Did you watch the game? That is a question many people were asking in taxis and on the streets around the world. What they were really asking was, “Did you watch the Women’s World Cup?” The fact that it was just “the game” speaks volumes about just how far this World Cup has come in normalising women’s sports and, by extension, women’s rights. When two billion people watch women play at this world-class level, it changes the way people perceive women’s capabilities and fuels the dreams and confidence of girls who see themselves going for goals too. Previous Next ..read more

The Asia Pacific Cities Summit (2023APCS) and Mayors’ Forum is set to return to Brisbane from 11 – 13 October 2023, bringing together worldwide leaders and innovative speakers to share ground-breaking ideas and unlock new opportunities for cities. Founded in 1996, the APCS has become the signature event for those at the forefront of cities and is amongst the largest and most diverse gatherings of mayors and delegates from across the region. Over three days, more than 1000 city leaders and urban leaders and innovators, including mayors, policymakers, business and industry leaders, leading acad ..read more

UN Women partnered with Mona Chalabi to illustrate the scope and the severity of the restrictions on women and girls’ access to public space and public life in Afghanistan. In international treaties this is referred to as “freedom of movement”. Together, these illustrations show the sheer speed at which progress on gender equality can vanish, and then reverse in a matter of months, while the world watches. There are social movements that shake the world. The Afghan women’s rights movement is one of them. Afghan women’s fight for freedom and equality spans generations. Their most fierce ba ..read more

It is now two years since the Taliban took control of Afghanistan, during which time it has imposed the most comprehensive, systematic, and unparalleled assault on the rights of women and girls. Through more than 50 edicts, orders, and restrictions, the Taliban have left no aspect of women’s lives untouched, no freedom spared. They have created a system founded on the mass oppression of women that is rightly and widely considered gender apartheid. UN Women’s work in Afghanistan is anchored in our relationship with Afghan women. I have repeatedly heard directly from them, including during ..read more

Hira* is a former public servant in Kunar, Afghanistan. Photo: UN Women/Habib Sayed Bidell I grew up in an educated but conservative family. My family had a good economic status, so women’s work was not seen as valuable. According to my family, only women with an economic need should work. Before the Taliban takeover, although I didn’t have that much freedom, civic freedoms were respected, and I secretly participated in charitable and civic activities. I wanted to be a useful person in my community, and I had just convinced my family to respect my freedom, so the atmosphere within ..read more

Arefa* is a teacher and midwife in Farah, Afghanistan. Photo: UN Women/Habib Sayed Bidell Before 15 August [2021], I worked as teacher and a midwife in various public and private hospitals. After the fall of Kabul, I became unemployed because it was not possible to work with the restrictions imposed by the Taliban. But during these nearly two years, I have directly and indirectly tried to fight for the rights of Afghan women and girls. I raised my voice against the policies of the Taliban to save Afghan women from this crisis. I have been subjected to physical violence and threats many times ..read more

Ghotai* is a computer science student in Baghlan, Afghanistan. Photo: UN Women/Habib Sayed Bidell One week before the Taliban takeover, I received my admission to university with a full scholarship to study my bachelor’s degree in information technology and computer science. I was delighted and hopeful about my future. I was very excited to go to the university campus, study with classmates, and make the best memories of my life there. However, the Taliban ruined everything I had hoped for. I started to apply for scholarships from other countries and universities, and finally, I was admitted ..read more

Adela* is a teacher and protester in Kabul, Afghanistan. Photo: UN Women/Habib Sayed Bidell Before August 2021, I was a teacher. After August 2021, I tasted the bitter taste of being a woman in a traditional patriarchal society, and I participated with other women in a self-organised May protest against the Taliban regime in Afghanistan. When the Taliban took control last August and returned to power for the second time. I was afraid we would go back to the past. I was afraid of the closing of girls’ schools by the Taliban, of their preventing women from working, and of their stoning women i ..read more

On 15 August 2021, everything changed for women and girls in Afghanistan. First came the curbs on girls’ education and women’s right to work, then the enforcement of strict dress codes and impositions on women’s freedom of movement and access to public life. Two years after their takeover of Afghanistan, through more than 50 edicts, orders, and restrictions, the Taliban have systematically imposed a set of meticulously constructed policies of inequality that impact every part of a woman’s life, that regulate where a woman can go and how she should dress. Since day one, the Taliban’s syst ..read more

As the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 kicks off today, UN Women Australia and UN Women Aotearoa New Zealand are joining forces with FIFA to Unite the World for Gender Equality and Ending Violence Against Women. The UN Women and FIFA collaboration will be showcased at selected matches via team optional captains’ armbands, pitch side digital LED boards, flags on the pitch, and giant screens in stadiums, and via social media. “This is an historic opportunity to draw the world’s attention to critical issues facing women on and off the pitch,” said Simone Clarke CEO UN Women Australia. “We know that ..read more