a la violencia por razón de género y a prácticas nocivas como el matrimonio precoz alcanza niveles sin precedentes.

Au lendemain de COVID-19 (coronavirus), les pays africains devront intensifier leurs efforts de mobilisation des ressources pour réaliser le Programme de développement durable à l'horizon 2030. Le Rapport sur le développement économique en Afrique 2020 adopte une méthodologie multidisciplinaire pour aborder la relation entre les flux financiers illicites (FFI) et les dimensions économiques, sociales et environnementales du développement durable en Afrique. Son approche inclusive intègre une optique de genre et donne la parole à de multiples points de vue, de la société civile aux entreprises qui font des affaires en Afrique. S'appuyant sur les mesures établies des FFI, le rapport fournit de nouvelles informations sur les estimations nationales de la mauvaise facturation des exportations sur le continent et met en évidence les caractéristiques spécifiques des produits minéraux. Il souligne également certaines des motivations et des causes profondes des FFI.

This UN Women’s flagship report shows that, all too often, women’s economic and social rights are held back, because they are forced to fit into a ‘man’s world’. But, it is possible to move beyond the status quo, to picture a world where economies are built with women’s rights at their heart. It is being published as the international community comes together to define a transformative post-2015 development agenda, and coincides with the 20th anniversary commemoration of the landmark Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, China which set out a comprehensive agenda to advance gender equality. This publication brings together human rights and economic policymaking, and provides the key elements for a far-reaching new policy agenda that can transform economies and make women’s rights a reality. Through solid in-depth analysis and data, this evidence-based report provides key recommendations on moving towards an economy that truly works for women, for the benefit of all.

This study examines the nexus between technology in agriculture and trade from a gender perspective. This document looks at the relationship between trade and gender as it explores the opportunities and challenges that women experience in the process of technological innovation and adoption in agriculture. Typically, women face many barriers in the access to agricultural technologies, and available technologies often fail to address women’s particular needs. This study aims to understand how inequality in the process of innovation and dissemination of technology affects women’s access to trade in agriculture, and to evaluate how reducing this form of inequality could strengthen women’s opportunities to participate and benefit from trade-related activities in the sector. Access to appropriate technology and the capacity to use it effectively are important factors to support women in agriculture, both as instruments for women to undertake new productive initiatives and/or to expand existing activities in agrifood value chains.

Le rapport sur l'état de la population mondiale 2020 documente les origines, les causes et la prévalence des pratiques néfastes dans les pays en développement et développés, ainsi que les contextes humanitaires dans lesquelles ells existent. Il montre également leurs impacts sur la santé, le bien-être et les droits des filles et des femmes tout au long de leur vie, l'impact sur la démographie, les économies nationales, le développement et la réalisation éventuelle des objectifs de développement durable. Le cas échéant, il met aussi en évidence l'impact sur les enfants.

Le rapport décrit la lutte pour les droits et les choix au cours des 50 dernières années et montre comment le FNUAP a joué un rôle essentiel en aidant les femmes et les adolescentes à surmonter les obstacles divers et en évolution qui les empêchaient d'accéder à l'information et aux services, en bénéficiant des mêmes droits et opportunités que les hommes et les garçons, en prenant leurs propres décisions dans la vie et en réalisant leur plein potentiel. Le rapport s'articule autour de menaces ou de défis majeurs aux droits et aux choix au cours des années et analyse leur impact sur la vie des femmes et des adolescentes.

Expanding access to contraception is essential for achieving universal access to reproductive health-care services, as called for in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. This Highlights presents estimates of contraceptive use and needs from 1990 to 2020, and projections to 2030 for 196 countries or areas of the world as well as regional and global trends. It describes the impact of population growth and changes in demand for family planning on the projected numbers of women who are contraceptive users or have unmet need for family planning. It also discusses global progress in meeting the demand for family planning with modern methods as called for in the 2030 Agenda (SDG indicator 3.7.1) and how satisfying the demand for family planning with modern methods can contribute towards progress in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

L’évaluation de l’état de préparation de la Côte d’Ivoire au commerce électronique est la vingt-sixième évaluation de ce type menée par la CNUCED et la septième au sein de l’Union économique et monétaire ouest-africaine, après le Sénégal, le Togo, le Burkina Faso, le Mali, le Bénin et le Niger. De ces évaluations découlent des recommandations permettant d’avancer tant au niveau national que régional et de contribuer ainsi à l’élaboration d’un plan régional, en soutien à la Déclaration ministérielle en date du 29 septembre 2017, dans laquelle les Ministres en charge du Commerce des États membres de l’UEMOA ont reconnu « (…) l’importance stratégique du commerce électronique et du commerce des services dans l’économie de l’Union et [ont recommandé] la mise en oeuvre d’un plan de travail au niveau régional. » Suite à cette déclaration, La Commission de l’UEMOA et la CNUCED, en collaboration avec les partenaires de eTrade for all, ont organisé à Ouagadougou, en octobre 2018, un atelier régional sur le commerce électronique, afin d’identifier les axes prioritaires du plan de travail et de promouvoir les actions nécessaires pour son développement.

