Gender equality

Newsline

At Inter-Parliamentary Union conference, a call to action on adolescent girls’ rights
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia, 9 April 2009 – Adolescent girls in developing countries are the world’s greatest untapped resource for stability and growth. As economic actors and future mothers, safe, healthy, educated, economically empowered girls have the means to escape poverty and ignite progress.

Bernice’s Digital Diary: A Ghanaian girl’s take on London – Part 2
NEW YORK, USA, 11 December 2007 – Bernice Akuamoah, 21, lives in Accra, Ghana, where she has just started her third year at university. She was the first person to create a Digital Diary with UNICEF Radio and the Voices of Youth online community – using recording equipment supplied by UNICEF to tell her story of teenage life in Accra in a six-part series.

Literacy empowers women and girls in Northern Nigeria
BABBAN KUFAI, Nigeria, 20 March 2007 – It’s a quiet Sunday in the Muslim community of Katsina, a northern state in Nigeria. While students at the local primary school enjoy their day off, more than 80 women are crammed inside one classroom, busy learning how to read and write, many for the first time in their lives.

First-ever woman chief appointed in Burkina Faso
OUAGADOUGOU, Burkina Faso, 8 March 2007 – The Naaba Saaga, traditional chief of Issouka, Burkina Faso, sat under a canopy, holding his cane of office and wearing the red ‘bonnet’ that symbolizes his chiefdom. He was dressed in elaborate ceremonial robes, the same as the ones worn before him by his father, grandfather and great-grandfather.

Marginalized girls take centre stage at UN panel on unleashing their potential
NEW YORK, USA, 6 March 2007 – A panel of young women dedicated to improving the lives of marginalized girls shared their experiences during a panel discussion at United Nations headquarters this afternoon.

‘Stop Rape Now’: UN agencies against sexual violence as a tactic of war
NEW YORK, USA, 5 March 2007 – Impassioned pleas to end the use of sexual violence against women during armed conflict were heard at United Nations headquarters in New York this afternoon. They came as part of a panel discussion kicking off a new multi-agency initiative to investigate and intensify the UN’s response to sexual violence in war.

A former child soldier speaks out at UN session on challenges facing girls
NEW YORK, USA, 2 March 2007 – The striking testimony of a girl who was formerly a child soldier brought an audience of hundreds to its feet for a standing ovation – and moved many to tears – at United Nations headquarters in New York this afternoon.

At UN panel, girls describe challenges keeping their peers out of school
NEW YORK, USA, 1 March 2007 – Youth panellists shared the experiences and challenges of girls growing up in their four different countries today at a discussion hosted by the United Nations Girls’ Education Initiative (UNGEI) in New York.

A former victim of domestic violence advocates for gender equality in Peru
AYACUCHO, Peru, 27 February 2007 – Luzmila cannot finish smiling, for her tears immediately appear. She is sitting in her office in Jesús Nazareno municipality, recalling the times in her childhood when she saw her mother hiding under a table to flee her father’s heavy hands.

Youth voices heard at opening of UN Commission on the Status of Women
NEW YORK, USA, 26 February 2007 – The 51st Session of the Commission on the Status of Women opened at United Nations headquarters in New York this morning, launching two weeks of discussions and events in the run-up to International Women’s Day.

UNICEF Executive Director’s Women’s Day message
NEW YORK, USA, 8 March 2006 – In a wide-ranging and impassioned keynote speech at the Annual International Women’s Day Luncheon in Washington, D.C., UNICEF Executive Director Ann M. Veneman delivered a powerful message about the abuse and exploitation experienced by millions of women and children around the globe.

UNICEF develops ‘Marta’, an animated role model for girls
DILI, Timor-Leste, 17 November 2005 – A very special girl was born recently in Timor-Leste. She is the brainchild of 30 writers, illustrators and civil society representatives working for children and women’s rights, who conceived her at a five-day workshop organized by UNICEF Timor-Leste.

Indigenous women make their voices heard
NEW YORK, 11 March 2005 - Indigenous and Afro-descendent women from several Latin American countries came together at the United Nations on Thursday to exchange ideas, discuss the problems affecting their respective communities, and explore solutions in a special forum sponsored by UNICEF.

World falling short on promises to women and girls
NEW YORK, 8 March 2005 - UNICEF Deputy Executive Director Rima Salah spoke today at the Beijing +10 conference being held 28 February - 11 March in New York. Ms. Salah gave an overview of key achievements worldwide for women’s rights and equality, and underlined some of the critical challenges which must be met.

International Women’s Day 2005
NEW YORK, 8 March 2005 - International Women's Day 2005 is a celebration of the progress made in gender equality and a recognition of the work still to be done before women have equal rights and an equal voice.

Celebrating the rights of women and girls around the world
NEW YORK, 28 February - 11 March 2005 - This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women, originally held in Beijing in 1995. At its inception, 189 countries pledged to make improvements for women's equality. Ten years later, world leaders are gathering again, this time in New York, to review the progress which has been made.

Internet chats support equal rights
NEW YORK, 4 March 2005 - To celebrate children’s and women’s rights worldwide, and to raise awareness of gender equality issues, UNICEF has invited six girls from four continents to share their ideas and opinions on these topics with journalists and UNICEF staff. One of the participating staff is UNICEF’s Deputy Executive Director Rima Salah, who chatted online for the first time in her life with 14-year-old Nelly from Cameroon.