Stories
- Executive Director (10)
- Crisis response and recovery (3)
- Peace and security (3)
- Humanitarian action (3)
- Ending violence against women and girls (3)
- Gender equality and women’s empowerment (2)
- Health (2)
- COVID-19 (1)
- Indigenous women (1)
- Social protection (1)
- Leadership and political participation (1)
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Including widows in the work to “build back better” from COVID-19
Tuesday, June 23, 2020
In a statement for International Widows Day, UN Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka writes: "Widows must not be left out of our work to “build back better” from COVID-19. Let us ensure that our recovery prioritizes their unique needs and supports societies to be more inclusive, resilient and equal for all".
UN in Iraq raises the alarm: Time to endorse the anti-domestic violence law
Friday, April 17, 2020
The UN in Iraq urges the Iraqi Parliament to speed up the endorsement of the Anti-Domestic Violence Law amid alarming reports of a rise in gender-based and domestic violence cases perpetrated across the country, especially with increased household tensions as a result of the confinement due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Thursday, April 9, 2020
The COVID-19 pandemic affects everyone, everywhere. But it affects different groups of people differently, deepening existing inequalities. Today we are launching a report that shows how COVID-19 could reverse the limited progress that has been made on gender equality and women’s rights – and recommends ways to put women’s leadership and contributions at the heart of resilience and recovery.
Violence against women and girls: the shadow pandemic
Monday, April 6, 2020
With 90 countries in lockdown and four billion people sheltering at home from the global contagion of COVID-19, UN Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka highlights another deadly danger growing in the shadows: Violence against women.
United Nations Secretary-General Statement on Gender-Based Violence and COVID-19
Monday, April 6, 2020
The COVID-19 pandemic is causing untold human suffering and economic devastation around the world. I recently called for an immediate global ceasefire to focus on our shared struggle to overcome the pandemic. I appealed for an end to violence everywhere, now. But violence is not confined to the battlefield.
Gender and COVID-19 in the Arab States
Thursday, March 26, 2020
We are currently living through a period of significant change and uncertainty, as governments, with the support of the World Health Organisation, respond to the challenge of the COVID-19 pandemic rapidly evolving international public health. While all our lives are affected by the impact of COVID-19, it is vital that global, regional and national response plans address the specific implications for the health and safety of women and girls, and consider the key roles and responsibilities that women and girls undertake.
COVID-19: Women front and centre
Friday, March 20, 2020
In a statement, UN Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo Ngcuka calls on governments to recognize both the enormity of the contribution women make and the precarity of so many in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Sunday, March 8, 2020
Each year on 8 March the world celebrates International Women’s Day. This is an opportunity to take stock of the progress we have made to uphold the fundamental rights of women and girls in an evolving global, regional and national context. This year the celebration is particularly significant, as the international community celebrates several important milestones, including the 25th anniversary of the adoption of the ground-breaking Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, the progressive global roadmap for the empowerment of women and girls.
Statement for International Women’s Day by Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka
Tuesday, March 3, 2020
In her statement for International Women's Day (8 March), UN Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka calls 2020 the year for gender equality and calls on everyone to tackle the persistent barriers against gender equality.
Thursday, February 6, 2020
On this International Day of Women and Girls in Science, UN Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka calls on everyone to harness the power of innovation and technology as drivers of change, and work together to empower all women and girls across the science fields.
Thursday, February 6, 2020
There is no greater tragedy that can befall any society than the loss of its children, and even more so when their lives are taken through senseless, unnecessary and cruel acts. Just one week ago, people across the Arab States region were shocked and dismayed to learn of the death of 12 year-old Nada in Assiut Governorate, Egypt, while undergoing the outlawed practice of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) at a private clinic.
Monday, November 18, 2019
In her message for International Day of the Elimination of Violence against Women, UN Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka says: "If I could have one wish granted, it might well be a total end to rape".
Tuesday, August 6, 2019
In her statement for International Youth Day, UN Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka calls to transform education by making learning accessible to all young people, regardless of their access to a physical classroom and better integrating technology into education, so that girls can connect to educational materials wherever they are.
UN Women statement on the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples
Friday, August 2, 2019
UN Women joins all indigenous peoples everywhere, especially indigenous women and girls, in commemorating the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples. This year’s theme of “Indigenous Languages” challenges us to ensure that indigenous women and girls have a voice—quite literally—in the diverse political, civil, social, economic and cultural spaces that they occupy.
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.
Statement by UN Women Executive Director for the International Day of UN Peacekeepers
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.
Take action to eliminate female genital mutilation by 2030
Wednesday, February 6, 2019
Mary Oloiparuni was 13 when she was mutilated. Restrained in a doorway early one morning in her home, she was cut, bled profusely and experienced agonizing pain. The scarring she endured then continues to cause her pain today, 19 years later. It has made giving birth to each of her five children an excruciating and harrowing experience. Mary is not alone. At least 200 million girls and women alive today have had their genitals mutilated – suffering one of the most inhuman acts of...
Thursday, November 15, 2018
"This year’s United Nations theme for the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women is “Orange the World: #HearMeToo”. It aims to honour and further amplify voices, whether a housewife at home, a schoolgirl abused by her teacher, an office secretary, a sportswoman, or a boy who is an intern in a business, bringing them together across locations and sectors in a global movement of solidarity. It is a call to listen to and believe survivors, to end the culture of silencing and to put the survivors at the centre of the response." - UN Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo Ngcuka
Friday, October 5, 2018
UN Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka warmly welcomes the decision of the Norwegian Nobel Committee to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2018 to Denis Mukwege and Nadia Murad for their efforts to end the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war and armed conflict.
Wednesday, April 18, 2018
In line with the national efforts to advance the status of Egyptian women, UN Women in Egypt congratulated the President of the National Council for Women on the approval of the law passed by the Egyptian Parliament on 15 April concerning regulating the work of the council.