Advocacy & Lobbying
“On social media, President Samia Suluhu is objectified simply because she is a woman president. Women journalists work tirelessly to cover her objectively. However, when politicians call for a press conference, social media influencers are given priority, while journalists are relegated to the backbenches,” recounted a woman journalist from Tanzania.
This was during a seminar for journalists from across Africa covering gender matters, convened by the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International Idea) in Nairobi.
The journalist, whose identity we are protecting to avoid exposing her to repercussions, including cyberbullying, said social media users, including influencers, have increasingly become a threat to fair coverage of Ms Suluhu.
“The fact is that since she took office, she has introduced changes, such as allowing teenage mothers to return to school. However, some social media influencers have been used to spread rumours that she is a lesbian and that her marriage is broken. Unfortunately, people are more inclined to believe what they spread than what we report,” she said.
While women journalists in Tanzania struggle with the emerging threats of gendered misinformation and disinformation, in Botswana, an attempt to address violence against women politicians failed to take off because of a lack of funds.
In 2023, Democracy Works Foundation engaged an organisation running a toll-free helpline for people living with HIV to expand its services to include receiving complaints from women politicians facing violence both online and offline.*
Full article published by The Nation on 21 May 2025.
Image credits: The Nation
Geneva, Switzerland — Globally, 308 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance across 73 countries, a figure that continues to rise with escalating conflict, climate change, food insecurity, and disease outbreaks.
Women and girls are disproportionately affected by crisis, suffering from preventable pregnancy-related deaths, malnutrition, and high rates of sexual violence. Despite rising needs, the humanitarian system is facing a severe funding crisis, with cuts threatening essential, life-saving services for women and girls.
UN Women today launched its new report At a Breaking Point: The Impact of Foreign Aid Cuts on Women's Organizations in Humanitarian Crises Worldwide. Based on the results of a rapid global survey conducted among 411 women-led and women’s rights organizations across 44 crisis contexts, the report finds that 90 per cent of surveyed organizations have been hit by funding cuts.
“The situation is critical. Women and girls simply cannot afford to lose the lifelines that women’s organizations are providing. Despite their roles as essential providers, advocates, and watchdogs, women’s organizations have been severely underfunded even before the recent wave of reductions. Supporting and resourcing them is not only a matter of equality and rights, but it is also a strategic imperative,” said Sofia Calltorp, Chief of UN Women Humanitarian Action.
Full article published by UN Women on 13 May 2025.
Not long ago, the English and History Departments at the College of Education for Girls at Anbar University stood as silent witnesses to decades of neglect cracked walls, overcrowded classrooms crammed with ever-growing numbers of female students, and library shelves blanketed in dust. For 25 years, Alaa Abdullah Mufreh, this was the harsh reality of pursuing education in post-conflict Iraq.
Alaa runs her hand across the smooth surface of a new desk in the English Department's lecture hall, smiling as she reflects: “Now, when sunlight streams through the windows during our Shakespeare discussions, I finally feel the university believes in our future too.”
Dr. Ammar Abdul Wahab, Head of the English Department confirms: “Today, the University of Anbar has gained global recognition in international rankings, and I firmly believe it is steadily advancing toward a brighter and more distinguished future.”
Thousands of members of an Islamist group protested proposed gender equality reforms in Bangladesh over the weekend.
It comes after the Bangladeshi Women’s Affairs Reform Commission proposed giving women more rights over property and inheritances, and decriminalising sex work.
The Commission also proposed banning polygamy — when one person has multiple spouses.
The Hefazat-e-Islam group say the recommendations violate Sharia law, and have committed to a nation-wide protest later this month.
Background
A 2020 report by UN Women and Monash University found misogynistic attitudes are widespread in Bangladesh, and that approximately half of Bangladeshi men believe women “seek special favours and preferential treatment under the guise of equality.”
Last year, the Bangladeshi Government collapsed following months of protests about a quota system for public service jobs.
The Government responded violently, with dozens of protesters killed before then-Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina fled the country.
An interim government was established in the aftermath, led by Nobel Prize winner Muhammad Yunus, who has committed to holding elections next year.
In November 2024, the interim government established the Women’s Affairs Reform Commission, tasked with giving recommendations to increase women’s participation in society and work.
