India Women Carrying Firewood for Cooking Cooking is one of the most dangerous activities for girls and women in the developing world, where more than half the population still cooks food over open fires. Without access to cleaner cookstoves and fuels, women endure incredible hardships. They are exposed to deadly smoke that kills over 4 million people every year and causes cancer, pneumonia, and lung disease. Women and children also must risk their safety, health, […]

Editor’s Note: This post is part of a special series in honor of International Women’s Day. Right now, the United Nations Foundation blog features posts on the world we picture for girls and women and the issues we need to address to advance women’s equality and empowerment. Share what you picture for girls and women on Twitter with the hashtag #PictureIt.  Many of us have made the statement, at one point, that we couldn’t live

Editor’s Note: This post is part of a special series in honor of International Women’s Day. Right now, the United Nations Foundation blog features posts on the world we picture for girls and women and the issues we need to address to advance women’s equality and empowerment. Share what you picture for girls and women on Twitter with the hashtag #PictureIt. In Indonesia, they are called the “Wonder Women.” In Pakistan, they are the “Light

Editor’s Note: This post is part of a special series in honor of International Women’s Day. Right now, the United Nations Foundation blog features posts on the world we picture for girls and women and the issues we need to address to advance women’s equality and empowerment. Share what you picture for girls and women on Twitter with the hashtag #PictureIt. As I held my son for the first time, I was overwhelmed with gratitude – grateful

This month, the United Nations is holding a global conference in Sendai, Japan on disaster risk reduction. What is disaster risk reduction, and why is it so important to not only saving lives, but ending poverty? To learn more, I recently talked to Jo Scheuer, the Chief of Profession for Climate Change and Disaster Risk Reduction in the UN Development Programme’s Bureau for Policy and Programme Support. His takeaway message: Disaster risk reduction is about more than

On March 18, the UN Foundation is teaming up with our partners to host an important discussion around the world’s next health goals, and how we can work together to measure progress toward our new goals. Health Measurement in a Post-2015 Environment Wednesday, 18 March, 20158.15 – 10.00 ET / 13.15 – 15.00 CET Featuring Tim Evans, World Bank Group Jennifer Adams, United States Agency for International Development Ties Boerma, World Health Organization Lola Dare, Centre

Photo/Stuart Ramson “Women’s rights are human rights,” said then-First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton in 1995 at a United Nations conference in Beijing. As a mother and advocate for children’s health, I can’t separate women’s rights from a mother’s rights. In the 20 years since the Beijing Declaration and this historic statement, the world has seen amazing progress in the advancement of mother’s rights and their ability to protect their children through the development of life-saving

WHO/T. Jasarevic Amal is a five-year-old Syrian girl who loved having tea parties with her cousins. In 2013, she was diagnosed with cancer – a tumor in the nervous system – and is being treated at the Children Hospital in Damascus. The crisis in Syria, which enters its fifth year this month, has devastated Syria’s health system and led to severe shortages in treatments for ailments from heart disease to cancer. “It is really disturbing

This month the crisis in Syria enters its fifth year, and right now, over 100,000 children from Syria have been forced to flee their homes and are living as refugees in Iraq. At the same time, conflict in Iraq has displaced millions of people, leaving even more children in urgent need of humanitarian assistance. I recently spoke with Jeffrey Bates, Chief of Communications and Strategic Partnerships for UNICEF Iraq, to ask him about what the