With a starting injection of close to one million dollars, the United Nations and the Government of Bermuda put their new cooperation framework into action by launching a programme to close the business financing gaps that particularly affect women, the youth and people living with disabilities.

The United Nations Joint SDG Fund has injected nearly $1 million into this programme which takes steps to facilitate the sustainable economic empowerment of women, youth and people with disabilities and their greater access to financial mechanisms, knowledge sharing and capacity building particularly in areas of agribusiness and fishing.

"How can we make sure women and marginalised groups are part of the ecosystem creating employment and also accessing the opportunities for economic growth?" This was one of several topics of discussion during the “Road to the Summit: A Green and Equitable Future for the Americas” panel discussion hosted by the Atlantic Council, Adrienne Arsht Latin America Center, in partnership with the US Department of State leading to the Ninth Summit of the Americas.

What are the laws that exist across the Caribbean that condone and foster gender-based violence (GBV)? Though most Caribbean countries have existing laws on domestic and sexual violence, there is a restrictive understanding and definition of GBV that facilitate inequitable gender norms.

Bridgetown, Barbados - While Dominica, Grenada and Trinidad and Tobago are among the countries in the Caribbean and Americas region where women ministers are nearing or exceeding the gender parity position of 30 per cent of representatives, the number of women in executive government and in parliament worldwide has stagnated.

With great anticipation for the journey we are about to embark upon, UN Women welcomes the agreement by Member States on the post-2015 development agenda that is to be adopted at the UN Summit in September. “Transforming Our World: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development” is a comprehensive blueprint for people and planet that for the first time brings together the three dimensions of sustainable development in one ambitious document.

Statement by Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, UN Under-Secretary-General and UN Women Executive Director, on the financing for development outcome document following the Third International Conference on Financing for Development, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 13-16 July 2015.

At the High-level Meeting on the Rule of Law at National and International Levels, that is taking place during the 67th UN General Assembly, world leaders will focus on strengthening the rule of law, underlining its central role in securing international peace and security, furthering development and the achievement of universal human rights.