Women and gender issues

Following is UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ message for International Women’s Day, observed on 8 March:

The United Nations continues to mobilize emergency teams and relief operations in response to the earthquake that hit Türkiye and Syria. A Disaster Assessment and Coordination Team is supporting the coordination of the International Urban Search and Rescue Operations and assisting with situational and humanitarian needs analysis.

United Nations officials in Iraq condemned the abhorrent killing of 22-year-old Tiba al-Ali, whose death is a regretful reminder of the violence and injustice that still exists against women and girls in the country today.

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

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

In Lebanon, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) donated 1,000 cholera testing kits, administered over 900,000 oral cholera vaccines and provided refrigerators and solar panels to ensure continuous access to electricity in support of the Ministry of Public Health’s efforts to combat the cholera outbreak which began in October.

On behalf of the Secretary-General, the Deputy Secretary-General, Amina Mohammed; the Executive Director of the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN-Women), Sima Bahous; and the Assistant Secretary-General of the Department of Political, Peacebuilding Affairs and Peace Operations, Khaled Khiari, completed a four-day visit to Afghanistan to appraise the situation, engage de facto authorities and underscore United Nations solidarity with the Afghan people.

In the Central African Republic, the United Nations peacekeeping mission there launched a countrywide campaign on 16 January to promote efforts to protect civilians and to build confidence between the internal security forces and the population.

A report released today by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) notes that children from the poorest households benefit the least from national public education funding. According to the report, children living in poverty are less likely to have access to school and drop out sooner.

In two separate reports released today, the United Nations Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation said that approximately 5 million children died before their fifth birthday and another 2.1 million children and youth lost their lives in 2021.