Silence the guns, amplify women’s voices for peace to end rape in wartime

The UN verified 3,688 cases of rape and other sexual violence committed in war in 2023, a “dramatic increase” of 50 per cent over the previous year, the Security Council heard on Tuesday.

Drastic erosion of women’s rights in Afghanistan continues, says UN

Afghan women fear arrest, harassment and further punishment whenever a new Taliban decree is announced, according to a new multi-agency UN report issued on Friday based on an extensive survey of women across the country.

Engagement key to reform of Taliban decrees restricting women’s rights

The international community must continue to engage with Taliban leaders in Afghanistan despite deep disagreement with their approach to women’s rights and inclusive governance, the UN Special Representative for the country told the Security Council on Tuesday.

Afghanistan’s Taliban responsible for revenge killings, torture of former officials

New York: In Afghanistan, hundreds of former government officials and members of the armed forces have allegedly been killed despite assurances from the Taliban of an amnesty, the UN human rights office (OHCHR) said on Tuesday.

Human Rights Watch slams Taliban for denying rights to women, girls for past two years

Taliban authorities have tightened their extreme restrictions on the rights of women and girls and on the media since taking took control of Afghanistan on August 15, 2021, Human Rights Watch said on Thursday. 

Empowering women through social protection: UN rights office

New York: Access to social protection is a fundamental human right, yet a recent UN human rights report shows that numerous women and girls worldwide are still unable to access provisions such as social security payments and pensions.

Majority of women live in countries with large gender gaps, UN report reveals

New York: Low women’s empowerment and large gender gaps are commonplace in many parts of the world, the UN’s lead agencies on gender equality and international development said in a new report published on Tuesday.

Time to end gender-based violence, boost role of women in politics, public life

New York: Immense strides have been made in the quest for gender equality, but major barriers thrown up by the patriarchal system must be dismantled so women can play a fuller role in politics and public life, the UN human rights chief Volker Türk told the UN Human Rights Council on Friday.

UN representative alarmed by sexual violence against women and girls in DRC

New York: UN Special Representative, Pramila Patten, expressed her ‘deep concern’ on Thursday over increasing allegations of sexual violence against women and girls being carried out in camps for the internally displaced (IDPs) around Goma, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

Afghanistan: Guterres says women worker ban ‘unacceptable and puts lives in jeopardy’

New York: The UN chief has pledged that the Organization “will never be silent” when women and girls’ rights are under attack, as they are today in Afghanistan, and declared that the Taliban ban on Afghan women doing lifesaving humanitarian work is putting millions of lives in jeopardy there.

Digital technology new source of discrimination against women: Guterres

New York: During a dialogue with women civil society leaders in the UN General Assembly Hall on Monday, Secretary-General António Guterres heard about the critical need to make the internet safer for women and girls – and to ensure that they are equal participants in global conservations, both online and in-person.

Afghanistan: Women protest in Kabul to demand for education, work

Kabul: Women in Afghanistan's capital city Kabul on Tuesday protested to demand access to education for women, which has been curtailed ever since Taliban forces snatched power in the country in 2021.

Afghanistan now ‘most repressive country’ for women, Security Council hears

New York: Afghanistan under the Taliban remains the “most repressive country in the world [for] women’s rights”, the senior UN official in Kabul told the Security Council on Wednesday, while nevertheless voicing a nuanced position on the importance of continuing to engage with the group.

Gender equality is 300 years away: Antonio Guterres warns

New York: UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday said progress in women’s rights won over decades is 'vanishing before our eyes'.

Closing gender pay gaps is more important than ever

New York: On average, women globally are paid about 20 per cent less than men, the International Labour (ILO) Organization said on Saturday, International Equal Pay Day.