Violence against women remains one of the world’s most persistent and under-addressed human rights crises, with very little progress in two decades, according to a landmark report released today by the World Health Organization (WHO) and UN partners.Nearly 1 in 3 women – estimated 840 million globally – have experienced partner or sexual violence during their lifetime, a figure that has barely changed since 2000. In the last 12 months alone, 316 million women – 11% of those aged 15 or older – were subjected to physical or sexual violence by an intimate partner. Progress on reducing intimate partner violence has been painfully slow with only 0.2% annual decline over the past two decades.For the first time, the report includes national and regional estimates of sexual violence by someone other than a partner. It finds 263 million women have experienced non-partner sexual violence since age 15, a figure experts caution is significantly under-reported due to stigma and fear."Violence against women is one of humanity’s oldest and most pervasive injustices, yet still one of the least acted upon," said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General. "No society can call itself fair, safe or healthy while half its population lives in fear. Ending this violence is not only a matter of policy; it is a matter of dignity, equality and human rights. Behind every statistic is a woman or girl whose life has been forever altered.  Empowering women and girls is not optional, it's a prerequisite for peace, development and health. A safer world for women is a better world for everyone."Efforts face funding cuts amidst mounting needsThe new report, released ahead of the International day for the elimination of violence against women and girls observed on 25 November, represents the most comprehensive study on the prevalence of these two forms of violence against women. It updates 2018 estimates released in 2021. It analyses data between 2000 and 2023 from 168 countries, revealing a stark picture of a deeply neglected crisis and critically underfunded response.Despite mounting evidence on effective strategies to prevent violence against women, the report warns that funding for such initiatives is collapsing – just as when humanitarian emergencies, technological shifts, and rising socio-economic inequality are further increasing risks for millions of women and girls. For instance, in 2022, only 0.2% of the global development aid was allocated to programmes focused on prevention of violence against women, and funding has further fallen in 2025.Widespread and lifelong risksWomen subjected to violence face unintended pregnancies, a higher risk of acquiring sexually transmitted infections and experiencing depression. Sexual and reproductive health services are an important entry point for survivors to receive the high-quality care they need.The report underscores the reality that violence against women begins early and risks persist throughout life. For example, in the past 12 months alone, 12.5 million adolescent girls 15-19 years of age or 16% have experienced physical and/or sexual violence from an intimate partner.While violence occurs in every country, women in least-developed, conflict-affected, and climate-vulnerable settings are disproportionately affected. For example, Oceania (excluding Australia and New Zealand) reports 38% prevalence of intimate partner violence in the past year – more than 3 times the global average of 11%.A call for action – and accountabilityMore countries than ever are now collecting data to inform policies, yet significant gaps remain – particularly on non-partner sexual violence, marginalized groups such as indigenous women, migrants, and women with disabilities, as well as data from fragile and humanitarian settings. Progress has been achieved in countries where there is political commitment to do so. For example, Cambodia is implementing a national project that will update legislation on domestic violence, improve service delivery, quality and access, refurbish shelters and leverage digital solutions in schools and communities to promote prevention especially with adolescents.Ecuador, Liberia, Trinidad and Tobago and Uganda have developed costed national action plans. Legislative and advocacy actions in these countries have contributed to some domestic financing for this issue, signalling increased political commitment at a time of decreasing aid budgets. To accelerate global progress and deliver meaningful change for the lives of affected women and girls, the report calls for decisive government action and funding to:scale up evidence-based prevention programmesstrengthen survivor-centred health, legal and social servicesinvest in data systems to track progress and reach the most at-risk groupsenforce laws and policies empowering women and girls.The report is accompanied by the launch of the second edition of the RESPECT Women: preventing violence against women framework, offering updated guidance for violence prevention, including for humanitarian contexts.There can be no more silence or inaction. We need leaders to commit and act towards ending violence against women and girls now.Quotes from partners"Ending violence against women and girls requires courage, commitment, and collective action. Advancing gender equality is how we build a more equal, safer world for everyone, where every woman and every girl can live a life free from violence.” Dr Sima Bahous, Executive Director, UN Women "Violence against women inflicts deep and lasting harm that affects their lives, health and dignity. For many, violence is compounded by discrimination based on poverty, disability and other factors, exposing them to even higher risk. The devastating cycle of abuse often ripples through families and communities and across generations. The data paint a grim picture of the toll of inaction. This must change now. We must act urgently together to end this violence and ensure that every woman and girl, in all her diversity, can exercise her rights, realize her potential and contribute fully to more just, equal and prosperous societies.” Diene Keita, Executive Director, UNFPA “The data shows that many women first experience violence from a partner when they are adolescents. And many children grow up watching their mothers being pushed, hit or humiliated, with violence a part of daily life. The key