News from the Gender Network

Older news articles from the Gender Network (2015-2019) can be found in our News Archive.

2023

International Women's Day 2023
Vienna, March 2023 - The theme for 2023 International Women's Day is “DigitALL: Innovation and technology for gender equality” – recognizing the contribution of women and girls around the world, who are championing the advancement of transformative technology and digital education and exploring the digital gender gap. To celebrate International Women's Day, UNOV/UNODC hosted a spotlight session to discuss the relevance of gender-responsive approaches to prevent and combat cyber organized crime. (Read more)

2022

Vienna Discussion Forum 2022
Vienna, 3 November 2022 - UNODC and UNIDO, together with the Permanent Missions of Finland, Norway, and Sweden in Vienna, hosted the fourth annual Vienna Discussion Forum (VDF) to discuss gender equality and women's and girls’ empowerment in the framework of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the mandates of the two organizations. In its 2022 edition, the VDF shed light on the gender aspects of migration and forced displacement and the importance of ensuring that measures to address migration and displacement -whether caused by conflict or other insecurities- are gender-responsive and have a human rights-centered approach. (Read more)

'Listen First' VOICES interview with Marian Salema
Vienna, December 2022 - Marian Salema, Programme Officer, of the UNODC Gender Team talks about a gender-based approach to substance use prevention, UNODC Gender Team’s main objectives, and its involvement with 'Listen First'. The UNODC initiative aims to increase support for prevention of drug use that is based on science and is thus an effective investment in the well-being of children and youth, their families and their communities. (Read more)

Women's Network Newsletter
Vienna, December 2022 - The CCP Women's Network has published its recent newsletters, including the winter edition (December 2022), dedicated to male engagement for gender equality. (Read more)

Gender in Criminal Justice Newsletter - Issue 1: 16 days of activism UNiTE! Activism to End Violence against Women & Girls!
Vienna, December 2022 - The first issue of the Gender in Criminal Justice Newsletter which will be published on a quarterly basis is a special edition highlighting events held during this year’s 16 days of activism campaign to End Violence against Women & Girls! (Read more)

Launch of the UNODC/ UN Women Gender and Organized Crime Module
Vienna, December 2022 - UNODC and UN Women launched a module explaining why gender aspects are important when combatting organized crime. (Read more)

16 Days of Activism: Women in Power – Women for Justice

Vienna (Austria), 1 December 2022 - The international community gathered in Vienna to commemorate the campaign, discuss good practice in tackling gender-based violence, and highlight the role of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in ending impunity for perpetrators of this crime. (Read more)

Women and girls are more at risk to be killed at home, new UNODC and UN Women report on femicide shows
New York City (United States), 24 November 2022 – A new study by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and UN Women shows that, on average, more than five women or girls were killed every hour by someone in their own family in 2021. (Read more)

Cyber and networking: Creating a platform for Women in Cyber-related fields in Africa and Southeast Asia

Bangkok, 28 October 2022 - From the 26 to the 28 of October 2022, The UNODC Global Programme on Cybercrime held its first Women in Cyber summit in Bangkok. Over 40 women from Africa and Southeast Asia working in Cyber-related fields networked and exchanged experiences on topics related to women’s roles and leadership in cyber. (Read more)

Shifting gears, changing mindsets: promoting gender equality in the MENA region through a novel approach
Middle East and North Africa, 14 September 2022 - 115 years. That’s how long it would take for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region to reach gender parity, according to the World Economic Forum. Though some recent statistics demonstrate that major advances have been achieved, much remains to be done to accelerate this progress. [Read more]

Newsletter: Women in Cyber
Vienna, September 2022 - UNODC Global Cybercrime Progamme publishes monthly newsletter on women in cyber. (Read more)

In Conversation With: Ambassador Corinne Kitsell, United Kingdom
Vienna, April 2022 - Ambassador Kitsell joined the UK Mission in Vienna in October 2020. She has been a strong advocate for gender equality and women's empowerment throughout her career and has been an International Gender Champion since 2021. (Read more)

