This newsletter captures the latest updates on the implementation of the Women’s Peace and Humanitarian Fund (WPHF) in Lebanon. The newsletter includes the key highlights and achievements of the WPHF programme partners' towards enhancing women’s participation in the Beirut Port Explosion’s response and recovery process.

Palestine’s Second National Action Plan for the implementation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 (UNSCR 1325) on Women, Peace and Security and Subsequent Resolutions follows the first National Action Plan adopted in 2016 recognizing the disproportionate impact of conflict and occupation on Palestinian women and girls and their vital participation in peacebuilding.

This brief presents emerging evidence of the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on women’s economic empowerment. Complementing a separate UN Women policy brief on “COVID-19 and the care economy”, it considers the immediate gendered economic impacts, including widening socioeconomic divides and shifting national and international priorities for the allocation of resources, as well as the long-term implications for women’s employment and livelihoods.

This year’s regular resources report analyses how UN Women mobilized its core contributions in 2019 to fulfil its normative, coordination, and operational activities mandate, in order to improve the lives of women and girls worldwide. Through the presentation of tangible results, this report presents case studies at the global, regional, and country levels to showcase the impact that regular resources have in the countries where UN Women is present.

Across every sphere, from health to the economy, security to social protection, the impacts of COVID-19 are exacerbated for women and girls simply by virtue of their sex. This policy brief explores how women and girls’ lives are changing in the face of COVID-19, and outlines suggested priority measures to accompany both the immediate response and longer-term recovery efforts.

Arab Declaration on Progress in the Implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action after 25 years

In 1995, over 17,000 representatives from 189 nations met in Beijing at the Fourth World Conference on Women. The historic meeting resulted in the unanimous adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action; an agenda considered to be the “Bill of Rights” for women. 25 years after Beijing, Member States, civil society organizations and women’s rights advocates from across the globe are coming together to review the implementation of this agenda. Our newsletter will focus on the individuals and institutions leading this global process in the Arab States region.

This brochure aims to provide a preliminary summary of the achievements of the Arab countries in implementing the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action 25 years after its adoption, focusing on the intersections of the twelve areas of concern with the sustainable development agenda.

On the 25th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, UN Women’s “Generation Equality: Realizing women’s rights for an equal future” campaign demands equal pay, equal sharing of unpaid care and domestic work, an end to sexual harassment and violence against women and girls, health care services that respond to their needs, and their equal participation in political life and in decision-making in all areas of life.

This publication addresses the key areas of engagement for UN Women to strengthen its work on the empowerment of women and girls with disabilities.

Considered the most progressive blueprint ever for advancing women's rights, the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action has been reprinted in this special edition, which also includes a copy of the political declaration reached at the 23rd special session of the General Assembly in 2000, which reviewed progress towards the Platform for Action five years after its adoption.