“Light the Dark” exhibition shines a spotlight on violence against women

Date: Friday, December 3, 2021

Visitors are watching the art installation named “A Killjoy” by artist Esra Koruç. Photo: Ender Baykuş / UN Women Drawing attention to violence against women, the “Light the Dark” art exhibition kicked off at Yoğurtçu Park, Kadıköy on 27 November 2021 with the participation of Ekrem İmamoğlu, the Mayor of the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality; Eleftheria Pertzinidou, the Minister Counsellor and Deputy Head of the European Union Delegation to...

Press Release: Regional actors channel creative approaches to shape policy advocacy on ending violence against women in the Western Balkans and Turkey

Date: Friday, December 3, 2021

2 December 2021 – More than 150 participants, including representatives of civil society, regional institutions and government officials, joined forces in a unique event channeling creativity to shape policy advocacy to advance the agenda on ending violence against women in the Western Balkans and Turkey. The Third Regional Forum “Inclusive Partnerships, Integrated Policies,” which took place on 1–2 December, was the third edition of the region’s first and only...

I am Generation Equality: Amiran Karatsev, advocate for women’s rights and feminism

Date: Thursday, December 2, 2021

Amiran Karatsev is an 18-year-old activist from Tajikistan, currently living and studying Sociology and Psychology in Moscow. For the past four years he has been active in promoting women's and girls' rights and talking about feminism. He fights gender stereotypes in Tajikistan through social media and public speeches.

Call for Proposals: Community mobilization on gender equality and prevention of violence against women and girls

Date: Wednesday, December 1, 2021

Mapping of community‘s gender social norms and their bearers; Mobilize Communities based on Gender Action Learning System (GALS) methodology, incl. TOT, formation of women’s groups; a participatory gender assessment and mobilization process that supports women to recognize and prevent violence against women and girls (VAWG), redistribute care work and dedicate more time to paid economic activity; Conduct community-driven grassroots activities on (1) care work recognition and redistribution, and on (2) prevention VAWG; Host Public Fairs for communities on the women’s rights in migration context; Support the networking of women activists by means of exchange visits of the district CSOs to CSOs and development partners in Dushanbe (Days-of-Open Doors).

In the words of Natalia Kalyuzhna: “Women began to talk loudly about the violence”

Date: Tuesday, November 30, 2021

Natalia Kalyuzhna is a Police Captain and Head of the Counteracting Gender-based Violence Unit at the Main Directorate of the National Police in Sievierodonetsk, a city in the conflict-affected eastern part of Ukraine. She applies innovative approaches to address the needs of violence survivors and women at risk.

UN Women kicks off #RaiseYourVoice to end violence against women

Date: Friday, November 26, 2021

Under the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence campaign, UN Women urges everyone to take a stand when they witness violence against women and girls. The #RaiseYourVoice (#KayıtsızKalmayın) campaign informs people what to do when they witness violence at https://fireflies.digital/. The platform invites visitors to join the online solidarity movement by recording voice messages and sharing them on social media.

Believe Survivors. Act Now. Sara Gashi’s Story, Kosovo

Date: Thursday, November 25, 2021

Only 1 in 10 women survivors of violence seek help from police, globally. But even those who do often withdraw from the justice process due to poor responses from police or other judicial actors. Women’s access to justice starts with believing survivors and taking action, every day. Through this special editorial series for the 16 Days of Activism, UN Women showcases the voices of survivors and programmes that transform lives and communities.

Take Five: “We must raise awareness, to change society’s attitudes towards violence against women and to prevent such crimes”

Date: Monday, November 22, 2021

Natia Merebashvili is the Deputy Prosecutor General of Georgia. She has accompanied a number of improvements to the way the Prosecutor’s Office of Georgia handles violence against women (VAW) cases, with support from UN Women and with generous funding from the Governments of Norway and Sweden.

Press release: UN Women launches its Awake Not Sleeping initiative reimagining fairy tales to promote gender equality

Date: Thursday, November 18, 2021

UN Women’s Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia launches its new creative writing initiative, "Awake Not Sleeping: Reimagining fairy tales for a new generation", which aims to change the way societies think about women's and girls’ roles, human potential and rights by rewriting and reimagining fairy tales.

Take Five: “It was my job to scream for the victims!”

Date: Monday, November 15, 2021

Ivana Mastilović Jasnić, a journalist from the daily Serbian newspaper “Blic”, was the first to report the sexual harassment of Marija Lukić by her employer, former mayor of the Serbian municipality of Brus, Milutin Jeličić Jutka. She also broke the story of rape and sexual harassment accusations by actress Milena Radulović and others against their acting instructor, Miroslav Aleksić.

