Advancing Rights, Transforming Lives

by Geneva Human rights implementation and impact, Policy reports

Advancing Rights, Transforming Lives

This report reviews how the UN human rights system has taken up women’s rights, gender equality and sexual and reproductive health and rights and the degree to which these recommendations have been translated into action, with UNFPA’s support. Country examples demonstrate the impact of UNFPA’s strategic engagement with UN human rights mechanisms for advancing the rights and choices of women and girls.

Generation Equality Forum – the Paris edition: More bold commitments, less empty promises

by Vany Cortés, Universal Rights Group Geneva Blog, Blog, Contemporary and emerging human rights issues, Gender equality, Thematic human rights issues

On 30 June, UN Secretary-General António Guterres opened the second session of the Generation Equality Forum (GEF) alongside UN Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka and French President Emmanuel Macron. The GEF is a global gathering co-organised by UN Women and the Governments of France and Mexico in close cooperation with youth activists and civil society organisations from around the world. …

Foro Generación Igualdad – Edición de París: Más compromisos ambiciosos, menos promesas vacías

by Vany Cortés, Universal Rights Group Geneva Asuntos contemporáneos y emergentes, Blog, Blog, Gender equality, Thematic human rights issues

El 30 de junio, el Secretario General de la ONU, António Guterres, inauguró la segunda sesión del Foro Generación Igualdad (GEF por sus siglas en inglés) junto con la Directora Ejecutiva de ONU Mujeres, Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, y el Presidente de Francia, Emmanuel Macron. El GEF es un encuentro mundial coorganizado por ONU Mujeres y los gobiernos de Francia y México …

Generation Equality Forum 2021: A light at the end of the gender inequality tunnel?

by Vany Cortés, Universal Rights Group Geneva Blog, Blog, Contemporary and emerging human rights issues, Gender equality, Thematic human rights issues

In his virtual address at the inauguration ceremony of the Generation Equality Forum 2021, French President Emmanuel Macron remarked that ‘no country in the world has yet achieved complete equality between men and women’. This observation crystallises the alarming state of gender equality almost 26 years after the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing and the adoption of the landmark …

What are the human rights priorities of world governments in 2021?

by the URG team Blog, Blog, Climate change, Climate crisis, Democracy, Gender equality, HRC, Human Rights Council, Human rights implementation and impact, Human rights institutions and mechanisms, In focus: democracy, Inequality, International human rights institutions, mechanisms and processes, Thematic human rights issues

An independent analysis of the High-Level Segment of the Human Rights Council The High-Level Segment of the 46th session of the Human Rights Council , held from February 22 to 24 2021, saw the active participation of more than 130 world leaders, including presidents, prime ministers, ministers, and heads of international organisations. In the statements they delivered to the Council, they addressed both domestic human rights concerns, …

Gender and the UN reforms: an update

by URG-NYC Team Blog, Blog, Gender equality, Thematic human rights issues, Universal Rights Group NYC

This post is the fourth in a series of blogs produced by the URG-NYC team to take stock of the implementation of the UN reforms, which were adopted in the past 18 months. This post covers the place of gender in the UN reforms.  One of the stated objectives of the United Nations reform is to enable member States to …

The Gender Parity Strategy and UN reforms

by Jane Murray Blog, Blog, Gender equality, New York City, Thematic human rights issues, Universal Rights Group NYC

The United Nations System-wide Gender Parity Strategy sets targets for equal representation of men and women in the United Nations, and also advises on recruitment and retention practices. All secretariat units have developed their own implementation plans for the strategy, setting objectives for themselves to achieve parity at all levels. This strategy is being implemented alongside wider UN reforms that deal with the UN’s management system, and reconstituting …

Ethiopia secures important advances for human rights, including women’s rights

by Yibza Aynekullu Tesfaye, Minister-Counsellor of the Permanent Mission of Ethiopia to the UN & Other Organizations in Geneva Beyond the Council, Beyond the Council, Blog, Blog, By invitation, By invitation, Gender equality, Human rights institutions and mechanisms, Thematic human rights issues

“…Our government’s stand on the rights of women and their equality is not out of favour to them but rather for our common good” Abiy Ahmed, Prime Minister of Ethiopia There is a growing public sense, promoted by the Western press and NGOs, that human rights are in retreat around the world. It is true that in some countries, including …