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	Women and girls bear brunt of water and sanitation crisis by UNICEF, World Health Organization   July 2023   Globally, women are most likely to be responsible for fetching water for households, while girls are nearly twice as likely as boys to bear the responsibility, and spend more time doing it each day, according to a new report released today by UNICEF and the World Health Organization (WHO).   Progress on household drinking water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) 2000-2022: Special focus on gender – which provides the first in-depth analysis of gender inequalities in WASH – also notes that women and girls are more likely to feel unsafe using a toilet outside of the home and disproportionately feel the impact of lack of hygiene.   "Every step a girl takes to collect water is a step away from learning, play, and safety," said Cecilia Sharp, UNICEF Director of WASH. "Unsafe water, toilets, and handwashing at home robs girls of their potential, compromises their well-being, and perpetuates cycles of poverty. Responding to girls' needs in the design and implementation of WASH programmes is critical to reaching universal access to water and sanitation and achieving gender equality and empowerment."   According to the report, globally, 1.8 billion people live in households without water supplies on the premises. Women and girls aged 15 and older are primarily responsible for water collection in 7 out of 10 such households, compared with 3 in 10 households for their male peers. Girls under 15 (7 per cent) are also more likely than boys under 15 (4 per cent) to fetch water.   In most cases, women and girls make longer journeys to collect it, losing time in education, work, and leisure, and putting themselves at risk of physical injury and dangers on the way.   The report also shows that more than half a billion people still share sanitation facilities with other households, compromising women's and girls' privacy, dignity, and safety.   For example, recent surveys from 22 countries show that among households with shared toilets, women and girls are more likely than men and boys to feel unsafe walking alone at night and face sexual harassment and other safety risks.   Inadequate WASH services increase health risks for women and girls and limit their ability to safely and privately manage their periods.   Among 51 countries with available data, women and adolescent girls in the poorest households and those with disabilities are the most likely to lack a private place to wash and change.   "The latest data from WHO shows a stark reality: 1.4 million lives are lost each year due to inadequate water, sanitation and hygiene," said Dr Maria Neira, WHO Director, Environment, Climate Change and Health Department.   "Women and girls not only face WASH-related infectious diseases, like diarrhoea and acute respiratory infections, they face additional health risks because they are vulnerable to harassment, violence, and injury when they have to go outside the home to haul water or just to use the toilet."   The findings go on to show that a lack of access to hygiene also disproportionately affects women and girls. In many countries, women and girls are primarily responsible for domestic chores and caring for others – including cleaning, preparing food, and looking after the sick – which likely exposes them to diseases and other risks to their health without the protection of handwashing.   Additional time spent on domestic chores can also limit girls' chances of completing secondary school and gaining employment.   Today, around 2.2 billion people – or 1 in 4 – still lack safely managed drinking water at home and 3.5 billion people – or 2 in 5 – do not have safely managed sanitation. Around 2 billion people – or 1 in 4 – cannot wash their hands with soap and water at home.   The report notes some progress towards achieving universal access to WASH. Between 2015 and 2022, household access to safely managed drinking water increased from 69 to 73 per cent; safely managed sanitation increased from 49 to 57 per cent; and basic hygiene services increased from 67 to 75 per cent.   But achieving the Sustainable Development Goal target for universal access to safely managed drinking water, sanitation, and basic hygiene services by 2030 will require a six-fold increase in current rates of progress for safely managed drinking water, a five-fold increase for safely managed sanitation, and a three-fold increase for basic hygiene servi   Further efforts are needed to ensure that progress on WASH contributes towards gender equality, including integrated gender considerations in WASH programmes and policies and disaggregated data collection and analysis, to inform targeted interventions that address the specific needs of women and girls and other vulnerable groups.   http://www.unicef.org/press-releases/women-and-girls-bear-brunt-water-and-sanitation-crisis-new-unicef-who-report Visit the related web page
	Women and girls are disproportionately represented among the world’s poor by OHCHR, Inter-Parliamentary Union United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR)   June 2023   The United Nations Working Group on Discrimination against Women and Girls in a new report calls for a Feminist Human Rights-Based Economy to tackle the disproportionate representation of Women and Girls Living in Poverty Globally.   In discussions with State representatives the Working Group was applauded for highlighting the structural inequalities that perpetuated and deepened gender inequalities and threatened the realisation of women’s and girls’ rights to fully enjoy an adequate standard of living and other interrelated economic, social, and cultural rights.   Many shared the Working Group’s concern that women and girls were disproportionately represented among the world’s poor, noting that multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination against this group were still widespread across the globe, resulting in gendered socioeconomic inequality and poverty.   A number of speakers believed the persistence of discriminatory and negative social norms and gender stereotypes affected women and girls across all areas of life, from families to communities, in businesses and in all branches of the public sector, and contributed to maintaining and deepening socioeconomic inequalities.   