Women and girls in science: Dismantling barriers, closing gender gaps

Women and girls in science: Dismantling barriers, closing gender gaps

Across the world, a significant gender gap persists at all levels of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) disciplines due to lack of research funding, gender stereotypes, and discriminatory workplace practices.  UN Secretary-General António Guterres said the gap is particularly pronounced in technology, where women represent just 26 per cent of the workforce in data and artificial intelligence, and 12 per cent in cloud computing.   “Excluding women […]

From waste pickers to courtrooms: Women demand a gender focus at COP30

Women’s voices are rising with clarity and urgency, pressing negotiators to ensure the conference leaves a lasting mark on the link between gender and climate policy.   At the heart of talks is the Belém Gender Action Plan – a proposed blueprint that acknowledges climate change hits women hardest and sets out measures for financing, […]

UN officials warn of starvation amid ‘gender emergency’ in war-torn Sudan

UN officials warn of starvation amid ‘gender emergency’ in war-torn Sudan

Particularly hard hit is El Fasher, where hunger is growing, with the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) warning of a deteriorating situation that is putting even more civilians’ lives at risk. OCHA’s Director of Operations and Advocacy, Edem Wosornu, who is currently in the country, said the suffering is immense, with people […]

UN forum to spotlight health, gender equality, oceans, in critical bid to meet development goals

UN forum to spotlight health, gender equality, oceans, in critical bid to meet development goals

The 2025 High-Level Political Forum, or HLPF, follows two recent successful UN conferences focused on vital development issues: one in June in Nice, France, dedicated to ocean protection, and another held in Sevilla, Spain, centred on boosting financing for sustainable initiatives. The Sevilla meeting ended with a strong call to action: to urgently address the […]

‘The margins of the budget’: Gender equality in developing countries underfunded by $420 billion annually

‘The margins of the budget’: Gender equality in developing countries underfunded by $420 billion annually

“The money simply is not reaching the women and girls who need it most,” UN Women said in a news release issued on Monday.   This estimate comes in the midst of the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development underway in Sevilla, Spain. There, world leaders are working to revitalize the international financing structure […]

Health, education, opportunity at stake, amid stubborn digital gender divide

Health, education, opportunity at stake, amid stubborn digital gender divide

Closing this gap is not optional. There were189 million fewer women than men online in 2024.   The disparity is about more than access, it reflects deeper systemic barriers, according to ​Doreen Bogdan-Martin who heads the UN telecommunications agency, ITU. “That’s too many missed opportunities to learn, to earn and to shape our shared digital […]

Welfare of Transgenders taken up

The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment has constituted an Inter Ministerial Committee to pursue implementation of the Expert Committee’s recommendations. So far, four Inter Ministerial Committee meetings have been held. The Registrar General of India (RGI), during Enumeration of Census 2011, for the first time provided three codes i.e. Male-1, Female –2 and others […]

Women show cognitive advantage in gender-equal countries

Women’s cognitive functioning past middle age may be affected by the degree of gender equality in the country they live in, according to new findings from Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science. “This research is a first attempt to shed light on important, but understudied, adverse consequences of gender inequality on […]