Expert’s take

These opinion pieces focus on a specific issue, explained and deconstructed by UN Women specialists in that area.

Expert’s take: Women refugees on the road need strong advocates to protect their rights
Iris Bjorg Kristjansdottir, Gender and Humanitarian Specialist at the UN Women Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia based in Turkey, discusses the importance of empowering refugee Syrian women and girls. Read more »

Expert’s take: Curbing the tide of violent extremism needs women’s voices and inclusion
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. Read more »

Expert’s take: Harnessing South-South and Triangular Cooperation to accelerate inclusive development
A.H. Monjurul Kabir is the Senior Programme Adviser, Head of the Asia-Pacific and Least Developed Countries Section, and UN Women Global Lead on South-South and Triangular Cooperation. Prior to joining UN Women, Mr. Kabir worked with UNDP offices in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Slovakia, Europe and Central Asia, Southern Africa, USA in both programme, development policy, and management responsibilities. Read more »

Expert’s take: Civil society has the potential to play a major role in ending violence against women
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. Read more »

 

Expert’s take: When building climate resilience, women’s needs cannot be an afterthought
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. Read more »

Expert’s take: A decade of efforts to combat sexual violence in conflict—Where are we now?
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. He also works on mainstreaming gender equality in peacekeeping operations and engaging with the UN Security Council on women, peace and security issues. Before joining the United Nations in 2009, he taught international politics at several universities in the United States of America, including Rutgers, Fordham, Queens and Lehman. Read more »

Expert’s take: Making unpaid work visible creates livelihoods for rural women
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. Read more »

Expert’s take: Women’s meaningful participation still the missing ingredient in peacebuilding
Nahla Valji, Deputy Chief of UN Women’s Peace and Security Section, writes how women’s meaningful participation is the most important and overlooked ingredient for sustainable peace, and what can be done to improve peace and security response. Read more »

Expert’s take: Why women must be at the heart of the humanitarian response in Haiti
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. Read more »

Expert’s take: Is funding for gender-responsive peacebuilding pie in the sky?
Sarah Douglas, a Policy Specialist for UN Women’s Peace and Security Division, on secondment as the Gender Advisor for the UN Peacebuilding Support Office, writes about the importance of funding for gender-responsive peacebuilding. Read more »

Expert’s take: Leveraging leadership among Syrian women—a strong constituency for peace
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. Read more »

Expert’s take: Getting the post-cyclone response right for women in Fiji
Aleta Miller, Representative for UN Women’s Fiji Multi-country Office, reflects on UN Women’s coordination role in the response to Cyclone Winston, using protection to drive gender equality and address vulnerability. Read more »

Expert’s take: SDGs monitoring for women and girls—are we ready for the ride?
Ginette Azcona, a Policy Specialist with UN Women’s Research and Data Team, explains the importance of, and challenges related to global monitoring of progress towards achieving the SDGs. Read more »

Expert’s take: Bringing light to the darkest places
Blerta Aliko, who leads UN Women’s Humanitarian unit, reflects on the current unending flurry of humanitarian disasters around the world. Read more »

Expert’s take: No empowerment without rights
Shahra Razavi, UN Women Chief of Research and Data, writes about the importance of protecting not only women's equal right to work, but also their rights at work. Read more »

Expert’s Take: Gender perspectives on sanitation for sustainable development
Begoña Lasagabaster, a member of UN Women’s Policy Division, writes about the lack of access to basic sanitation affecting 2.5 billion people around the world. Read more »

Expert’s take: Why do women remain invisible, in spite of their presence?
Venge Nyirongo, a member of UN Women's Economic Empowerment Section, writes about women's invisible role in fighting food insecurity. Read more »

Expert’s take: Old age — a double whammy for women?
Silke Staab, a Research Specialist with UN Women's Data team emphasizes the need to address the specific needs of elderly women. Read more »