Women and Gender Issues

Are women any less corrupt than men? This publication is a first, comprehensive foray into this complex, multilayered subject that affects every society and country in the world differently. It underlines the importance of understanding how national, cultural and social norms interact and shape corrupt practices. With the United Nations Convention against Corruption as cornerstone, the publication highlights how many of the gender dimensions of corruption are not sufficiently addressed in national contexts. It examines the evolution and relevance of the key international instruments and emphasises the importance of evidence-based policy making. It also explores how gender equality policies can have a positive effect in preventing and countering corruption and, vice versa.

This publication presents statistics and analysis on the status of women and men in the world, highlighting the current situation and changes over time. The report is the sixth in the series which has been published every five years, as called for in the Beijing Platform for Action adopted at the Fourth World Conference on Women in 1995. This edition emphasizes that progress towards the goal of gender equality has been made in the last two decades in most areas of concern, although uneven and at low pace. Through a life cycle approach, the publication reveals the challenges and opportunities faced by women during their different stages of life and based on where they reside. The different trajectories of women and men are highlighted in the statistical findings of the analysis undertaken in eight chapters of the report, each representing a broad area of concern: population and families, health, education, work, power and decision-making, violence against women, environment and poverty.

Over the next decade, up to 10 million more girls will be at risk of becoming child brides as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. As the pandemic profoundly affects the everyday lives of girls – including their physical and mental health, their education, and the economic circumstances of their families and communities – these changes put girls at higher risk of becoming child brides. The actual number of girls who have been married since the beginning of the crisis is unknown, as most marriages are not registered and many girls live with a partner in an informal union. Still, pre-COVID data can be used to predict the impact of the crisis on child marriage in the near future, examining existing patterns and demographics of child marriage as well as historical information on the effects of educational disruption, economic shocks and programme efficacy on this harmful practice. In bringing such estimates into focus, this publication demonstrates that urgent action is needed for a COVID-19 response strategy that extends beyond health and prioritizes a broader set of rights for children.

Gender inequality is generally recognized as one of the main obstacles to development in the Arab Region. This volume of the Report focuses on the history and contemporary dynamics of Arab women's economic, political, and social empowerment. It details the processes in which gender impacts on Arab development while suggesting means of overcoming some of the challenges and building more equitable societies.

This publication presents the highlights of the report World Population Policies 2017: Abortion Laws and Policies. It provides an overview of the laws and policies relating to induced abortion. It includes consideration of the various legal grounds and selected requirements for induced abortion, including gestational limits, the number of personnel required to authorise an abortion, mandatory third-party consent, and compulsory counselling and waiting periods.

This year's report takes the 30th anniversary of the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development as an opportunity to reflect on how far we have come in achieving sexual and reproductive health and rights for all. While the report celebrates the significant gains made, it also considers who has been left out of that progress, arguing that a more equitable future for all requires a renewed commitment to empowering those furthest behind.

En esta edición del Panorama Social de América Latina y el Caribe se abordan los desafíos de la inclusión laboral como eje central para el desarrollo social inclusivo. A pesar de una recuperación en 2022 de los indicadores sociales (reducción de la pobreza y la desigualdad, recuperación del empleo), se enfrenta una doble trampa de bajo crecimiento y altos niveles de pobreza y desigualdad. La inclusión laboral es clave para combatir la pobreza, reducir la informalidad y la desigualdad y avanzar hacia el desarrollo social inclusivo. Las brechas de género en la inclusión laboral están determinadas por la desigual distribución de la carga de trabajo de cuidados que recae sobre las mujeres. En el caso de las personas migrantes, la sobrecalificación y la discriminación también afectan su inclusión laboral. Los esfuerzos realizados por los países respecto de la inversión en políticas laborales, que en promedio llegan al 0,34% del PIB, resultan insuficientes. Es necesario transitar de la inserción laboral a la inclusión laboral, garantizando el acceso a empleos de calidad, ingresos laborales mayores al salario mínimo y acceso a la protección social, en particular para las mujeres y las personas jóvenes.

Official records of the Report of the Commission on the Status of Women on the sixty-seventh session (25 March 2022 and 6–17 March 2023). The Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) is the principal global intergovernmental body exclusively dedicated to the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women. The CSW is instrumental in promoting women’s rights, documenting the reality of women’s lives throughout the world, and shaping global standards on gender equality and the empowerment of women. During its annual two-week session, representatives of UN Member States, civil society organizations and UN entities gather at UN headquarters in New York to discuss progress and commit to further action. The outcomes and recommendations of each session are forwarded to the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), the Commission’s parent body, for follow-up.

The “Women’s economic empowerment strategy” articulates UN Women’s vision for enabling women’s economic agency, autonomy, and well-being. The strategy assesses the global landscape and UN Women’s role in realizing the economic rights of women and girls. It lays out the global context for work on women’s economic empowerment, provides a rights-based and transformative definition of economic empowerment, identifies gaps in current global efforts to achieve women’s economic empowerment, and then situates UN Women’s work on women’s economic empowerment within these broader efforts. Drawing on UN Women’s unique mandate and comparative advantage, it then lays out the opportunities for accelerating progress. Its objective is to provide a framework that galvanizes internal and external stakeholders to work together at the local, national, and global level through transformative solutions that improve the lives of women and girls with no one left behind.