Since the outbreak of the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, UNCTAD has played a critical role in raising awareness on the opportunities emerging from the crisis through increasing the uptake of e-commerce and digital solutions. At the same time, UNCTAD has voiced concerns about the risk of rising digital inequalities, particularly in least developed countries (LDCs). The 2020 eCommerce Week organised virtually by UNCTAD and partners of the eTrade for all initiative provided a unique platform convening a wide range of stakeholders to assess implications of the crisis and explore in-depth key digital issues in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. As a follow-up, UNCTAD assessed the impact on e-commerce businesses across developing countries and LDCs to understand the magnitude of the impact, identify key trends and challenges faced by e-commerce businesses, as well public and private policy responses to cope with the crisis. This paper is based on the results of a survey that investigates the impact of COVID-19 on e-commerce businesses from early March to the end of July 2020. It focuses on 23 countries, mainly LDCs, in Africa and Asia-Pacific. The countries have all benefitted from UNCTAD’s e-commerce capacity building programmes, either through an eTrade Readiness Assessment (eT Ready) or a national e-commerce strategy. 257 representatives of e-commerce businesses, out of 699 invited, responded to the survey and shared their experience following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Businesses have been divided into two groups: companies selling at least parts of their goods or services online and third-party online marketplaces. The responses from the private sector were complemented by public sector responses from 12 countries, elaborating on measures taken during the COVID-19 crisis to support e-commerce as well as to use e-commerce for economic recovery efforts. The key findings of this paper are presented below.

This report investigates the income-generating activities of women producers and traders in Kiribati and the constraints they face in production and trade activities. Research was conducted in the four islands of South Tarawa and Kiritimati as urban areas, and Arorae and Making as rural areas. Kiribati’s fragmented geographic structure and limited connectivity, narrow range of resources, high dependence on imports, and lack of economies scale – all of which are common to most small island developing States – create challenges for the expansion of the private sector and inter-island and international trade. Remoteness results in slower penetration of modern technologies and poses challenges for imports of raw materials and intermediate goods unavailable domestically. Weak business infrastructure, limited access to finance and burdensome licensing and trade procedures imply additional costs, inhibiting the development of the private sector. Policy recommendations are included that could help address the country's constraints.

This report examines the potential implications of the transparency provisions in the Pacific Agreement on Closer Economic Relations (PACER) Plus for gender outcomes in the region of nine Pacific island countries (9PICs) –Kiribati, Nauru, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, the Cook Islands and Niue – that signed the PACER Plus agreement with Australia and New Zealand in 2017. It also examines the socioeconomic, gender, and trade profiles of the 9PICs and discusses the gender implications of trade. The 9PICs share the economic features, challenges, and opportunities of small island developing states. The main challenge is their “smallness” with respect to area, population, and economies, which is a key driver of their economic vulnerability because it implies small domestic economies and a narrow resource base, resulting in limited production, export, and employment opportunities. Given these challenges, the PACER Plus agreement has taken into account the different levels of development through progressive dismantling of tariffs and other trade restrictions that differ across the 9PICs, as well as through financial and technical support to be provided by Australia and New Zealand to the 9PICs in the implementation stage.

In developed countries, public procurement accounts for almost 15% of gross domestic product; in some developing countries, this figure can reach as high as 40%. It is shocking that women-owned businesses account for a mere 1% of this critical sector. Women-owned businesses often cite lack of information about opportunities and requirements, complex procedures, and strict financial and qualification requirements as barriers to winning public tenders. This publication guides policymakers, procurement officers and other stakeholders on ways that they can contribute to improving women’s participation in public procurement. It provides a step-by-step guide to assess the state of their inclusion in public procurement, to identify barriers that women face, to understand policy options and procurement opportunities, to design a roadmap, and to monitor progress over time. It also features case studies from three countries at the forefront of this initiative – Chile, the Gambia and Nigeria – which are all finding solutions to these challenges.

This publication summarizes developments and trends in 2020 on key issues of multilateral consideration at the international and regional levels. The yearbook reviews the activity of the General Assembly and the Conference on Disarmament and the Disarmament Commission. Additionally, it contains a timeline that highlights events in multilateral disarmament in 2020 and comprises a foreword written by the High Representative for Disarmament Affairs.

