The United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women

The United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, commonly known as UN Women, was established in 2010 by the UN General Assembly to accelerate progress on meeting the needs of women and girls worldwide. Its creation was part of the UN’s broader efforts to promote gender equality by consolidating and strengthening the work previously carried out by four distinct UN bodies.

UN Women was formed to address persistent gaps in representation, protection, and empowerment for women across political, social, and economic spheres. The committee works closely with governments, civil society, and other UN agencies to develop policies, set global standards, and coordinate efforts that promote gender equality and the protection of women’s rights.

Today, UN Women serves as a leading body that advocates for the inclusion of women in leadership, combats gender-based violence, promotes economic empowerment, and ensures that gender perspectives are fully integrated into international development, humanitarian efforts, and peacebuilding. Representatives from all 193 UN member states gather in committee sessions to discuss emerging issues, evaluate progress, and recommend policy frameworks that support the agency’s mandate.

The term “care drain” refers to the migration of women, often from the Global South, who leave their home countries to work as caregivers (such as nannies, domestic workers, nurses, and elder care providers) in wealthier nations. While these women play a critical role in supporting families and social systems abroad, their absence creates economic, emotional and social gaps at home revealing deeper inequalities in global labour markets, migration systems, and gender expectations.

With aging populations in the Global North and rising demands for full-time childcare and domestic help, the demand for migrant care workers has increased dramatically. Many women from countries like the Philippines, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Ethiopia, and Latin American nations migrate to Europe, the Gulf, North America, and East Asia to meet this demand, accepting low-paid, insecure and sometimes exploitative jobs. 

Remittances from care workers are vital for many developing economies and end up accounting for a large portion of their GDP. Yet this does not offset the long-term economic and social costs of losing skilled women. Moreover, sending countries experience a “brain drain” when qualified nurses, teachers, and caregivers leave creating shortages in undeserving regions. This paradox, where one country solves its care crisis by deepening another’s,  reflects deep global inequalities.

Unpaid care work consisting of tasks like cooking, cleaning, caregiving, and water collection is overwhelmingly performed by women and girls, who on average spend three times as many hours on it as men globally. This burden restricts women’s ability to access education, engage in paid employment, participate in politics, and enjoy leisure time which ends up deepening existing inequalities. 

As societies age and birthrates decline, the global demand for care will continue to grow. The “care crisis” is therefore not just a women’s issue, but a structural economic and social challenge affecting sustainable development. Therefore, we must call for a global transformation of the care economy, recognizing, redistributing, and rewarding care work.

1. What are the root causes driving women to migrate for care work, and how can they be addressed?

2. How can national governments improve protections and labor standards for migrant care workers?

3. What policies can ensure fair compensation and decent working conditions for paid care workers?

4. What investments are needed in care infrastructure to support working families?

5. What international legal frameworks exist (or are lacking) to protect domestic and migrant care workers?

Care work and care jobs for the future of decent work | International Labour Organization

Greater investment in care could create almost 300 million jobs | International Labour Organization

Unpaid but essential: How women’s care work powers Mali’s economy | UN Women – Headquarters

Speech: Re-calibrating our global conversation on care | UN Women – Headquarters

Aging Societies Rely on Immigrant Health-Care Workers, Posing Challenges for Origin Countries

Peacekeeping and peacebuilding are core to the United Nations’ mission to prevent conflict, protect civilians, and rebuild societies. Yet, despite decades of resolutions like UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace, and Security, women remain underrepresented and underserved in these efforts. From deployment to decision-making, women often face systemic barriers that hinder their participation and exclude their needs from peace operations.

Women often experience conflict differently, as survivors of gender-based violence, caretakers of displaced families, and often, as leaders in community reconciliation. Studies have shown that when women are included in peace negotiations, the resulting agreements are more likely to last and better address societal needs. Yet, their inclusion is rare: women make up only around 6% of military and 11% of police peacekeepers worldwide. Their perspectives are also often absent in high-level peacebuilding forums.

Institutionally, women continue to face barriers to participation in peacekeeping missions. Military and police structures often lack recruitment, training, and support systems tailored to female personnel. Even in the UN system, women are frequently assigned logistical or administrative roles, rather than leadership positions or fieldwork. The operational environment also presents challenges: mission accommodations and infrastructure may not be designed with women in mind, and internal cultures can be unwelcoming or even hostile. This exclusion of women  limits the effectiveness of post-conflict recovery. 

Another major challenge is that peacekeeping operations frequently ignore the practical needs of women in conflict zones. Humanitarian aid often fails to provide menstrual hygiene products, maternal health care, and baby formula. These are not luxury items, rather they are vital to maintaining women’s health and dignity in camps, displacement settings, and crisis zones. Without them, women may resort to unsafe alternatives or be forced to prioritize survival over participation in peacebuilding. These omissions compound the physical and psychological trauma experienced by women during and after conflict, limiting their ability to recover and contribute to rebuilding efforts.

Beyond this, peacekeeping itself often becomes another source of violence for women.  In many mission areas, genedered violence is widespread: women and girls are coerced into sexual favors in exchange for basic resources, trafficked by UN peacekeepers, or subjected to sexual assault and rape. Far from offering protection, these missions frequently reproduce the same patterns of domination and abuse they claim to end. For countless women, “peacekeeping” is not safety, but rather a continuation of violence masked in the language of empathy and humanitarianism. The persistent culture of impunity, where perpetrators face little or no accountability, deepens mistrust in peacekeepers and compounds the trauma already borne by conflict-affected communities.

While international gender equity standards are essential, peacebuilding must also consider local norms and challenges. Imposing external frameworks without community engagement can lead to resistance or backlash.  Refugee status and other factors intersect to shape experiences of conflict and recovery. Effective peacebuilding must be intersectional, addressing the needs of the most vulnerable and amplifying diverse voices.

1. What steps can be taken to ensure women’s needs are included in peacekeeping and humanitarian operations?

2. What institutional reforms are needed to make peacekeeping environments more inclusive for female personnel?

3. How can peacekeeping and peacebuilding policies better reflect the realities of women in conflict zones?

4. How can peacekeeping missions be made more gender-responsive without alienating local communities?

5. What models of successful women-led peace initiatives exist, and what lessons can be drawn from them?

Facts and figures: Women, peace, and security | UN Women – Headquarters

Women in peacekeeping

Gender equality in peacekeeping: Why it matters for global security | UN Women – Headquarters

Gendered Impacts on Operational Effectiveness of UN Peace Operations - GIWPS