Women and gender issues

In Ukraine, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs today facilitated its eighth interagency aid convoy this year to deliver humanitarian assistance to 800 residents of a front-line community in the Kharkiv region, where mostly older people remain amid worsening security conditions.

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) today published a report which says air pollution in East Asia and the Pacific is linked to nearly one in four deaths of children under the age of five and can impact every stage of a child’s life.

Following is UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ message for the International Day of Women and Girls in Science, observed on 11 February:

In Sudan, UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator Clementine Nkweta-Salami, today condemned the relentless and intensifying shelling and air and drone strikes against civilians in Darfur, Kordofan and other conflict-affected areas as “a ruthless assault on human life”.

Following is UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ message for the International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation, observed on 6 February:

Meeting on the heels of the Taliban’s new directive prohibiting women and girls from attending public and private medical institutes in Afghanistan, the Security Council examined the impacts of the de facto authorities’ increasingly repressive policies, amounting to “gender apartheid”, as speakers urged the Taliban to reverse course.

Amid an era of conflict and violence, the Security Council and the international community at large must include women and girl peacebuilders in discussions at the highest levels, engage with them at the local levels and provide adequate financial support to help ensure the success of their efforts, delegates heard today during the 15-member organ’s briefing on intergenerational leadership on women, peace and security.

In South Sudan, the United Nations peacekeeping mission there reports that the country has launched its first national task force to combat gender-based and conflict related sexual violence, with the support of the Organization.

Following are UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed’s remarks at the high-level meeting to mark the twenty-fifth anniversary of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, today:

According to the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, heavy rainfall caused flooding in multiple sites in Khan Younis and Gaza City where displaced families are staying. People’s tents and other belongings were damaged by the rains. The United Nations and its humanitarian partners have been carrying out field visits to assess the impact of the latest rains.