New UNODC Handbook launched on measuring and reporting on gender-related SDG results
Vienna, 2 February 2022 - It is well known that gender equality and women's empowerment are key to the achievement of the 2030 Agenda on the Sustainable Development Goals. (Read more)

2021

UNODC supports Bosnia and Herzegovina in addressing violence against women
Bosnia and Herzegovina, 1 December 2021 - UNODC in Bosnia and Herzegovina held a webinar last week which focused on key technical needs for ensuring the delivery of gender-responsive police and justice services to women subjected to gender-based violence in Bosnia and Herzegovina. (Read more)

Woman wearing a high vis vest knelt down looking at a laptop

UNODC's New Listen First series, 'Super Skills', supports skill development for vulnerable children worldwide
Vienna, 20 November 2021 - On World Children’s Day, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) released a new series of the ‘Listen First’ initiative – the Science of Skills.The new series will focus on social and emotional skill development as a foundation for drug use prevention in children and early adolescents. (Read more)

Vienna Discussion Forum 2021: Cyber Equality and Digital Inclusion
Vienna, November 2021 - UNIDO and UNODC, together with the Permanent Missions of Finalnd, Norway and Sweden in Vienna, hosted the third annual Vienna Discussion Forum (VDF), a platform to discuss gender equality in the framework of the Sustainable Development Goals. (Read more)

LPOMEX Best Practices: Implementing an intersectional approach to gender mainstreaming
Mexico, October 2021 - The UNOV/UNODC Gender Team spoke to members of the Gender Advisory Group; Violeta Zarco, Edwin Cantu, and Maria Medellin, to discuss their experiences of implementing an intersectional approach to gender mainstreaming. (Read more)

Adopting a Gender Perspective to Support Victims of Terrorism
Vienna, October 2021 - The UNODC Terrorism Prevention Branch interviewed Ms. Fatima Bello Raji, a female legal practitioner and humanitarian actor working in Yola, Adamawa State, to discuss the importance of adopting a gender perspective to support victims of terrorism. (Read more)

UNODC-WCO CCP MENA launches 'Customs, Cargo & Women - A Talk for Her!'
Beirut, Lebanon, 26 October 2021 - The UNODC-WCO Container Control Programme (CCP) launched a new regional initiative under the name of 'Customs, Cargo & Women – A Talk for Her!', to promote women’s empowerment and gender equality in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. (Read more)

A man and a woman sitting next to one another

Community based policing-oriented approach to reducing gender-based violence in Cambodia Cambodia, October 2021 - The UNOV/UNODC Gender Team spoke to E. Felipe De La Torre (Ecuador), UNODC Regional Coordinator for Southeast Asia, about ROSEAP's recent project to tackle gender-based violence and the importance of gender mainstreaming in criminal justice responses to gender-based violence. (Read more)

Woman standing on a long Kanu on a river talking to a man

Setting an example for women in Southeast Asian Law Enforcement
Bangkok, Thailand and Hanoi, Viet Nam, September 2021 - Law enforcement agencies in Southeast Asia remain heavily male-dominated organizations. UNODC and its partners are encouraging police forces in Southeast Asia to better reflect the diversity of the communities that they serve. (Read more)

Strengthening the prevention and care for victims of gender-based violence in Ecuador, a shared challenge between UNODC and UN WOMEN

Quito, June 28 2021- In order to strengthen the prevention and care for victims of gender-based violence in Ecuador, UNODC has formalized a partnership with UN Women in Ecuador. (Read more)

UNODC Gender Equality Forum
Vienna, June 2021 - The UNODC Gender Team with the support of the Government of Ireland, hosted the first ever UNODC Gender Equality Forum, a virtual conference held from the 22nd to the 24th of June to discuss the future of gender equality and women's empowermnet in UNODC's mandated areas. (Read more)

