The Generation Equality Forum – Save the date!

Date: Tuesday, July 23, 2019

The Generation Equality Forum is a global gathering for gender equality, convened by UN Women and co-chaired by France and Mexico, with the leadership and partnership of civil society. The Forum will kick-off in Mexico City, Mexico, on 7-8 May 2020 and culminate in Paris, France, on 7-10 July 2020.

Ensuring public services for Venezuelan migrant women

Date: Wednesday, July 17, 2019

In Colombian cities straddling the Venezuelan border, women hawking coffee or sweets at traffic lights while their children line the sidewalks are a common sight. Many of them have migrated from Venezuela, the scene of the largest exodus in Latin America’s recent history. More than 4 million Venezuelans[ 1 ] have fled the country’s dire economic conditions, insecurity, lack of food, medicine and essential services.[ 2 ] “When I work, there are people who are [aggressive]...

From where I stand: “There are things for which life doesn’t prepare you”

Date: Tuesday, July 16, 2019

Rosarged López González, 31, was a natural sciences teacher in her homeland, Venezuela. With her husband and 8-year-old daughter, she decided to leave the country due to the social and economic situation, migrating to the city of Cartagena, Colombia, in March of 2018.

UN Women launches a self-assessment tool to measure the wage gap in companies

Date: Monday, July 15, 2019

UN Women launches the “Diagnosis of Equal Remuneration” (DIR) , a self-assessment tool so that each organization can measure, independently and without intermediaries, if it is applying the principle of "equal remuneration for work of equal value" or if, on the contrary, a gender pay gap of its workforce exists. The DIR tool, developed by UN Women with the support of the European Union within the framework of the “Win Win: Gender equality means good business” program, was initially piloted with companies in Panama and Costa Rica. Subsequently, the program was presented in Argentina, Chile, Peru and Uruguay. The initiative also seeks to contribute to the implementation of the commitments of the Regional Champion for Latin America and the Caribbean of the Equal Pay International Coalition (EPIC).

Ask an activist: What is being done to help Venezuelan women migrants?

Date: Wednesday, July 3, 2019

Zuneyka Dhisnays Gonzalez is a 26-year-old mother and Venezuelan migrant to Barranquilla, Colombia. It’s one of the border cities where UN Women is implementing a project funded by USAID, to improve information services for migrants and to mitigate the risks of gender-based violence and sexual exploitation of migrant women. Dhisnays Gonzalez created a social network-based community dubbed “Venezolanos Unidos en Quilla” (Venezuelans united in Barranquilla), to support and guide fellow migrants. She disseminates relevant information and content via social networks, and by talking to other migrants.

Statement: Placing victims at the centre of investigations spurs justice for survivors of sexual violence in conflict

Date: Thursday, June 13, 2019

In a joint message for the International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict (19 June), Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, Executive Director of UN Women and Nina Suomalainen, Executive Director of Justice Rapid Response, stress the importance of preventing sexual violence by addressing its root causes, including gender inequality.

“Avancemos por la igualdad” (Moving Forward Equality): Mexican Women Entrepreneurs

Date: Tuesday, June 4, 2019

Shunaxi Martínez Santiago is a 31-year-old mother from the municipality of Juchitán de Zaragoza in the Mexican state of Oaxaca. During the September 2017 earthquake, she lost her house, which forced her to move to another town together with her two children. Before the earthquake, she had worked at a company for 10 years until she gave birth to her second child, and decided to launch an online business: “It was very difficult to quit my job and dare to do something new,...

Coverage: UN Women Executive Director Visits Mexico for the launch of the Spotlight Initiative

Date: Monday, June 3, 2019

UN Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka is visiting Mexico this week in order to attend the launch of the Spotlight Initiative, the Youth Leaders Forum, and the Women’s Forum Americas, to take place in Mexico City on 29 and 30 May.

UN Women Executive Board visits programmes in the Caribbean

Date: Thursday, May 30, 2019

During a four-country visit in the Caribbean region from 18 to 23 May, the UN Women Executive Board discussed measures to improve court processes to assist survivors of gender-based violence; observed initiatives at work to identify and mitigate the gendered risks of natural disasters; and emphasized their support towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.

