Crisis response

The issue of gender equality in Myanmar is in the spotlight again. Women are on the frontlines of the anti-coup protests taking place since the junta ousted the civilian government a year ago.

Since the Myanmar military brutally put down the mass protests that began following the February 1 coup last year, flash mobs have repeatedly gathered in major cities such as Yangon and Mandalay to protest against the military junta.

With COVID-19, the situation for women human rights defenders and the prospects for women's full participation in building peace, has become “vastly worse”, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said on Tuesday.

Michelle Bachelet was participating in a Security Council debate dedicated to the theme “Protecting Participation: Addressing violence targeting women in peace and security processes”.

Only two of the government briefings held at the height of the coronavirus pandemic were led by a female politician, and in both cases it was the home secretary, Priti Patel, a report into gender representation across the UK’s top jobs has shows.

The 2022 Sex and Power Index, compiled by the Fawcett Society, a charity campaigning for women’s rights, showed equality is still “decades off”, as men continue to dominate the top ranks of law, politics and business.

In order to pressurise the Taliban to allow space for women in the Ministry of Women's Affairs, hundreds of female protestors took to the streets in Afghan national capital, Kabul, on Monday. According to a report by Tolo News, the women who took part in the protest raised slogans against the oppressive rule and demanded active participation of women in every field, including politics.