How UNODC Wants to Eliminate Gender-Based Violence Against Women
Vienna, Austria, 20 May 2021 - UNODC is implementing several initiatives around the world in the field of crime prevention and criminal justice, through trainings with police, reviewing legislative initiatives, promoting essential services for suvivors, or coaching judges to improve criminal justice systems, to name a few. (Read more)

Female Police Officers Step into the Frontlines as First Responders in Pakistan
Islamabad, Pakistan, 26 April 2021 - UNODC Pakistan has readily taken initiative through its Rule of Law programme and trained the first-ever cadre of female police officers in Balochistan as first responders for Gender-Based Violence. (Read more)

Making the Streets Safer for Women & Girls in Mexico
Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, 22 April 2021 - Girls and women have the right to feel safe everywhere yet all too often, cities and public spaces are not designed with women’s safety in mind. The Spotlight Initiative in Mexico worked with municipal institutions on plans to improve the city’s public spaces in the city of Ciudad Juarez. (Read more)

UNODC Programme Office Ethiopia Launches Gender Newsletter
Ethiopia, April 2021 - The UNODC Programme Office in Ethiopia is pleased to share its first Gender Newsletter that focuses on the work delivered to advocate for the empowerment of women in the criminal justice sector in Ethiopia. (Read more)

New Handbook on Gender-Responsive Police Services for Women and Girls Subject to Violence
Cairo, Egypt, 21 April 2021 - A new global Police Handbook aims to provide guidance and practical knowledge for police middle managers in addressing some of the most difficult challenges that women survivors of violence face when accessing police services around the world was presented to representatives from law enforcement entities in the Arab States. (Read more)

Training of trainers: Enhancing expertise in the criminal justice system in Ethiopia
Bishoftu, Ethiopia, 12 April 2021 - The UNODC Programme Office in Ethiopia partnered with key training institutes and academies in Ethiopia to deliver 3 weeks of training to 77 personnel (57 men/20 women) who train prison wardens, police officers, and prosecution personnel, in order to sustain capacities in the criminal justice system. (Read more)

Interview with Lelise Terfasa: Women leading the way towards gender equality within UNOV/UNODC
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 8 March 2021 - Prior to joining the UNODC Programme Office in Ethiopia, Lelise worked as a Team Leader of a special prosecution unit for crimes against women and children in Ethiopia and was Deputy Head of the Federal Attorney General branch office. Please read about her motivations, her achievements and how she commemorated International Women's Day 2021. (Read more)

Palestine: Promoting Gender-Sensitive Reporting in the Media
West Bank and Gaza Strip, Palestine, 8 March 2021 - Media plays a vital role in shaping perceptions of violence against women and girls and its impact. As part of the HAYA Joint Programme, journalists and media professionals are receiving training on ethical and non-discriminatory reporting on gender justice and violence against women. (Read more)

UNODC ranked as high performing in the 2021 Global Health 50/50 report
Vienna, March 2021 - Gender equality is fundamental to everyone’s health, dignity and livelihoods. The work of UNODC in advancing gender equality in global health has recently been recognised in the 2021 Global Health 50/50 report, “Gender equality: Flying blind in a time of crisis”. (Read more)

UNOV/UNODC celebrates International Women's Day 2021
Vienna, March 2021 - This International Women’s Day, UNOV/UNODC is celebrating the leadership shown by women across the organisations. Through a series of interviews, inspirational women from Field Offices and HQ are celebrated for their efforts towards advancing gender equality commitments and promoting these aspects across the Offices’ mandated areas of work. (Read more)

Vienna Based Organizations celebrate International Women's Day 2021

Vienna, 8 March 2020 - For International Women's Day 2021, the Vienna Based Organizations have come together to celebrate female colleagues throughout the organizations. Colleagues from UNOV/UNODC, IAEA, CTBTO, UNIDO and IOM describe the women leaders who inspire them.
(Read more)

