Women

<p><sub>Activists participate in the ‘Car Free Day Sports activities’ in commemoration of 16 Days of Activism which was organized by the Ministry of Gender and Family Promotion and City of Kigali.</sub></p>
© UN Women/Pearl Karungi

Activists participate in the ‘Car Free Day Sports activities’ in commemoration of 16 Days of Activism which was organized by the Ministry of Gender and Family Promotion and City of Kigali.

Women and girls represent half of the world’s population and so half of its potential. Gender equality, besides being a fundamental human right, is essential to achieving peaceful societies and sustainable development. It has also been shown that empowering women spurs productivity and economic growth.

However, gender inequality remains deeply entrenched everywhere and impedes social progress. Women and girls are too often denied access to education, health care and employment, they fall victim to violence and discrimination and are under-represented in decision-making processes.

"Gender inequality is the overwhelming injustice of our age and the biggest human rights challenge we face"  — UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres

The United Nations and women

The United Nations support for the rights of women began with the Organization's founding Charter, signed in 1945, which was the first international agreement to assert the principle of gender equality.

Within the UN’s first year, the Economic and Social Council established its Commission on the Status of Women, as the principal global policy-making body dedicated exclusively to gender equality and advancement of women. Among its earliest accomplishments was ensuring gender neutral language in the draft Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Over many decades, the United Nations has made significant progress in advancing gender equality and is working for the empowerment and rights of women and girls globally.

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  • Op-Ed for International Women's Day

    Op-Ed for International Women's Day

    08/03/2024

    The fight for women’s rights over the past fifty years is a story of progress.

    Women and girls have demolished barriers, dismantled stereotypes and driven progress towards a more just and equal world.

Women's rights as a human right

Gender Equality was made part of international human rights law by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which was adopted by the UN General Assembly on 10 December 1948. That milestone document in the history of human rights recognized that: “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights” and that “everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, … birth or other status.”

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Sustainable Development Goal #5: Gender Equality

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted by world leaders in 2015, embody a roadmap for progress that is sustainable and leaves no one behind.

Achieving gender equality and women’s empowerment is the particular focus of SDG 5 but it is integral to each of the 17 goals. Only by ensuring the rights of women and girls across all the goals will we get to justice and inclusion, economies that work for all, and sustaining our shared environment now and for future generations.

Goal 5 on gender equality has nine targets, among them ending all forms of discrimination against women and girls, eliminating all forms of violence and harmful practices such as trafficking, sexual exploitation and forced marriage, ensuring access to sexual and reproductive health, and full and effective participation and equal opportunities for leadership.

Achieving gender equality by 2030 requires urgent action to eliminate the many root causes of discrimination that still curtail women’s rights in private and public spheres. The UN has initiated a great number of projects and campaigns to work towards this goal.

UN Women

At the heart of the United Nations’ work to achieve gender equality lies UN Women. The United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women was created in 2010 by the United Nations General Assembly, bringing together the work of the UN system. UN Women supports the Commission on the Status of Women, the principal global intergovernmental body dedicated to the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women, which formulates policies, global standards and norms. Furthermore, UN Women assists Member States to implement these standards and leads and coordinates the UN system’s work on gender equality. It also promotes accountability.

He-for-She campaign

Created by UN Women, the innovative He-For-She campaign is a solidarity movement for gender equality. It invites men and boys to act for a more equal world and for people to stand together as equal partners to craft a shared vision of a gender-equal world and implement specific, locally relevant solutions.

“We live in a male-dominated world with a male-dominated culture, and that is still true in the United Nations. Men have been in charge for millennia. Changing attitudes is one of the most important and difficult challenges,” Secretary-General António Guterres said in a speech celebrating women leaders in the United Nations.

"Gender equality is a means of redefining and transforming power that will yield benefits for all. It is time to stop trying to change women, and to start changing the systems and power imbalances that prevent them from achieving their potential." - UN Secretary General António Guterres, 2020 International Women's Day

In UN peacekeeping, special emphasis is given to the empowerment of women to participate in peace processes and advocate for their inclusion in political and electoral systems. In addition, consideration of the different challenges that women and men face in conflict and post-conflict situations is an integral part of UN operations.