Le rapport sur l'état de la population mondiale 2023 discutera du cap des 8 milliards récemment atteint par la population humaine et des récits entourant l'évolution de la population. Nous nous intéresserons en particulier aux discours qui mettent en avant l'idée de « trop » ou de « trop peu » de personnes et au mal que cela peut causer aux femmes et aux filles dont les choix reproductifs sont en jeu.

This publication is the latest instalment in the annual series jointly produced by UN Women and UN DESA. The report provides a comprehensive analysis of gender equality progress across all 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Halfway to the end point of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the world is failing to achieve gender equality, making it an increasingly distant goal. If current trends continue, more than 340 million women and girls will still live in extreme poverty by 2030, and close to one in four will experience moderate or severe food insecurity. Growing vulnerability brought on by human-induced climate change is likely to worsen this outlook, as many as 236 million more women and girls will be food-insecure under a worst-case climate scenario. The gender gap in power and leadership positions remains entrenched, and, at the current rate of progress, the next generation of women will still spend on average 2.3 more hours per day on unpaid care and domestic work than men. No country is within reach of eradicating intimate partner violence, and women’s share of workplace management positions will remain below parity even by 2050. Fair progress has been made in girls’ education, but completion rates remain below the universal mark. With the clock ticking, urgency mounts. This report advocates for an integrated, holistic approach to advancing gender equality, involving multistakeholder collaboration and sustained financial backing. Neglecting to amplify efforts and invest in gender parity jeopardizes the entire 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

This revised edition strengthens the widely recognized and highly valued Istanbul Protocol standards on the effective investigation into and documentation of torture and ill-treatment. Relying on multi-sectoral engagement, specialized global expertise, and practical experiences of law, health, and human rights professionals in the field, including members of United Nations anti-torture bodies, the updated edition seeks to fortify the implementation of international norms and preventive tools to assist survivors of torture worldwide. The Istanbul Protocol and the accompanying “Istanbul Principles” also serve as a global standard against which the delivery of expert legal and medical evidence can be benchmarked in the investigation and prevention of torture.

This study aims to enhance our comprehension of the seaweed sector as a tripartite vector for economic growth, environmental sustainability, and women’s economic empowerment. It builds upon the outcomes of the 4th United Nations Oceans Forum (UNOF), the 2023 Trade and Environment Review (TER), and expert interviews to present the interlinkages of the seaweed sector with food and nutrition, environmental and climate goals. The study adopts a gender lens, paying attention to women’s participation throughout the seaweed value chain. Seaweed’s growing popularity offers potential to increase economic income, food security, preserve marine biodiversity, and empower women along the value chains. Seaweed farming and processing demonstrate how development, climate, and nature can work together to generate value that uplifts coastal communities, including women and Indigenous Peoples. Seaweed has multiple uses including for food, nutraceuticals, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, aquatic animal, or livestock feed, biofertilizer, textiles, and biofuels. It can also be used for producing fully biodegradable and compostable biomass for non-plastics substitute and plastic alternatives.

Independent journalism is in peril. The rapid erosion of the business models underpinning media sustainability has deepened a crisis in the freedom and safety of journalists around the world. Over the past five years, approximately 85 percent of the world’s population experienced a decline in press freedom in their country. Even in countries with long traditions of safeguarding free and independent journalism, financial and technological transformations have forced news outlets, especially those serving local communities, to close. The subsequent COVID-19 pandemic and its global economic impact have exacerbated this trend, now threatening to create an “extinction level” event for independent journalism outlets. The 2021/2022 global edition of the flagship series of reports on World Trends in Freedom of Expression and Media Development examines these questions with a special focus on “journalism as a public good”.

La présente recommandation a pour objectif d’établir un mécanisme qui permette aux gouvernements, aux partenaires du secteur, aux consommateurs et à toutes les autres parties intéressées de prendre des décisions en ayant connaissance des risques, de corriger l’asymétrie de l’information, de dialoguer, de définir les responsabilités quant aux allégations de contribution au développement durable (notamment en ce qui concerne le respect de la réglementation) et d’adapter les modèles commerciaux à une conduite responsable des affaires. Elle présente aux acteurs économiques un ensemble de pratiques convenues au niveau international pour la collecte et la transmission concertées de données relatives au suivi et au traçage des matériaux, produits et processus d’un bout à l’autre d’une chaîne de valeur (y compris l’ensemble des installations et intermédiaires concernés) et contient des informations connexes sur l’action des participants en matière de durabilité. Les pratiques en question ont été élaborées tout particulièrement à l’intention du secteur de l’habillement et de la chaussure pour promouvoir la traçabilité et la transparence, mais elles ont des applications dans des chaînes de valeur intersectorielles, contribuant ainsi à la réalisation de plusieurs objectifs du Programme 2030 des Nations Unies, notamment l’objectif de développement durable 12 relatif à la consommation et à la production responsables.