Interview Artifical Intelligence and Gender in the Judiciaries
Vienna, February 2021 - In 2020, the Global Judicial Integrity Network won an award for its project focusing on gender bias and discrimination in artificial intelligence (AI) systems used in judiciaries. The project is a continuation of the Network’s previous work on gender-related issues in the judiciary as well as their work on the ethical use of AI. (Read more)

Interview Container Control Program Women's Network
Vienna, February 2021 - The Container Control Program (CCP) Women’s Network, established in 2015, aims to actively promote women’s roles and foster an inclusive dialogue around female participation, leadership, empowerment and freedom from discrimination in a sector often dominated by men. The network was one of the first of its kind within UNODC and continues to empower women working in law enforcement. (Read more)

2020

UNODC Celebrates its Enduring Commitment to Fighting Gender-Based Violence & Discrimination
Vienna, 30 December 2020 - UNODC remains strongly comitted to the task by promoting gender equality and empowerment of all women and girls through its programmes, while fighting against gender-based disrcimination in the criminal justice system and gender-based violence. (Read more)

UNODC Publication on the Power of Diversity and Inclusion to Address the Gender Dimensions of Corruption
Vienna, 10 December 2020 - The UNODC publication The Time is Now – Addressing the Gender Dimensions of Corruption highlights just how many of the gender dimensions of corruption are neither well understood nor sufficiently addressed worldwide. It also explores how gender equality policies can have a positive effect in preventing and countering corruption, and vice versa. [Read more]

Vienna Discussion Forum 2020: The future is gender-inclusive: Global responses in crisis management and recovery
Vienna, 27 November 2020 - UNODC and UNIDO, together with the Permanent Missions of Finland, Norway and Sweden in Vienna, hosted the second annual Vienna Discussion Forum (VDF), a platform to discuss gender equality in the framework of the Sustainable Development Goals. [Read more]

UNODC Ethiopia: Interview with Director of Good Samaritan Association on Ending Gender-Based Violence
Ethiopia, 23 November 2020 – As part of the 16 Days of Activism and in commemoration of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, Margaret Akullo, UNODC Representative a.i. in Ethiopia, spoke with Ms Hirut Yibabe, Director and Co-Founder of the Good Samaritan Association. [Read more]

UNODC Celebrates Fifth Anniversary of CCP Women's Network
Vienna, 19 November 2020 - Aware of the added value that women bring to law enforcement, as well as the global disparities in terms of women’s participation, the UNODC-WCO Container Control Programme (CCP) endeavoured in 2015, to increase the number of women officers working in its Port Control Units (PCUs) and Air Cargo Control Units (ACCUs) around the world. Today they celebrate their fifth anniversary. [Read more; see also here]

UNODC Participates in 'Enabling Environment Guidelines Week'
Vienna, 23 October 2020 - The Enabling Environment Guidelines (EEGs) address inclusivity and diversity within the UN by changing the organisational culture and engaging in a corporate transformation. Read more on the event marking the one-year anniversary of the EEGs launch, hosted by the Vienna-based Organisations’ Gender Focal Points and Focal Points for Women (VBO GFPs). Listen to the opening remark of UNODC Executive Director Ghada Waly. [Read more]

Enabling Environment Guidelines - Interview with Katja Pehrman (UN Women Senior Adviser)
Vienna, October 2020 - The EEGs provide UN system-wide guidance on the creation of an enabling environment that promotes a more diverse, inclusive and respectful work environment. Marking the one-year anniversary of the EEGs launch, the Gender Team interviewed Katja Pehrman, Senior Adviser and Gender Focal Point at UN Women, on the process of developing, their role in the light of the COVID-19 pandemic and her personal vision for the future. [Read more]