<p><sub>British Actor and UN Women Goodwill Ambassador Emma Watson co-hosts a special event organized by the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) in support of their HeForShe campaign.</sub></p>
© UN Photo/Mark Garten

British Actor and UN Women Goodwill Ambassador Emma Watson co-hosts a special event organized by the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) in support of their HeForShe campaign.

International Women’s Day: 8 March

International Women's Day is celebrated in many countries around the world. It is a day when women are recognized for their achievements without regard to divisions, whether national, ethnic, linguistic, cultural, economic or political.

How the UN in Vienna works to achieve gender equality

Many of the Vienna-based UN organizations are actively contributing to the goal of achieving gender equality through their work.

The United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) has the ‘Space4Women’ project that promotes women’s empowerment in space by encouraging women and girls to pursue Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education and careers, especially in developing countries. It also works towards gender mainstreaming in the space sector. The Space4Women Network showcases the expertise and contributions of women in the space sector.

The United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA) runs the Scholarship for Peace and Security training programme which gives female early-career professionals from the Global South an opportunity to obtain disarmament and non-proliferation training. In 2019 in a joint project with the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and the UNODA Vienna Office, a series of annual training courses was developed for female young representatives from OSCE-participating States.

The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) is committed to addressing gender inequalities in industry and to harnessing women’s full potential as leaders and economic agents of change, transforming economies and generating inclusive growth. Through projects around the world UNIDO empowers women to create shared prosperity, advance economic competitiveness and safeguard the environment.

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the World Customs Organization set up the Women's Network Initiative to encourage female customs and law enforcement officials to participate in training and leadership programmes. These women check container shipments for illicit goods like drugs or weapons.

UNODC also has numerous project and actions that address the increased vulnerability of women and children when it comes to drugs and crime, human trafficking, prevention and access to treatment for drug-related diseases and HIV infections as well as the rehabilitation of female prisoners.

"UNODC promotes holistic approaches to gender-based violence, bringing together health, social, police and justice sectors to build prevention strategies and provide support services. We help integrate gender perspectives in responses to terrorism and prison management," said the Executive Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and Director-General of the United Nations Office at Vienna, Ghada Waly.

In the context of UNODC's mandate, a series of international instruments and resolutions call upon Member States to mainstream a gender equality perspective into their legislation and policies and to adopt special measures to promote gender equality and the empowerment of women.

Women in Leadership

Women leaders and women’s organizations have demonstrated their skills and knowledge in all fields of work, from the local to the global level. Women bring different experiences, perspectives and skills to the table, and make irreplaceable contributions to decisions, policies and laws that work better for all. Yet, women’s leadership and political participation are restricted. This occurs despite their proven abilities as leaders and agents of change, and their right to participate equally in democratic governance. Individual women have overcome these obstacles with great acclaim, and often to the benefit of society at large. But for women as a whole, the playing field needs to be level, opening opportunities for all.

Women leaders at the United Nations in Vienna

Ghada Waly

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Director-General of the United Nations Office at Vienna (UNOV)
Executive Director of United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)

Ghada Waly is the first woman to lead the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. Ms. Waly is also Director-General of the United Nations Office at Vienna (UNOV) and previously was Minister of Social Solidarity in Egypt. She has 30 years of experience in the field of sustainable development, poverty reduction and social protection, women and youth empowerment.

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Borislava Batandjieva-Metcalf

Secretary of the United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR)

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Borislava Batandjieva-Metcalf is Secretary of the United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR). She has 22 years of experience in radiation and nuclear safety and has previously worked with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and served as a Scientific Project Officer for the European Commission.

 

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Anna Joubin-Bret

Secretary of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL)

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Anna Joubin-Bret is the Secretary of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) and Director of the Division on International Trade Law in the Office of Legal Affairs of the United Nations. Before joining the United Nations Ms. Joubin-Bret lectured on international investment law in various universities and institutes all over the world and was an Attorney-at-law in Paris.

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