Cette publication fournit aux agences nationales de statistiques des conseils sur la collecte, le traitement, l'analyse et la diffusion de données au niveau individuel sur la propriété d'actifs (y compris les logements, les terres et les actifs financiers) pour la production de statistiques sur le genre liées à trois objectifs : 1) mesurer l'écart d'actifs entre les sexes, ou la prévalence différentielle de la possession d'actifs par les femmes et les hommes; 2) mesurer l'écart de richesse entre les sexes, ou la part de la richesse totale détenue par les femmes; et 3) dans les ménages où plus d'un membre est interrogé, comprendre comment la propriété des actifs et la richesse sont réparties, par sexe, au sein des ménages. Elle présente les concepts, les définitions et les données requises pour mesurer la propriété et le contrôle des biens du point de vue du genre et fournit des conseils sur la planification, l'organisation et la mise en œuvre d'enquêtes auprès des ménages, ou en ajoutant un module sur la propriété des biens à une enquête auprès des ménages représentative au niveau national. Elle présente également un ensemble d'indicateurs pour le suivi de la propriété et du contrôle des femmes et des hommes sur les actifs physiques et financiers aux niveaux mondial et national, et explique comment l'analyse des données peut être utilisée pour répondre aux questions politiques pertinentes sur la propriété des actifs.

This legislative guide promotes an enabling legal environment for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs). It is based on the premise that it is in the interests of States and of MSMEs that such businesses operate in the formal economy. The guide also reflects the idea that entrepreneurs that have not yet commenced a business may be persuaded to do so in the formal economy if the requirements for formally starting their business are not considered overly burdensome, It includes best practices from various parts of the world and 58 recommendations aiming at assisting States in streamlining their business registration procedures.

Le présent guide législatif a été établi dans l’idée que il est dans l’intérêt des États et des micro-, petites et moyennes entreprises (MPME) que ces dernières mènent leurs activités au sein de l’économie formelle. Il vise aussi à traduire la notion que l’entrepreneur qui n’a pas encore démarré son entreprise peut être persuadé de le faire dans l’économie réglementée, si les formalités de création ne sont pas jugées trop contraignantes et si les avantages l’emportent sur l’intérêt qu’il aurait à opérer dans le secteur informel. Le guide contient des meilleures pratiques en matière d'enregistrement et 58 recommandations pour assister les Etats à améliorer leurs registres des entreprises.

This legislative guide is prepared by UNCITRAL to promote an enabling legal environment for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs). The guide is based on the premise that it is in the interests of States and of MSMEs that such businesses operate in the formal economy. This guide also reflects the idea that entrepreneurs that have not yet commenced a business may be persuaded to do so in the formal economy if the requirements for formally starting their business are not considered overly burdensome, and if the advantages for doing so outweigh their interest in operating in the informal economy. The guide includes best practices from various parts of the world and 58 recommendations aiming at assisting States in streamlining their business registration procedures.

The past century has seen a transformation in women's legal rights, with countries in every region expanding the scope of women's legal entitlements. Nevertheless for many of the world's women the laws that exist on paper do not translate to equality and justice. Progress of the World's Women: In Pursuit of Justice looks at how the legal system can play a positive role in women accessing their rights, citing cases that have changed women's lives both at a local and at times global level. It also looks at the important role women have played and continue to play as agents for change within the legal system, as legislators, as lawyers, as community activists but also asks why, despite progress on legal reform, the justice system is still not delivering justice for all women. The report focuses on four key areas: legal and constitutional frameworks, the justice chain, plural legal systems and conflict and post-conflict. Drawing on tangible examples of steps that have been taken to help women access justice, the report sets out ten key recommendations for policy and decision makers to act on in order to ensure every woman is able to obtain justice.

Comprendre les utilisations et les implications des mesures non tarifaires (MNT) est essentiel pour la formulation de stratégies de développement efficaces en vue d'atteindre les objectifs de développement durable (ODD). Accroître la transparence et la compréhension des MNT aide les commerçants à identifier les exigences auxquelles ils sont confrontés et renforce la capacité des décideurs politiques, des négociateurs commerciaux et des chercheurs à trouver le délicat équilibre entre la réduction des coûts commerciaux et la préservation des objectifs publics.

The 2015 Revision will build on the previous revision by incorporating the findings of new population censuses and specialized demographic surveys, which have been published since the previous revision. This comprehensive review of worldwide demographic trends and future prospects is essential for assessing the degree of progress made in achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and to guide policies aimed at achieving the new post-2015 development agenda, which Member States will adopt this fall. The full results of the 2015 revision will be made available in the form of a two volume report.

The 2015 Revision will build on the previous revision by incorporating the findings of new population censuses and specialized demographic surveys, which have been published since the previous revision. This comprehensive review of worldwide demographic trends and future prospects is essential for assessing the degree of progress made in achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and to guide policies aimed at achieving the new post-2015 development agenda, which Member States will adopt this fall. The full results of the 2015 revision will be made available in the form of a two volume report.