Full article here published by The Daily Aus.
Image source: The Daily Us
Women’s rights activists are calling for a new United Nations roadmap for Afghanistan to result in a political structure that includes non-Taliban figures, particularly women, in leadership and decision-making roles.
The UN has drafted a proposal aimed at gathering the views of Taliban officials and representatives from 25 countries involved in the Doha process, as part of an effort to define a pathway for the country’s reintegration into the international community. A central pillar of the initiative is the formation of an inclusive government — a long-standing demand from the global community, alongside human rights protections and counterterrorism guarantees.
While the UN has not yet disclosed the full content of the responses it received, the Taliban have previously rejected negotiations over any form of power-sharing or broader political inclusion. Their current governing structure remains exclusive to members of their own movement.
Women’s rights defenders argue that any future framework must guarantee women’s participation at all levels of political and civic life.
“The roadmap must address women’s political and social participation and explicitly prohibit violence, including forced marriage and child marriage,” said Golsoom Mehrin, a prominent Afghan women’s rights activist. “If the Taliban object, the UN and international partners must not back down.”
The UN’s “mosaic framework” outlines six key priorities for Afghanistan’s future, with inclusive governance labeled as one of the most complex and time-consuming. Despite claims by the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) that it is consulting with non-Taliban stakeholders, the identities of those involved in the talks remain undisclosed.
Meanwhile, the Independent Coalition of Afghan Women’s Protest Movements voiced deep concerns about the process, warning that it risks replicating the failures of the 2020 Doha peace talks.
Full article here published by AMU TV.
Image credits AMU
This April 22nd marks International Mother Earth Day with the slogan “Our Power, Our Planet”, which calls for us to rethink our role in ensuring that the use of our resources has a positive impact on both humans and ecosystems. Latin America and the Caribbean, the richest region in terms of flora and fauna, is also one of the most challenged by extreme weather events such as intense droughts, devastating hurricanes, tropical storms, heavy rains, floods, severe heat waves and catastrophic forest fires.
Women in the region, key environmental custodians due to their relationship with the environment and their role in the conservation and sustainable management of natural resources, are disproportionately affected by climate change, disasters, inequalities, and violence. Additionally, they tend to bear most of the burden of unpaid domestic work in their households, are underrepresented in decision-making, and have less access to resources and education. The relationship between gender inequalities and environmental degradation requires transformative and inclusive development. UNDP recognizes that gender equality is essential for effective and sustainable climate action and supports projects that protect biodiversity, boost the use of renewable energy, and empower women as community leaders.
On Earth Day, we share UNDP-supported initiatives that are making a tangible difference in these areas, highlighting the intersection of gender equality, renewable energy, and environmental and biodiversity conservation for a sustainable and equitable Latin America and the Caribbean.
Read here the full article published by UNDP on 23 April 2025.
This report is based on the discussions held during the International Forum on Women’s Political Empowerment, held on 7 September 2017 in Budapest, Hungary. It is a short summary of views expressed by experts, guest speakers and participants, as highlighted in their remarks and group discussions that followed.
The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), the Hungarian Women’s Lobby, and the Embassy of Finland in Budapest organized the forum, in collaboration with the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, Corvinus University of Budapest and the Embassy of Estonia in Vienna. The forum was also supported by the Royal Norwegian Embassy in Budapest and the Council of Europe.
The International Forum on Women’s Political Empowerment aimed to raise awareness and facilitate dialogue on women’s participation in political and public life in Hungary and beyond. The forum gathered around 200 participants (165 women and 35 men), including politicians, civil servants, gender equality advocates, representatives of civil society, academia and youth organizations, as well as students. Thirty Hungarian and international experts (23 women and 7 men) shared their knowledge on the topic, including guest speakers from Austria, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Norway, and Portugal.
The forum served as a platform to exchange good practices for advancing women’s political participation. It explored persisting and emerging challenges as well as opportunities and good practices for political parties, civil society and youth to strengthen gender equality, women’s rights and women’s access to decision-making.
Click here to access the report.
