Partner News

“Gender equality is more than a goal in itself. It is a precondition for meeting the challenge of reducing poverty, promoting sustainable development, and building good governance.” - Kofi Annan, Former Secretary General of the United Nations.

Mongolia's electoral reforms have significantly transformed the political landscape, ushering a record number of women into Parliament. This change follows the May 2023 constitutional amendment, which expanded parliamentary seats from 76 to 126 and introduced a mandatory 30 per cent candidate quota for women. As a result, the number of female MPs has increased dramatically, from 13 to 32.

Following an intense week of elections, the IPU’s two founding members, France and the United Kingdom, have just completed their parliamentary elections.

How have both parliaments fared in terms of gender equality? How do they compare to previous chambers and the IPU’s global average of women in parliament which stood at 26.9% before these latest elections?

Skopje, North Macedonia, 24 June 2024 – UN Women in North Macedonia, for a second consecutive year in partnership with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, marked the International Day of Women in Diplomacy with a high-level panel discussion highlighting the pivotal role that women play in international relations and diplomatic efforts.

UN Women, in partnership with the Ministry of Local Administration Governance and the Agency for Gender Equality within the Office of the Prime Minister of Kosovo, under the European Union-funded “Gender Equality Project”, on June 2024, organized an exchange visit and workshop in Albania to strengthen the knowledge, skills, and capacities of local Gender Equality Officers to effectively engage in gender-responsive governance and EU accession.

Milica Borjanic is a vocal advocate for youth rights in Serbia and programme manager with The National Youth Council of Serbia (KOMS), as the highest independent representative body of the youth in Serbia. Last year, she was one of the participants of the UN Women's training for trainers on women's political participation and leadership.

The reality for women in the Blue Economy is undeniable: their crucial contributions are frequently overshadowed at best; unnoticed at their worst.

This reality brings forth a number of pertinent questions, most notable: How can development agencies, governments, private sector, and civil society organization mainstream gender into the Blue Economy seascape? And secondly, what does success look like?

From the local to the global level, women’s leadership and political participation are restricted. Women are underrepresented as voters, as well as in leading positions, whether in elected office, the civil service, the private sector or academia. This occurs despite their proven abilities as leaders and agents of change, and their right to participate equally in democratic governance.

Constitutional, political, and legal arrangements have increased representation of women in various levels of governance in Nepal. Despite these improvements, there is still a significant gender disparity, with men overwhelmingly dominating leadership positions, especially at the local level. Almost 98 percent of the heads, presidents and ward presidents of the local level are men.