Call for Proposals to support the establishment of a regional funding mechanism for the Central Asia women’s movement.

Date: Friday, November 12, 2021

Spotlight Initiative regional programme for Central Asia and Afghanistan will identify potential Responsible Parties that will build capacity of a CSO on requirements for grant-making procedures and provide technical support to develop strategies for resource mobilization and use of alternative funding mechanisms.

From Where I Stand: “When we do not give up, when women support each other, we can always succeed” says Hive director

Date: Wednesday, November 10, 2021

Blerta Basholli is a filmmaker whose feature film “Hive”, a Sundance Festival triple winner, is now Kosovo official entry for the Oscars’ international feature category. Hive follows the true story of a woman from Kosovo who breaks barriers to become a successful entrepreneur. After her husband went missing during the armed conflict of the 1990s, she and other women widows from the village of Krusha established a cooperative to produce and sell the pepper-based condiment ajvar, and other local food products. Despite the hardships they experienced, they continued to support their families and contributed to post-conflict recovery and peacebuilding efforts in their community. Today, this cooperative has a large market base and even exports internationally. UN Women spoke to Basholli about why she brought this inspiring story to screens around the world.

Call for Proposal: Improving quality, access and utilization of services on response to gender-based violence (GBV) for women and girls with disabilities (WGWD) in 6 target districts (under the Spotlight Initiative)

Date: Friday, November 5, 2021

The objective is to increase the capacity and resources of medical forensic services and 6 relevant CSOs to deliver higher quality and more coordinated essential services and access to justice to WGWD - survivors of violence, especially those facing multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination. This will be supported by increased access to information to women and girls’ survivors of violence and their families regarding access to quality essential services.

I am Generation Equality: Gresa Hasa, feminist activist

Date: Thursday, November 4, 2021

Gresa Hasa is the co-founder and editor in chief of ‘“Shota’” magazine, the first progressive feminist magazine in Albania. She is a strong advocate for women’s rights and has long been on the frontlines of the feminist and student movements in the country.

International Day of the Girl Child conference in Turkey puts a spotlight on girls as future leaders in the digital era

Date: Thursday, November 4, 2021

How do you empower girls and support their leadership in the digital world? This was the focus of the Seventh International Day of the Girl Child Conference, organized by UN Women, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in Turkey, in partnership with the Aydın Doğan Foundation.

I am Generation Equality: Jasmina Zahirović

Date: Wednesday, November 3, 2021

Jasmina Zahirović is a 20-year-old IT student from Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina. She has been a member of the IT Girls, a joint initiative of UNDP, UNICEF, and UN Women, from Bosnia and Herzegovina since the initiative's establishment.

MediaForShe Congress kicks-off a dialogue on gender equality with the media in Ukraine

Date: Tuesday, October 26, 2021

UN Women’s global movement for gender equality, HeForShe, in partnership with StarLightMedia group, launches a dialogue on gender equality with Ukrainian media. MediaForShe Congress is an event where Ukrainian media will talk about changing approaches to women's representation in the media and the creation of non-discriminatory content.

Turkish Women Olympians Make History

Date: Tuesday, October 19, 2021

More sports women represented Turkey at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics than any other previous Games, and they took home five of the 13 medals won for the country, sparking much excitement and pride back home. Fifty sportswomen along with 58 sportsmen from Turkey competed in the Tokyo Olympics. Even so, the Tokyo Olympics were not Turkey’s most gender-balanced Games. Sixty-six women athletes joined 48 men at the London Olympics in 2012, which was an impressive milestone achieved in Turkey’s Olympics history.

Onwards and upwards for gender equality in conflict-affected eastern Ukraine

Date: Tuesday, October 19, 2021

UN Women launched the second phase of the “Building democratic, peaceful and gender equal society in Ukraine – Phase II” (2021-2024) project in eastern Ukraine, which aims to empower women in playing a leading role in peace and security processes in the region. As part of the launch, UN Women Country Representative for Ukraine, Erika Kvapilova, held key meetings in Zaporizhzhia, a conflict-affected city in eastern Ukraine, with local women’s groups and government partners to discuss progress made towards gender equality and the necessary next steps.

Op-ed: What does energy poverty mean for women?

Date: Monday, October 18, 2021

Zora Dimitrijevic used to have to use at least two carts of wood to heat her home in the village of Dubona, near Belgrade, but it was still cold. She recently recycled her old stove and used the savings to buy a new one that heats up better, makes coffee faster, creates less smoke and consumes less wood. The new stove has also saved Zora significant physical work and time previously spent on providing heat.