The UN Women WCARO annual report aims to share information about the regional office's activities on women empowerment and gender equality in 2020. The said year has been a particularly difficult year around the world with the COVID-19 pandemic. In West and Central Africa (WCA), women and girls were particularly vulnerable to the crisis. To counter these burdens and build medium and long- term recovery measures, the UN Women WCA Regional Office successfully provided multi-faceted assistance...

This report explores some key indicators of women’s economic empowerment in labour markets and women’s political participation and economic leadership in the Indian Ocean Rim region through three dimensions: resources, agency, and achievements. It highlights good practices, case studies, and challenges and opportunities for investments and initiatives, and provides key recommendations for Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) Member States and other stakeholders to realize women’s economic empowerment in the region.

As COVID-19 spreads in Africa, informal workers are hard-pressed to comply with social distancing or confinement measures, as they need to work to provide for their basic needs. Here are three things that UN Women country offices can advocate for to ensure that women working in the informal economy do not fall through the cracks in the current crisis.

This executive brief is a synthesis of key findings and recommendations from a multi country analytical study by UN Women on child marriage in Africa covering ten countries selected due to their comparatively higher prevalence of child marriage in the continent and globally.

This is a convening report for the Regional Sharefair on Gender and Resilience in Africa held by UN Women in collaboration with key partners in November 9th –10th 2016 at Safari Park Hotel, Nairobi, Kenya. Focusing on the main theme of “Strengthening Resilience by Empowering Women”, the Sharefair provided a platform for sharing and learning, availed an opportunity to further explore the role of women in building and strengthening resilience and promoted dialogue and sharing of experiences on gender responsive resilience related programmes and policies in Africa. This is expected to accelerate development and humanitarian response and the overall achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The Sharefair also endeavor to facilitate long term collaboration amongst regional stakeholders with the aim of identifying problems, using data and predictive methods and mobilizing support and resources to incubate, accelerate and scale effective solutions. The outcome of the two-day event was the creation of a strong regional network to amplify resilience solutions, sustaining change in policy and practice within relevant macroeconomic frameworks. Hundreds of participants gathered at the Sharefair to discuss interventions, innovations, good practices, evidence from research and documented data, legal frameworks and policies.

This edition addresses the Health issues of Women in Malawi and Senegal, Education in Burkina Faso and in Africa, Peace and Security in Cameroon and at African Union, Women in Agriculture in Mozambique and Ethiopia and Women Economque Empowerment across Africa.