UN Women Executive Director visits Mexico to launch EU-UN initiative to end violence against women and girls

Date: Tuesday, May 28, 2019

UN Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka is visiting Mexico from 29 to 30 May, where she will take part in a series of high-level events and meet will key government officials, civil society, women’s groups, as well as private sector and other development partners to build alliances for advancing gender equality.

Statement by UN Women Executive Director for the International Day of UN Peacekeepers

Date: Tuesday, May 28, 2019

In her statement for International Day of UN Peacekeepers, UN Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka highlights the important role women peacekeepers play in tackling critical issues, such as helping to make the peacekeeping force approachable to women in the community, interacting with women in societies where they are prohibited from speaking to men, and addressing the specific needs of female ex-combatants as they reintegrate into civilian life.

Call for Proposals for a Regional Civil Society Assessment on the Progress and Challenges in Implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action in Latin America and the Caribbean

Date: Friday, May 24, 2019

UN Women’s Regional Office for the Americas and the Caribbean is offering a call for proposals from civil society organizations in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) to assess the progress, setbacks and challenges in implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action in this region, based upon the perspectives of diverse civil society actors across the region, on the occasion of the Beijing+25 assessment to take place at the sixty-fourth session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW 64) in March 2020. Civil society organizations must represent national and/or local networks of women and gender advocates and have regional representation, outreach and/or presence/membership.

UN Women statement for the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia on 17 May

Date: Thursday, May 16, 2019

On the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia UN Women calls to change the social norms that lead to the exclusion of LGBTI people that keep them living in the shadows and rupture their ties with their families and communities.

Press release: UN Women announces global intergenerational campaign to bring women’s rights and empowerment to the forefront

Date: Monday, May 6, 2019

To mark the 25th anniversary of the groundbreaking Beijing Platform for Action in 2020, campaign “Generation Equality: Realizing women’s rights for an equal future” will catalyze global actions on gender equality

UN Women participates in meeting of the McCann Worldgroup leaders of Latin America and the Caribbean

Date: Friday, May 3, 2019

Every two years McCann Worldgroup in Latin America and the Caribbean gathers the leaders of 21 markets in which it operates in the region in a meeting that aims to nurture the highest level team with the strategic vision of the company and discuss the relevant industry issues that result in strategies to ensure business growth and sustainability.

European Union and United Nations launch the Spotlight Initiative to combat femicides in the country

Date: Thursday, March 21, 2019

Violence against women and girls is currently one of the most widespread and devastating violations of human rights. In the world, 1 out of every 3 women has experienced physical or sexual violence at some point in her life. In Argentina, despite progress made in prevention, every 32 hours a woman is a victim of femicide. This reality led the European Union and the United Nations System to work jointly on meeting the challenges of violence against women and girls, and particularly of femicides worldwide.

Take Five: “I truly believe it takes a revolutionary process to achieve equality”

Date: Monday, March 11, 2019

Adriana Salvatierra, a role model to many, became the fourth woman to be elected as the President of the Senate Chambers in the history of Bolivia this year. The 29-year-old is also the youngest to hold this position in the country, and in Latin America. Politically active since her adolescence, Salvatierra drew inspiration from her parents, who were politically involved and introduced her to political debates. In the October 2014 general elections, Salvatierra, 25 at the time, experienced her first win, as the deputy senator of the Department of Santa Cruz. She hasn’t looked back since. In the last decade many young women, as Salvaterra had the opportunity to enter into formal politics, since there were laws that guarantied women political equal participation. UN Women contribute to this positive change by providing technical and financial support, in order to promote the compliance of international recommendations.

Social protection to domestic workers in Guatemala

Date: Thursday, March 7, 2019

A grantee of UN Women’s Fund for Gender Equality is pushing for better income, health insurance, safer working conditions; and helping exploited domestic workers take their cases to the courts.

Statement: “Think Equal, Build Smart, Innovate for Change”

Date: Monday, March 4, 2019

In a statement for International Women’s Day, Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, UN Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of UN Women, calls to put innovation at the centre of efforts to reflect the needs and viewpoints of women and girls and to resolve barriers to public services and opportunities.

Regional Consultations in Latin America and the Caribbean leading up to the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW63)

Date: Tuesday, February 19, 2019

Regional consultations for Latin America and the Caribbean in the lead up to the 63rd UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW63) started on 11 December in Buenos Aires, Argentina.