is to break this pattern of violence against women and girls.” UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell  Notes to the editorsAbout the reportThe report, Global, regional and national prevalence estimates for intimate partner violence against women and non-partner sexual violence against women, 2023 was developed by WHO and the UNDP-UNFPA-UNICEF-WHO-World Bank Special Programme of Research, Development and Research Training in Human Reproduction (HRP) on behalf of, and with the United Nations Inter-Agency Working Group on Violence Against Women Estimation and Data. The Working Group includes representatives from WHO, UN Women, UNICEF, UNFPA, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD).Modelling is used to enhance comparability of estimates across countries and regions to the extent allowed by existing data. All surveys likely underestimate the actual prevalence of violence against women as there will always be women who do not disclose these experiences, especially where this violence is highly stigmatized. Sexual violence is particularly underreported in many settings. Poorly designed or implemented surveys in some places further exacerbate this underestimation.About regional and country estimatesThe report and database present regional data in the following categories: Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) regions, WHO regions, Global Burden of Disease (GBD) regions, UNFPA regions and UNICEF regions. Data is also presented for 168 countries and areas for women aged 15-49 years old. The report presents data on both lifetime and past 12 months prevalence estimates.The rates of the Past 12 months prevalence of intimate partner violence among ever-married/-partnered women 15 years and older among the United Nations SDG regional and subregion classifications are ranked below from highest to lowest prevalence:Oceania (excluding Australia and New Zealand): 38%Central and Southern Asia: 18%Southern Asia – 19%Least Developed Countries – 18%Sub-Saharan Africa – 17%Small Island Developing States – 17%Northern Africa and Western Asia – 14%Northern Africa – 16%Oceania (including Australia and New Zealand) – 13%Eastern and South-Eastern Asia – 8%Latin American and the Caribbean – 7%Europe and Northern America – 5%About RESPECTRESPECT stands for:  Relationship skills strengthening, Empowerment of women and girls, Services ensured, Poverty reduced, Enabling environments (i.e. schools, workplaces, public places), Child and adolescent abuse prevented, and Transformed gender attitudes, beliefs and norms. RESPECT women is endorsed by 13 agencies and is aimed at policy makers.

The World Health Organization (WHO) warns that gonorrhoea, a sexually transmitted infection, is becoming increasingly resistant to antibiotics, according to new data from its Enhanced Gonococcal Antimicrobial Surveillance Programme (EGASP), which monitors the spread of drug-resistant gonorrhoea. The report highlights the need to strengthen surveillance, improve diagnostic capacity and ensure equitable access to new treatments for sexually transmitted infections (STIs). The release of the new data coincides with World Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) Awareness Week, reinforcing the importance of global action against drug-resistant infections. EGASP, launched by WHO in 2015, collects laboratory and clinical data from sentinel sites around the world to track AMR and inform treatment guidelines.“This global effort is essential to tracking, preventing, and responding to drug-resistant gonorrhoea and to protecting public health worldwide,” said Dr Tereza Kasaeva, Director of the WHO Department for HIV, TB, Hepatitis & STIs. “WHO calls on all countries to address the rising levels of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and integrate gonorrhoea surveillance into national STI programmes.” Between 2022 and 2024, resistance to ceftriaxone and cefixime, the primary antibiotics used to treat gonorrhoea, rose sharply from 0.8% to 5% and from 1.7% to 11% respectively, with resistant strains detected in more countries. Resistance to azithromycin remained stable at 4%, while resistance to ciprofloxacin reached 95%. Cambodia and Viet Nam reported the highest resistance rates.In 2024, 12 EGASP countries in five WHO regions provided data, an increase from just four countries in 2022. This is a positive development reflecting growing commitment to track and contain drug-resistant infections in countries and regions. The countries- Brazil, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Malawi, the Philippines, Qatar, South Africa, Sweden, Thailand, Uganda and Viet Nam reported 3615 cases of gonorrhoea.Over half of all cases of symptomatic gonorrhoea in men (52%) were reported from countries in the WHO Western Pacific Region, including the Philippines (28%), Viet Nam (12%), Cambodia (9%) and Indonesia (3%). Countries of the WHO African Region accounted for 28% of cases, followed by countries in the South-East Asia Region (13%, Thailand), the Eastern Mediterranean Region (4%, Qatar) and the Region of the Americas (2%, Brazil).The median patient age was 27 years (range: 12–94). Among cases, 20% were men who have sex with men, and 42% reported multiple sexual partners within the past 30 days. Eight percent reported recent antibiotic use, and 19% had travelled recently. Strengthening and expanding global surveillanceIn 2024, WHO advanced genomic surveillance, with nearly 3000 samples sequenced from eight countries. Landmark studies on new treatments such as zoliflodacin and gepotidacin, as well as studies on tetracycline resistance, were conducted by WHO’s Collaborating Centre on AMR in STI in Sweden, in coordination with WHO. These are helping guide future gonorrhoea control and doxycycline-based prevention (DoxyPEP) strategies. EGASP continued to expand its reach in 2024, with Brazil, Côte d’Ivoire and Qatar joining the programme, and India beginning implementation and data reporting starting in 2025 under its National AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Diseases Control Programme.Despite notable progress, EGASP faces challenges, including limited funding, incomplete reporting, and gaps in data from women and extragenital sites. WHO calls for urgent investment, particularly in national surveillance systems, to sustain and expand global gonococcal AMR surveillance. 

