women’s rights – Women's Network for Change

April 30, 2026

WNC’s Participation in CSW 70: Engaging with Global Leaders and Advocating Women’s Rights

The seventieth session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW 70) took place at United Nations Headquarters in New York from 9 to 19 March 2026. Representatives of Member States, UN entities, and ECOSOC-accredited non-governmental organizations (NGOs) from all regions of the world were invited to attend the session. The themes for CSW 70 were: At CSW 70, our NGO was honored to participate in critical events that addressed global challenges and opportunities for advancing gender equality. Among […]

April 10, 2026

Maryam Akbari Monfared Released After 17 Years

A Proud Milestone for WNC Advocacy The WNC proudly announces the release of Maryam Akbari Monfared, one of Iran’s longest-serving female political prisoners, on April 8, 2026. Her freedom marks a powerful moment of hope and perseverance and stands as a testament to years of tireless advocacy, including efforts led by our organization. After nearly 17 years of imprisonment without a single day of leave, Maryam Akbari Monfared has finally been reunited with her family. Her case has long symbolized […]

March 30, 2026

Global Solidarity with Iranian Women: Paris Workshop Highlights Courage and Resistance

Each year, International Women’s Day is a moment to celebrate progress, demand equality, and amplify the voices of women around the world. But for many Iranian women, this day is not only symbolic—it is deeply political, rooted in an ongoing struggle for basic rights, dignity, and freedom. This year’s global theme, set by the United Nations—“Rights. Justice. Action. For ALL Women and Girls”—calls for dismantling structural barriers to equality, ending discriminatory laws, and taking collective action to ensure fundamental rights […]

April 17, 2025

Dominique Attias Honored as Officer of the Legion of Honor for Lifetime Legal Advocacy

In a ceremony held at the Paris Bar Association on April 10, 2025, Dominique Attias, a trailblazing figure in the French legal world, was awarded the title of Officier de la Légion d’Honneur—Officer of the Legion of Honor—in recognition of her decades-long dedication to justice, children’s rights, and the defense of fundamental freedoms. The award is one of the highest civilian honors in France, bestowed by presidential decree and announced in the Journal Officiel on July 9, 2024. Attias joins […]

March 12, 2025

WNC at the CSW69: Advocating for Gender Equality on the Global Stage

The 69th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW69) is currently taking place at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, bringing together government representatives, civil society organizations, and activists from around the world to discuss pressing gender equality issues. This year, the priority theme focuses on “Accelerating the achievement of gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls by addressing poverty and strengthening institutions and financing with a gender perspective.” The Commission on the […]

March 11, 2025

Letter to support Maryam Akbari Monfared

Campaign to Support Maryam Akbari Monfared – Write a Letter Today!

Let’s all support Maryam AKBARI MONFARED, a courageous opponent of the regime in Iran. Imprisoned in the dungeons of the mullahs and separated from her 3 children for more than 15 YEARS, for demanding accountability from the Iranian regime for the deaths of her brothers and sisters, who were murdered like 30,000 young people, women, and men by their torturers in the summer of 1988. She was supposed to be released on October 12, 2024. And yet, she remains imprisoned, […]

September 15, 2024

Women’s Right to Education in Afghanistan: The Impact of Fundamentalism

Since the Taliban’s resurgence in Afghanistan in 2021, the right of women and girls to access education has been systematically stripped away, marking a stark regression from the progress achieved in the previous two decades. This repression is a direct result of the fundamentalist ideology embraced by the Taliban, which severely limits women’s rights. The implications of these restrictions are not only devastating for Afghan women, but also for the country’s broader social and economic development. Before the Taliban’s return […]

January 14, 2023

Women’s Rights in Afghanistan

Women’s rights in Afghanistan have a long and tumultuous history. For much of the 20th century, Afghanistan was a patriarchal society where women were often treated as second-class citizens and had few legal protections. Although it had slowly gotten better, the situation has now set women’s rights in the country back by decades. Outdated infringements on women’s rights are now once again at the forefront of international scrutiny because of the Taliban’s recent and rapid rise to power. Few countries […]

March 6, 2020

Revisiting inspiration: Viola Desmond, symbol of resistance to Canadian racial discrimination.

Among many inspiring women in the world, who have not only fought fearlessly against the range of social discrimination, but also paved the path for future generations to walk freely, Viola Desmond is one of the immemorial names. Born in 1914, Viola Desmond was an African-Canadian businesswoman who first confronted the racial discrimination that Black Nova Scotians were used to of facing in Canada. With her simple act of refutation to sit in a segregation space in a public theater, […]

August 7, 2018

Causes and effects of women on negotiation table in times of conflict

In 2018 we are still witnessing gender inequality when it comes to women in power. We see government have more male leaders than women and we see more males CEO’s compared to females. But how can this be? Women in power can often mean less conflict and more fair negotiation between multiple parties. According to an article in The Guardian, women have a positive and significant impact in times of conflict and assist to creating peace, as the probability of […]