Women and girls continued to experience structural gender discrimination in both formal and informal employment on the grounds of gender, pregnancy and caring responsibilities. The report highlighted the unequal and inadequate remuneration, precarious employment, lack of union representation, and violence and harassment in the workplace, which were all factors that increased sex- and gender-based inequalities, and entrenched poverty for women and girls.   Dorothy Estrada-Tanck, Chair of the United Nations Working Group on discrimination against women and girls, presenting the report on gendered inequalities of poverty, said that globally, women and girls were disproportionately represented among those living in poverty.   The report demonstrated that poverty and socioeconomic inequality were the result of blatant systemic failures leading to a vicious cycle of exclusion and discrimination.   Women’s and girls’ inequality and poverty were the result of historical and continuing economic policy choices at the global, regional and national levels.   Policy priorities had been developed within patriarchal systems that ignored the specific experiences and rights of girls and women. The COVID-19 crisis had also prompted a re-evaluation of mainstream economic ideologies, including recognition of the central role of care in societies, as well as revaluing the State’s position vis-a-vis the market as an actor in defining and resourcing public policies.   In many jurisdictions, criminal laws were disproportionately applied to women and girls because of their economic or social status, and due to the costs of accessing the formal justice system.   Those particularly affected were women and girls living in poverty seeking reproductive health care and services, including abortion; indigenous, migrant and ethnic minority women and girls; women and girls who were experiencing homelessness; women and girl street vendors; sex workers; and members of sexual minority groups.   Poverty and gender-based violence, including sexual violence and denials of bodily autonomy, interacted in a vicious, mutually reinforcing cycle.   Women and girls facing sexual harassment at work, violence at home or violence on the streets were unable to participate on an equal basis in the labour market, were discriminated against in connection with contributory social security benefits, and were more likely to experience poverty, violence and homelessness in old age.   The report called for a feminist human rights-based economy that enabled and constructed substantive equality, solidarity, and socioeconomic and environmental justice.   The right to be free from poverty could not be realised in isolation from individual and collective rights to substantive equality. The meaningful participation of diverse groups of women and girls in implementing socioeconomic strategies was a core part of this process.   The right to substantive equality also required resource mobilisation and redistribution within and between countries. Wealthy countries need to assist low-income countries in the realisation of economic, social and cultural rights for everyone without discrimination to ensure gender equality, and to cooperate to reduce inequalities between and within nations.   The report includes recommendations to States, international economic institutions and corporations, to negotiate a new human rights-based feminist social consensus.   http://www.ohchr.org/en/news/2023/06/working-group-discrimination-against-women-and-girls-calls-feminist-human-rights-based Access the report: http://tinyurl.com/32y4butr   June 2023   The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and its Optional Protocol: Handbook for Parliamentarians   More than four decades after its adoption, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women remains an essential and ambitious guide for achieving gender equality across the board – from the family and the classroom to executive boards and political leadership roles.   Despite considerable progress since the Convention came into force, no country can yet claim to have fully achieved gender equality. This revised edition of The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and its Optional Protocol: Handbook for Parliamentarians is a joint collaboration undertaken by the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).   Twenty years after the publication of the first edition, this updated edition seeks to provide parliamentarians with detailed and practical guidance, relying on the important recommendations and good practices developed by the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women in translating the Convention into concrete action that addresses all forms of discrimination and gender-based violence against women and girls.   It also builds on the indispensable contribution of parliaments in advancing gender equality as a fundamental element of sustainable development and peace, as well as on the perspectives of civil society and government as key allies to this work.   The handbook aims to highlight the importance of women’s rights and gender equality in overcoming global challenges, from the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change, to armed conflict and displacement, and the rise of authoritarianism. It also reinforces the significance of the Convention as a solid foundation for building a more resilient world and more inclusive societies.   http://www.ohchr.org/en/publications/policy-and-methodological-publications/convention-elimination-all-forms-discrimination   * She Perisited: Gendered disinformation is the spread of deceptive or inaccurate information and images against women political leaders, journalists, and female public figures. Following story lines that draw on misogyny, and gendered stereotypes, the goal of these attacks is to frame female politicians and government officials as inherently untrustworthy, unintelligent, unlikable, or uncontrollable – too emotional to hold office or participate in democratic politics. Building on sexist narratives and characterized by malign intent and coordination, gendered disinformation both distorts the public understanding of women politicians’ track records and discourages women from seeking political careers. The definition and understanding of gendered disinformation are evolving as evidence is gathered about both the role of technology to accentuate hate and bias, and the ways that these tools can be weaponized for malign intent.   