Gender-based violence in times of the pandemic-Interview with Claudia Baroni and Sven Pfeiffer (Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Officers)
Vienna, October 2020 -During the pandemic there has been a dramatic increase of violence against women and girls, particularly of domestic violence. As the UNODC takes the lead in the UN system in developing model strategies, model policies and practical measures for the elimination of violence against women, we interviewed Claudia Baroni and Sven Peiffer (Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Officers) on their perspective. [Read more]

Interview with Cristina Iampieri (Sahel Programme Coordinator) on Gender Equality in the G5 Sahel Programme
Vienna, September 2020 -The UNODC supported the Bureau of Defense and Security of the G5 Sahel Programme in developing and operationalizing the police component of the Joint Force and was tasked with mainstreaming gender throughout the programme. We interviewed Cristina Iampieri, Sahel Programme Coordinator, on her work. (Read more)

UNODC Thematic Brief on COVID-19 and gender-based violence against women
Vienna, 2020 - UNODC Thematic Brief on COVID-19 and gender-based violence against women and girls addresses the challenges faced by the criminal justice agencies during the pandemic, as well as recommendations for criminal justice actors and the possible support by UNODC. (Read more)

António Guterres (UN Secretary-General) on Gender-Based Violence and COVID-19
New York, April 2020 - Video message by António Guterres (UN Secretary-General) on Gender-Based Violence and COVID-19. (Listen here)

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) from a gender perspective: Tunisia's post COVID-19 Priorities

Tunis, Tunisia 27 August 2020 - The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted by world leaders in 2015, embody a roadmap for progress that is sustainable and leaves no one behind. Achieving gender equality and women's empowerment is integral to each of the 17 goals. Through this vision, the Tunisian Ministry of Women, Family, Children, and Elderly Affairs organised the international forum "Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) from a gender perspective: Tunisia's post-COVID-19 priorities" in Tunis, Tunisia. (Read more)

The Gendered Face of COVID-19: Women and Access to Justice
Jarpa Dawuni - Women bear a disproportionate brunt of health cises, environmental disasters and gender-based violence. Unfortunately, the COVID-19 global pandemic could follow this pattern - having devastating implications for women's access to justice. What are courts and governments doing to adress these challenges? (Read more)

The Judiciary is Not Immune from Bullying and Sexual Harassment
June 2020 - Three years since the #MeToo movement began, more and more people are speaking about harassment and abuse. The legal profession is at the forefront of this evolving movement, inherently tasked with determining the scope of law as it relates to bullying and sexual harassment. (Read more)

"Society may judge what we did, but it cannot judge what we will become": Providing a new chance to female prisoners in Indonesia
Jakarta, Indonesia 11 March 2020 - This week in Indonesia, a new project was opened in the Semarang Female Correction Facility, situated about 400km's east of the capital, Jakarta. Aimed at transferring knowledge around the ancient technique of batik dyeing, the idea is to train inmates, with commercially viable skills that they can use post-release. (Read more)

Training on Investigation into Gender and Child Related Crimes under Advanced Terrorism Investigation Course
20 - 22 January 2020, Peshawar. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), under the framework of its PACT Project, successfully conducted a three-days training on 'Investigation into Gender and Child Related Cases', from 20 - 22 January 2020 [Read more]

Adressing violence against women and girls in Ethiopia
Addis Ababa, 12 January 2020 - Despite some progress, violence against women and girls is still a serious problem in Ethiopia and one which is fuelled by persistent gender-biased attitudes and practices. (Read more)

Gender at the Core of the 7th Maritime Law Enforcement Dialogue (MLED) in Southeast Asia
10 January 2020 - Phu Quoc, Vietnam - 10 maritime law enforcement practitioners from Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam, together with 6 international gender experts and contributors, attended the special session to the 7 ^th Maritime Law Enforcement Dialogue (MLED) in Southeast Asia, titled "Women in Maritime Law Enforcement" (WMLE) on 28-29 November 2019. (Read more)

News Archive

Older news articles from the Gender Network (2015-2019) can be found in our News Archive:

News Archive (2015-2019)