Since 2016, UNCTAD has been working to support women in informal cross-border trade in sub-Saharan Africa, carrying out analytical, capacity-building and policy advocacy activities. This report describes the results of an impact assessment of the capacity-building activities that UNCTAD conducted in Malawi, the United Republic of Tanzania and Zambia during 2019-2021. The capacity-building activities consisted of a 6-day training programme on trade rules and procedures, and entrepreneurship skills building, and were aimed at small-scale and informal cross-border traders, mainly women. This report assesses the impact of UNCTAD training programme on former participants, and looks at issues such as familiarity with trade rules, customs procedures and trader rights and obligations; enhanced use of official border posts; business resilience and adaptation; business formalization; and understanding of COVID-19 measures. It draws evidence from Malawi, the United Republic of Tanzania and Zambia, taking into consideration cross-border trade in the pre- and post-pandemic environment. Finally, it presents four case studies.

The State of World Population 2022 will take up the issue of unintended pregnancy and look at its drivers and impact. We will take a look at causes and consequences of unmet need for family planning, but also at the constellation of forces that can lead to an unintended pregnancy and at how that pregnancy can harm a woman’s or adolescent’s health, her earnings potential and more.

This is a joint publication of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and the UN Office on Counter-Terrorism. This Trainer’s Guide seeks to help trainers prepare, organize and deliver a training course on Human Rights at International Borders. The course itself is a capacity-building tool for individuals working in border governance to adopt a human rights-based and gender-responsive approach to migration governance, including with a focus on migrants in vulnerable situations at international borders. The Trainer’s Guide is designed for UN and government officials, national human rights institutions, non-governmental organizations, trade unions, other relevant civil society actors and humanitarian actors.

Official records of the Report of the Commission on the Status of Women on the sixty-third session (23 March 2018 and 11–22 March 2019). The Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) is the principal global intergovernmental body exclusively dedicated to the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women. The CSW is instrumental in promoting women’s rights, documenting the reality of women’s lives throughout the world, and shaping global standards on gender equality and the empowerment of women. During its annual two-week session, representatives of UN Member States, civil society organizations and UN entities gather at UN headquarters in New York to discuss progress and commit to further action. The outcomes and recommendations of each session are forwarded to the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), the Commission’s parent body, for follow-up.

Official records of the Report of the Commission on the Status of Women on the sixty-sixth session (26 March 2021 and 14–25 March 2022). The Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) is the principal global intergovernmental body exclusively dedicated to the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women. The CSW is instrumental in promoting women’s rights, documenting the reality of women’s lives throughout the world, and shaping global standards on gender equality and the empowerment of women. During its annual two-week session, representatives of UN Member States, civil society organizations and UN entities gather at UN headquarters in New York to discuss progress and commit to further action. The outcomes and recommendations of each session are forwarded to the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), the Commission’s parent body, for follow-up.

A third of all entrepreneurs in the world are women. Their contribution to development is clear: as their business grow, they inspire, create jobs, and offer themselves, their families, and their communities a chance for a better, more inclusive future. But a third is still too low and women businesses face intersectional challenges that limit their potential, and require bold and collective action to be overcome. The main goal of UNCTAD’s Empretec Programme is to support women entrepreneurs reach their full potential through capacity building, skill development, and business transformation. The Women in Business award is part of the programme. Stories included in this edition showcase women breaking into what had been considered men dominated industries, like mechanics, agriculture, security, and construction. Through them, we learn how women entrepreneurs can face and defeat prejudice with professionalism, technical skill training and advisory.

Non-tariff measures (NTMs) are trade policy measures designed to achieve public policy objectives such as protecting public health, consumer safety, and the environment. While NTMs often bear high trade costs such as having high information, implementation, and compliance cost, they are usually necessary for achieving economic, social, and other policy goals to ensure product safety and quality for consumers. Based on the review of a list of literature, case studies, and anecdotes, this study has looked at the gendered impacts of NTMs on women as traders/entrepreneurs, workers, and consumers, respectively, and aims to propose ways in which NTMs related project design, implementation and monitoring can be approached with a gendered lens.

On the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing (MIPAA, 2002), the report provides an overview of the key developments in ageing-related policy in the UNECE region, progress made over the past 20 years, gaps and challenges that remain, and directions for the way forward.

Official records of the Report of the Commission on the Status of Women on the sixty-fifth session (15–26 March 2021). The Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) is the principal global intergovernmental body exclusively dedicated to the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women. The CSW is instrumental in promoting women’s rights, documenting the reality of women’s lives throughout the world, and shaping global standards on gender equality and the empowerment of women. During its annual two-week session, representatives of UN Member States, civil society organizations and UN entities gather at UN headquarters in New York to discuss progress and commit to further action. The outcomes and recommendations of each session are forwarded to the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), the Commission’s parent body, for follow-up.

This is the official report submitted to the General Assembly by the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women on its Seventy-sixth session (29 June–9 July 2020), Seventy-seventh session (26 October–5 November 2020), Seventy-eighth session (15–25 February and 4 March 2021).