Women survivors of violence in Georgia continue to face barriers in accessing essential services, and UN Women, together with its partners, is working to expand a nationwide network of crisis centres offering legal assistance, psychological counselling, social workers’ support and vital information to help survivors break the cycle of violence. To date, nine crisis centres have been opened across the country, improving access to justice and support for survivors.

Azerconnect Group is driving gender equality in Azerbaijan’s ICT sector. Since joining the UN’s Women’s Empowerment Principles in 2021, the company has introduced inclusive policies like hybrid work for new mothers, switched to “parental” leave, and now offers paid paternity leave.

Women are behind much of the food production in Bosnia and Herzegovina. An estimated 60-80 per cent of food on the tables in Bosnia and Herzegovina goes through their hands, yet much of their work remains invisible and undervalued. To address this gap, UN Women partnered with several institutions in the country from late 2022 to 2026 to integrate gender criteria into public agricultural grant programmes, ensuring rural women farmers have equitable access to economic and environmental justice.

Istanbul, 6 March 2026 – Ahead of 8 March 2026, International Women’s Day, UN Women issues a global alert: justice systems meant to uphold rights and the rule of law are failing women and girls everywhere. Globally, women hold only 64 per cent of the legal rights of men, and in the Europe and Central Asia region, they hold just 75 per cent, leaving them vulnerable to discrimination, violence, and exclusion at every stage of their lives.

Albania is taking an important step toward building a justice system that protects women and their children from domestic violence. A newly adopted law now requires courts to automatically include children in protection orders, meaning no child can be left behind simply because they were not named in the original complaint.

On the eve of the 70th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW70), over 120 representatives from justice institutions and gender equality bodies across Eastern Europe, the Southern Caucasus, the Western Balkans, and Türkiye gathered to take stock and accelerate action so women and girls can fully access justice across the region.

International Women’s Day 2026 arrives at a pivotal moment, as justice systems worldwide face mounting pressures from conflict, repression, and political unrest—threatening the rights and access to justice for millions of women and girls. This year’s global theme, “Rights. Justice. Action. For ALL Women and Girls,” echoes the aims of the 70th Commission on the Status of Women (CSW70), highlighting the urgent need to dismantle discriminatory laws, bolster legal protections, and break down barriers that restrict real justice. Now is the time to ensure justice systems truly serve women and girls, turning rights into meaningful action.

Since autumn 2025, prolonged power outages have once again become part of everyday life in many Ukrainian cities and rural communities. In early 2026, the situation deteriorated further. January began with extreme cold and the Russian Armed Forces’ largest attacks on critical energy infrastructure, resulting in nationwide blackouts.

Four years have passed since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022. Daily life is a struggle to survive and tackle economic insecurity, power outages during brutal winters, constant security risks, and displacement. But this is only half the story. The other half is about remarkable resilience, courage, and determination of Ukrainian women who have led the war response from day one. They've distributed aid to those most in need, kept food on tables and businesses running, fought on the front lines, held communities together, cared for the sick, and kept essential services operating. Yet today, Ukrainian women and women-led organizations need our support more than ever to keep going and to continue the critical work they do.

Following Russia's full-scale invasion, Ukraine has become one of the most heavily mined nations, with over one-fifth of its land—about 139,000 km²—potentially contaminated. Humanitarian demining is vital for protecting lives, supporting displaced families to return home, restoring farmlands, and driving economic recovery. Yet, this sector faces a critical shortage of skilled personnel. While women now comprise roughly a third of Ukraine's humanitarian demining workforce—triple the number in 2021—only 12 per cent are actively engaged in field operations. As the conflict approaches its fourth year, meet three remarkable women for whom mine action is more than just a job; it's a mission to foster peace and security for communities nationwide.

New York, 20 February 2026 - Four years into the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, more than 5,000 women and girls have been killed and 14,000 injured, with 2025 being the deadliest year yet – and the real toll likely far higher. As the war intensifies and energy attacks cripple daily life, a third crisis is tightening its grip on women and girls: collapsing funding for women-led and women’s rights organizations, the very lifeline keeping women and girls alive, protected and supported.

February 2026 marks four years of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Four years of devastating war, with thousands killed, millions of women and families displaced from their homes and millions more living without essential utilities – heating, electricity, water – and with reduced access to healthcare, education, and employment.

To commemorate the International Day of Women and Girls in Science on 11 February, we spoke with Tamuna Kvintradze, Chief of Staff at Women in Tech Global. Ms. Kvintradze offered valuable insights into the barriers that women and girls encounter in STEM, highlighted the critical importance of their participation, and underscored the need to amplify their perspectives within mainstream and social media.

Astana, 28 January 2026. UN Women’s Central Asia Liaison Office and the UN Women Country Office in Kazakhstan hosted the roundtable “Advancing Partnerships for Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment in Central Asia”, convening international partners. The event built on the political momentum generated by the Astana High Level Meeting marking the 30th anniversary of the Beijing Platform for Action in February 2025. It was co organized with the Embassy of France in Kazakhstan and focused on strengthening coordination and strategic engagement across the region.

In 2025, the Europe and Central Asia (ECA) region marked the 25th anniversary of United Nations Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1325 on Women, Peace and Security (WPS), alongside the 10th anniversary of the Youth, Peace and Security (YPS) agenda. Across the region, governments, civil society organizations (CSOs), youth leaders, academic and cultural institutions, security actors and international partners came together to reaffirm a shared understanding: sustainable peace is impossible without women’s leadership and meaningful participation.

In Skopje, the capital of North Macedonia, a 25-year-old activist is reshaping how her generation understands peace, justice, and equality. Born in 2000 — the same year the UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security (WPS) was adopted — Teodora Mileska belongs to a generation that grew up amid uncertainty, yet refuses to treat instability as inevitable.

Since December 2023, more than 6,500 women and girls affected by the February 6 earthquakes in Türkiye have found safe spaces, support, and empowerment opportunities through the Women’s Life Centres established in Hatay and Adana regions. Founded by the Association for Women’s Freedom and Equality (KÖVED), based in Adana, in collaboration with the Women’s Coalition and with the support of UN Women, these Centres have become a vital part of the recovery process and reaffirmed, once again, the critical role women’s organizations play in humanitarian response.

Born in 2000, the year the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 1325, Ana Šego is a law student from the small village of Bijakovići in southern Bosnia and Herzegovina. A single day never seems to hold enough hours for everything she does or plans to do, yet she is always reaching for more: more education, more engagement and more opportunities to make her local community a better place to live.

Madina Jarbussynova is a distinguished Kazakhstani diplomat who was elected to the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) in June 2024. Having held senior government and diplomatic posts in Kazakhstan, including Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador-at-Large, and Permanent Representative to the United Nations, her election marked the first time a representative from Kazakhstan and Central Asia has joined this key UN body. In this interview, she shares her reflections on the process and the way forward once the recommendation is adopted.

A four‑day Leadership Training for Female Officers in the Defence Sector was held from 19-22 January 2026 in Astana, Kazakhstan to strengthen leadership competencies and advance gender equality within the defence institutions of the Republic of Kazakhstan and brought together 23 officers of the Ministry of Defence, ranging in rank from major to colonel, reflecting strong institutional commitment to developing women’s leadership in the sector.