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Meet Alma Gladys, a beneficiary of the Rural Employment Services Model under the PROSPECTS project which is implemented in partnership with AVSI Foundation.

A new of Afghanistan’s economy demonstrates that without continuity for girls’ education and women’s ability to work, prospects for the country’s recovery will remain grim. 

celebrates the “can do” attitude of women inventors, creators, and entrepreneurs around the world – and their ground-breaking work and ingenuity that transform our world. 

To help bridge the gender digital divide, the created the (27 April) to encourage and inspire girls to pursue a future in information and communication technologies. By acquiring the necessary digital skills, young women can also aim for careers in science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and other STEM fields in order to achieve their dreams. From coding to a hackathon, the global celebration, will include a series of events available on the . !

Just a few months ago, a women’s business centre supporting female traders, was bustling with people. Today, it’s silent. plans to distribute tablets to conduct online teaching.

Around the world, patriarchal systems of power have long reinforced norms and ideas that drive gender inequality and its devastating manifestations, including gender-based violence. These issues impact millions of women and girls every year; in fact, one third of women globally have experienced intimate partner violence, non-partner sexual violence or both. Amid these challenges, and Palestine’s Ministry of Health launched a new programme to educate midwives, obstetricians, doctors, and others on how to care for patients who have experienced sexual violence. 

Malika Machalikashvili’s farm in Georgia was once pretty traditional Today she sells her produce using a smartphone. For the last three years, Malika has been attending trainings, which teach smallholder farmers about better agricultural practices. These platforms have also proved very useful for teaching rural men and women about gender equality, gender-based violence and women’s economic empowerment. These trainings help smallholder women farmers feel empowered to stand up for their rights, grow their businesses and implement successful economic initiatives.

Digital technology and artificial intelligence present important challenges to equality in the workplace and in society. As workplaces transition towards a digital future, we are already seeing that existing are being reproduced in the digital realm.

In the first of our podcast mini-series on artificial intelligence and the world of work - and to mark International Women’s Day, Dr. Orly Lobel explores the important role digital technologies can play in creating a brighter and more inclusive future of work, and some of the surprising ways they are already being used in workplaces today together with 's Anders Johnsson. 

Photo: WOCinTech/Unsplash

’s online courses in least developed countries (LDCs) benefit from trade.

The IAEA its new professional development programme to boost women’s careers in the nuclear field: the

As the world steps forward to curb climate change and nature loss, finding solutions that work is vital. Our collective destination will not be reached without women’s equal participation and leadership. is thwarting stereotypes, expanding opportunities, and implementing solutions. In from , you can read about , a community ranger working to  and help stamp out crime in Indonesia; , who joined previously male-dominated professions becoming a ranger to protect black-necked cranes in China; , who is working to redefine how medicinal herbs are cultivated and preserved in Viet Nam; and , who is weaving a better future in India.

International Women’s Day recognizes the critical contributions of women human rights defenders and feminist movements, who use the transformative power of digital technology to connect, mobilize, and drive social change, while fighting against the persistent pushback of women’s rights. The digital world offers immense opportunities, but it isn’t immune to the persistent backlash against women’s rights and gender equality including gender-based violence and digital exclusion. “International Women’s Day reminds us of the patriarchal power dynamics, old and new, that hold our world back from fulfilling the rights of all women and girls,” UN Volker Türk, "The digital space has yet to undergo a much-needed feminist revolution – and it must."

Today women make up under a third of the workforce in science, technology, engineering, and maths (STEM). When women are under-represented in developing new technologies, discrimination may be baked in from the start. This International Women’s Day (8 March) with the theme “,” recognizes the women and girls championing transformative technologies and digital education. The observance explores the impact of the digital gender gap on widening inequalities and the importance of protecting women’s rights in digital spaces. .

Emerging technologies and digital access can greatly improve the well-being, education, health, and livelihoods of women and girls. However, a significant digital gender gap remains, limiting the equitable benefits of digital transformation. The – an intergovernmental body dedicated to gender equality and women’s empowerment – will address this problem in its (6-17 March). The group will revisit the gendered impacts of innovation and identify recommendations for a more inclusive and equitable digital evolution.

is one of the lucky ones. She managed to escape from Afghanistan in August 2021, just as the Taliban overran the country’s capital. Today, while the 20-year-old engineering student pursues a degree in the US, her former classmates back home have been banned from the classroom.

In support of this week’s  conference in Geneva and its call for learning support in emergencies, Somaya has been speaking to UN News’s Daniel Johnson.

Photo: © Courtesy of Somaya Faruqi