Using data to bridge the gender gap
Globally, women make up 49.7% of the population but hold only 22% of public offices. The Women in Public Service Project Data Portal seeks to answer why this is so, and how to increase the percentage of women in public office to 50% by 2050.
Click here to visit the data portal http://data.50x50movement.org/.
This policy guidance provides a range of good practice options for advancing gender equality in the content of constitutions. It contributes to, and complements, the capacity-building support that United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) staff in country and regional offices provide to a range of national partners and stakeholders for different aspects of constitution-making (which includes but is not limited to support for the drafting of new constitutions and the revision of existing constitutions). Other UNDP initiatives provide guidance and support for the process of constitution-making. This policy guidance is designed to build the capacity of UNDP staff to advocate for the advancement of gender equality and women’s human rights in the content of constitutions. It is intended to provide technical support for a range of partners and national stakeholders involved in constitution-making, including; legislatures, constituent assemblies, constitutional review committees or commissions, governments, civil society organizations and legislative drafters. Through the inclusion of numerous examples from existing constitutions, it aims to foster UNDP entry points for pursuing South–South exchanges through which countries can benefit from, and utilize, the good practice constitutional provisions of similarly situated countries. It also aims to raise awareness of the importance of advancing gender equality in the content of constitutions. With this in mind, examples have been chosen based on the de jure constitutional formulation rather than the record of gender equality in the particular country.
As per the statues of international IDEA, the Secretary-General reports to the Council of Member States on the overall implementation of the Institute’s activities. In April 2014, as part of the Mid-Term Strategy Review, Member States recommended that the organization continue to strengthen its communication about results. This fifth International IDEA Annual Results Report therefore presents improved qualitative reporting of results, giving more information beyond the simple implementation of activities.
Research on women’s political participation at the community level was undertaken by Womankind in four very different countries – Ghana, Zimbabwe, Nepal and Afghanistan. The work in each context intends to increase women’s political participation and voice. The time available for the research was limited but much was achieved through the participation of Womankind staff and the deep involvement of Womankind’s partners working in each country; this enabled easy access to the women who work with, know and trust the partners. Women’s own situation varied across each country and between the countries; some had previous experience of engagement in public spaces while others were largely confined to their homes; some had formal education, while many were illiterate; some had access to trading and other livelihood work, others were financially dependent within their households. Their starting points for engagement with political influencing at the local level were disparate. Similarly, the political contexts into which they were moving in terms of local governance structures and processes were also diverse. In some, the Government had set up quotas and specific allocations for women, the poorest and the marginalised, such as Dalits, in others there were no such legal or statutory provisions and leverage on those with power over key resources, such as Local Government officials and Councillors, was very limited. In spite of these wide variations, it became apparent that achieving political change is challenging, often dependent on the political will of local officials, and policies made at national level are not necessarily implemented, or easy to get enacted locally.
Freedom House has published its new report ‘Freedom on the Net 2016. Silencing the Messenger: Communication Apps Under Pressure’.
Internet freedom has declined for the sixth consecutive year, with more governments than ever before targeting social media and communication apps as a means of halting the rapid dissemination of information, particularly during anti-government protests.
Public-facing social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter have been subject to growing censorship for several years, but in a new trend, governments increasingly target voice communication and messaging apps such as WhatsApp and Telegram. These services are able to spread information and connect users quickly and securely, making it more difficult for authorities to control the information landscape or conduct surveillance.
These are the key findings:
- Internet freedom around the world declined in 2016 for the sixth consecutive year.
- Two-thirds of all internet users – 67 percent – live in countries where criticism of the government, military, or ruling family are subject to censorship.
- Social media users face unprecedented penalties, as authorities in 38 countries made arrests based on social media posts over the past year. Globally, 27 percent of all internet users live in countries where people have been arrested for publishing, sharing, or merely “liking” content on Facebook.
- Governments are increasingly going after messaging apps like WhatsApp and Telegram, which can spread information quickly and securely.
This year, the report highlights some internet freedom issues as they affect women specifically. The India report, highlights research which explores the negative effect of online harassment on women's participation online, as well the unique threats faced by female online activists in Mexico who challenge the social and institutional norms which tolerate violence against women. There is also an emphasis on the specific economic and professional disadvantages faced by Nigerian women who lack access to the internet.