http://she-persisted.org/the-problem/ http://she-persisted.org/our-work/research-and-thought-leadership/ http://internews.org/turn-the-mic-around-lucina-di-meco/   June 2023   UN Women, United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and the World Health Organization (WHO) have launched the RESPECT Women website, a new online platform that aims to drive concrete actions – in policies and programmes - to prevent and respond to violence against women and girls.   Preventing and responding to violence against women and girls continues to be a worldwide public health, gender equality and human rights priority. Globally almost 1 in 3 women experience physical and/or sexual violence in their lifetime, mostly by an intimate partner. This is a stark reminder of the scale of gender inequality and discrimination against women.   “Violence against women and girls remains an immense crisis for rights and health for millions of women and girls around the world,” said Dr Pascale Allotey, Director of Sexual and Reproductive Health and Research at WHO. “Governments need to ‘walk the talk’ in investing in evidence-based resources for violence prevention and response, while advancing gender equality. This new platform aims to support this process.”   http://respect-prevent-vaw.org/ http://www.who.int/news/item/17-07-2023-who-addresses-violence-against-women-as-a-gender-equality-and-health-priority   June 2023   Advancing gender equality across Africa. (Equality Now)   On July 11 2003, African heads of state and government representatives gathered in Maputo, Mozambique, to adopt one of the most important legal frameworks for women’s rights the world has ever seen. Twenty years later, the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples; Rights on the Rights of Women –also known as the Maputo Protocol – remains a crucial instrument in recognizing, promoting and safeguarding the fundamental human rights of women and girls across Africa.   To mark the 20th anniversary of the Maputo Protocol and to promote the continued adoption and implementation of its progressive provisions, a landmark report has been prepared by the Solidarity for African Women’s Rights Coalition (SOAWR), Equality Now, and Make Every Woman Count (MEWC), titled 20 Years of the Maputo Protocol: Where are we now?   The report summarizes the progress that has been made in Africa to date toward the ratification, domestication, and implementation of the Maputo Protocol, with a series of detailed case studies illustrating some key achievements and challenges along the way. This evidence is presented alongside recommendations from SOAWR Member Organizations to support States in their continued efforts towards advancing gender equality on the continent.   http://www.equalitynow.org/resource/twenty-years-of-the-maputo-protocol-where-are-we-now/   June 2023   Urgent reform needed to shield women and children from violence during custody battles   Deeply embedded gender bias that pervades family court systems across the globe is placing women and children in situations of immense suffering and violence, a UN expert said today.   “The tendency of family courts to dismiss the history of domestic violence and abuse in custody cases, especially where mothers and/or children have brought forward credible allegations of domestic abuse, including coercive control, physical or sexual abuse is unacceptable,” said Reem Alsalem, UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences in a report to the Human Rights Council in Geneva yesterday.   She said the history of intimate partner violence against women was often neglected and the default rule of shared custody or parental authority appears to prevail in cases of child custody, access, contact and visitation arrangements and decisions.   “When custody decisions are made in favour of the parent who claims to be alienated without sufficiently considering the views of the child, the resilience of the concerned child may be undermined. The child may also continue to be exposed to lasting harm,” Alsalem said.   She also called out the failure of child custody processes to use child sensitive approaches that focus on the best interest of children.   The report underscores that minority women face additional barriers when being charged of using “parental alienation” in part due to increased barriers in accessing justice as well as negative stereotypes.   Alsalem’s report underlines that the use of the unfounded and unscientific concept of parental alienation is highly gendered. While it is invoked against both fathers and mothers, it is predominantly used against mothers.   The consequences of biased custody decisions can be detrimental and irreversible to those concerned leading to a continuum of violence before and after separation, the expert said. Despite these grave consequences “parental alienation’ and related pseudo-concepts are embedded and endorsed in legal systems across jurisdictions, including amongst evaluators tasked with reporting to family courts on the best interest of the child.   Alsalem’s report also provides recommendations for States and other stakeholders to reverse the long-lasting harm done to individuals, families and societies. She urged the international community to bring the human rights dimension of multi-layered violence that many mothers and children are experiencing at the hands of family courts into its collective conscience.   “The protection of women and children from violence, a victim-centered approach, and the best interests of the child, must take precedence over all other criteria when establishing arrangements for custody and visitation rights,” she said.   http://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2023/06/urgent-reforms-needed-protect-women-and-children-violence-custody-battles-un Visit the related web page
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