Today marks the first World Cervical Cancer Elimination Day – mandated by the World Health Assembly – a historic milestone in global efforts to end a preventable cancer.

The World Health Organization (WHO) is marking its first official observance of World Prematurity Day with the launch of a new global clinical practice guide for Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC) – a simple, proven and life-saving intervention that significantly improves survival for preterm and low birth weight babies.Each year, an estimated 15 million babies are born too soon (before 37 weeks of pregnancy), and complications from preterm birth are the leading cause of death among children under five years of age. In the poorest countries, most extremely preterm babies die within days – whereas in high-income countries, almost all survive.KMC – which combines prolonged skin to skin contact with breast-milk feeding – has been shown to dramatically improve outcomes for small and preterm newborns, and to be feasible and cost-effective in all settings. Among other positive impacts, it is associated with a more than 30% reduction in newborn deaths, a close to 70% reduction in hypothermia and a 15% reduction in severe infections – as well as improved weight gain and better longer-term health and cognitive development. “KMC is not just a clinical intervention – it empowers mothers and families and transforms newborn care,” said Dr Jeremy Farrar, WHO’s Assistant Director-General for Health Promotion, Disease Prevention and Care. “It should now be universal clinical practice for all small and preterm babies, ensuring they have the best chance to survive and thrive.”A lifesaving intervention for all babies born early or smallGeared at health workers, facility managers as well as caregivers, the new WHO guide offers detailed, step-by-step, adaptable guidance for initiating, maintaining, and monitoring KMC. It states that all preterm or low birth weight newborns should receive KMC starting immediately after birth - unless they are unable to breathe on their own or their blood pressure and circulation drops to dangerously low levels, requiring urgent treatment. While mothers should typically be the primary providers, fathers and other family members can also give KMC if the mother is unable – as well as providing critical emotional and practical support. KMC can be practiced at all levels of health facilities – from the labour room or the operating theatre to postnatal wards and special or intensive newborn care units – and can be continued at home. The guide includes practical tips on how to secure the baby in the KMC position, whether using simple cloth wraps, elastic binders or specially designed garments. It also outlines how health facilities create enabling environments for KMC through supportive policies and training staff. Family-friendly approaches are crucial for successful implementation, the guide notes – including ensuring mothers can always be together in the same room as their babies.All small and sick newborns need dedicated medical care and attentionOn this World Prematurity Day, with the theme ‘A strong start for a hopeful future’, WHO is calling on governments, health systems and partners to prioritize quality care for preterm and low birth weight babies. This means ensuring dedicated wards or facilities with specially trained neonatal staff providing round-the-clock care for small and sick newborns, as well as universal access to essential equipment and medicines like antibiotics. Because they have less time in the womb, many preterm babies have underdeveloped lungs, brains, immune systems and capacity for temperature regulation. This increases risks from infections, hypothermia, heart problems, respiratory distress, and other life-threatening complications. “No newborn should die from preventable causes,” said Dr Per Ashorn, WHO’s Unit Head for Newborn and Child Health and Development. “It’s time to ensure every baby gets the attention they need, by investing in special care for small or sick babies, alongside quality maternity services that can prevent many occurrences of preterm birth.”

The COP30 Special report on health and climate change: delivering the Belém Health Action Plan, notes that rising temperatures and collapsing health systems are claiming more lives, and calls for immediate and coordinated action to protect health in a rapidly warming world. It follows the launch of the Belém Health Action Plan, a flagship initiative of Brazil’s COP 30 Presidency, unveiled on the dedicated Health Day of COP30 – 13 November 2025.