As UN Member States and civil society groups prepare to mark the twenty-third anniversary of Security Council resolution 1325 on women, peace, and security, the world is in crisis. 

In our new joint report, UN Women and UNDP have proposed the Women's Empowerment Index (WEI) and the Global Gender Parity Index (GGPI) as twin indices for measuring the human development of women and girls. Taken together, these two indices offer a comprehensive picture of women’s empowerment and gender equality.

Alison Davidian, Deputy Representative for UN Women in Afghanistan, breaks down what women in Afghanistan need most right now, what UN Women is doing for women in the country, and how the international community can support Afghan women now.

Despite the COVID-19 crisis, members of the women-led Cooperative Tudert continue harvesting aromatic and medicinal herbs while respecting physical distancing and other prevention measures to stop the spread of the virus.

Susan Ferguson is the UN Women Representative for India. Ms. Ferguson joined UN Women in 2017, after a long career in international development. She has lived and worked in South Africa, Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea, and has experience working in grass-roots development agencies; establishing and managing social services; working within Local, State and Federal Government in Australia on social policy and social programmes.

Constanza Tabbush, a Research Specialist at UN Women who has published extensively on gender, social movements and social policy, breaks down five key lessons emerging from the COVID-19 Global Gender Response Tracker, which includes more than 2,500 policy measures across 206 countries indicating how governments are responding to the pandemic from a gender equality perspective.

Laura Turquet is a Policy Advisor at UN Women, where she leads the organisation’s flagship report, Progress of the World’s Women. For the past decade, she has worked at UN Women leading major research and data initiatives that inform the organization’s advocacy objectives and empower civil society and governments to seek and implement change. She is also a co-founder of the UN Feminist Network.

Antra Bhatt is a Statistics Specialist with UN Women’s Research and Data Team. Prior to joining UN Women, she was a researcher at Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, India. She holds a PhD in International Development from the University of Rome –‘Tor Vergata’, Italy and a Master’s degree in Public Policy from the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy.

Iris Bjorg Kristjansdottir is a Gender and Humanitarian Specialist at the UN Women Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia based in Turkey. She has over 15 years of experience in migration policy and refugee response, working with the United Nations, the Government of Iceland, the local government in Reykjavik and with non-governmental organizations. Prior to joining UN Women, she served as a Senior Advisor on Migration for the Ministry of Justice in Iceland.

Hanny Cueva, Regional Advisor on Governance, Peace and Security at UN Women Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, discusses women's role in preventing the spread of violent extremism in communities.

Elena Ratoi is the Manager for the UN Women component of the “Women in Politics” UN Programme. She joined UN Women team in Moldova in 2014 to work on advancing women`s political participation in politics and decision-making processes.

A.H. Monjurul Kabir, Chief of Asia-Pacific & Least Developed Countries Section with UN Women, is currently leading UN Women’s global engagements and portfolio on South-South and Triangular Cooperation.

Agustela Nini-Pavli is a Project Analyst at the UN Women office in Albania, focusing on efforts to end violence against women and girls as part of the regional ‘Implementing Norms, Changing Minds’ programme. She is a human rights lawyer with extensive experience in the integration of human rights, including women’s rights, in development programming.

Dilruba Haider is a Programme Specialist on Disaster Risk Reduction, Climate Change and Humanitarian Actions, with UN Women Bangladesh Country Office. Prior to joining UN Women, Ms. Haider worked with UNDP, DFID and local non-profit organizations in Bangladesh. During her 24-year career in this field, Ms. Haider’s work has spanned shaping and influencing policies, as well as working with grassroots women in disaster-prone areas.

Pablo Castillo Díaz is a Policy Specialist at UN Women, focusing on efforts to prevent and respond to sexual and gender-based violence in conflict, post-conflict, and emergency settings.

Subhalakshmi Nandi leads the women's economic empowerment portfolio at UN Women’s Multi Country Office for India, Bhutan, Maldives and Sri Lanka. She is a feminist development professional, with 15 years’ experience in the UN and with civil society organizations, and has worked on diverse issues of gender equality and women’s rights. Her work involves research, policy advocacy and programme management, with a focus on empowering the most marginalised rural communities of South Asia.

The United Nations undertook three separate reviews on peace and security last year—on peace operations, the UN’s peacebuilding architecture and on fifteen years of women, peace and security. I had the privilege of heading the review on women, peace and security, which concluded with the “Global Study on the Implementation of United Nations Security Council resolution 1325 (2000)”, authored by Radhika Coomaraswamy. The study drew upon global consultations and new research and emerged with one key finding—women’s meaningful participation is the most important and overlooked ingredient for sustainable peace.

Anthony Ngororano, Programme Advisor and Head of the Africa Section at UN Women Headquarters who is currently serving as Representative a.i. UN Women Haiti, writes about how all of Haiti can benefit from including women and women's needs in the humanitarian response in Haiti.

A Policy Specialist for UN Women’s Peace and Security Division since 2010, Sarah Douglas is currently on a one-year secondment as the Gender Advisor for the UN Peacebuilding Support Office. Prior to joining UN Women, she worked for the UN Mission in Sudan and UNDP Sudan, as well as for UNIFEM’s Peace and Security Section in New York from 2003 to 2006. She holds a Master’s degree in Gender and Development from the London School of Economics.

Hiba Qasas, Programme Advisor and Head of UN Women’s Arab States Section, details UN Women’s efforts to help unify Syrian women’s groups around a common agenda and amplify their voices and representation in peace negotiations.