Women and gender issues

Following is UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ message for the International Day of the Girl Child, observed on 11 October:

With women and girls continuing to suffer oppressive conditions amounting to “gender apartheid” in Afghanistan due to intensifying and comprehensive restrictions imposed on their rights and freedoms, speakers today urged the Security Council and the international community to wield all available measures to induce the Taliban de facto authorities to reverse course.

Following are UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed’s remarks at the ministerial-level side event on feminist foreign policy as an accelerator for positive change by transforming commitments into actions, in New York today:

In Sudan, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says that intense clashes in Khartoum over the weekend resulted in civilian casualties. Furthermore, the UN’s humanitarian partners report that renewed clashes in South Darfur have displaced many people in the city of Nyala.

Following are UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed’s remarks at the Generation Equality Midpoint Moment event, in New York today:

In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the United Nations continues to support efforts to protect civilians amid increasing attacks by the CODECO armed group in Ituri Province.

In Somalia, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reports that the risk of famine still lingers among communities of displaced people in parts of the country. This is despite the scale-up of humanitarian assistance and better-than-forecast rains which have brought some relief from the devastating drought.

United Nations efforts on transferring the millions of oil barrels from the FSO Safer continue, with the replacement vessel, Nautica, now known as the Yemen, only 3 kilometres from the Safer and in final preparations for ship-to-ship transfer of oil expected at the end of the week. The Ndeavour is already alongside to help with the transfer.

With gang rape, sexual slavery and other forms of sexual violence used as tactics of war amid rising militarization and weapons proliferation, the Security Council must close the gap between its commitments to address conflict-related sexual violence and the shocking realities for victims and survivors, delegates heard today during the 15-nation organ’s open debate on sexual violence in conflict situations.

The country team in Egypt is addressing food insecurity - worsened by disrupted grain exports from the Russian Federation and Ukraine – by supporting vulnerable groups through cash transfers, vouchers, and food distribution, and providing fertilizers, loans and training to improve livelihoods to some 4,600 smallholder farmers.