“ By women, for women ”: 15 years of the United Nations agency to defend gender equality

It’s just a way the de facto The authorities have limited the fundamental rights of women and girls. Today, Afghanistan has the second largest gap between the sexes in the world after Yemen.

“Sometimes I wonder how to stay full of hope in these dark circumstances”, said Fariba, whose name has been changed to protect her.

Afghanistan is not the only country where gender equality loses ground. Around the world, one in four countries is experiencing a reaction against women’s rights.

These are the challenges that United Nations Confronts with his 15th anniversary, which makes his mandate and works more urgent that never.

“Now is not the time to withdraw. It’s time to come forward, “said Sima Bahous, the agency Executive Director.

Progress at risk

Created in July 2010, the UN Women is currently working in 80 countries to allow women and girls to achieve their full potential.

Despite the previous hard earnings in accessible education for girls and advocacy for legal rights, the financing of gender equality is drying And progress is mobile at a snail rate.

One in 10 women and girls live in abject poverty, which the world will not eliminate for an additional 137 years at the current rate.

The number of women living nearby and in conflict areas has doubled over the past decade, presenting them to a greater risk of sexist violence, food insecurity and malnutrition.

In addition, 103 countries have never had a head of state, and gender parity in the superior governmental direction will not be carried out for 130 years.

While a digital revolution and an increasingly powerful artificial intelligence sweeps away the world, the genre digital fracture widens, which makes it difficult for women and girls to access the tools around which the future will be constructed.

However, despite such dark circumstances, or perhaps because of them, UN women continuous Be “power for gender equality and the empowerment of women”.

War and peace

More than 600 million women and girls live less than 50 kilometers from a conflict, making it key stakeholders in any process of strengthening peace. More than that, the evidence suggests that the peace processes with the signatories of women are more sustainable.

Despite this, between 2020 and 2023, 80% of peace talks did not include women.

However, in some countries, there are promising changes to great inclusion and gender parity in peace -related activities.

For example, in UkraineDemining, a profession that has historically excluded women due to the normative perceptions of the danger, attracts more women.

“What seems” not a woman’s work “can prove to be your mission”, ” said Tetiana Ribanka, the head of a demining team there.

This is particularly important in Ukraine, where the UN action service (UNMAS) estimates that at least 20% of land contaminated With unploded ammunition.

A collective voice

Despite clear proof that the quotas in the government work to ensure gender parity, women remain excluded from many political conversations.

Because of this reality, UN women work to support collective action by and for women whose voices are more treated when they speak together.

In the PeacefulWomen are the majority of sellers on the markets, but the markets themselves are managed and managed by municipal councils, which tend to be mainly made up of men. In the past, this meant that the concerns of women, including poor ventilation, security problems and refrigeration infrastructure, have been depressed.

With the support of a UN Women project spear In 2014, more than 50,000 women sellers formed associations that allow them to negotiate collectively and reach lasting changes.

“We are not ordinary women who have nothing. We are women who are important. We have never thought about this way in the past, ” said Joy Janet Ramo, the head of an association of suppliers in the Solomon Islands.

Hope

In Afghanistan, there are more than 80 edicts that limit the fundamental rights of women and girls, or 80 ways of which their potential is limited and 80 reasons to lose hope.

“The colors of the rainbow have been the subject of my life, and I no longer see colors to paint”, said Anita, a woman who was an artist and teacher.

But still, they refuse to lose hope, rather forming local local organizations that work to promote the leadership of women and prepare them at a time when they can again take advantage of fundamental rights.

Currently, there is an annual difference of $ 420 billion in equality of gender equality in the world, which makes the work of women of the UN more and more untenable. But, after 15 years, the agency insists that it “doubles” commitment to gender equality.

“My compatriots: never lose hope in the ups and downs of life, in the stockings and the ups,” said Anita.