UN Women History, Mission, Leadership, Programmes, Contact Details & More

Quick Info

Particular	Details
Full Name	United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women
Popular Name	UN Women
Established	July 2010
Became Operational	1 January 2011
Headquarters	New York, United States
Parent Organisation	United Nations
Current Executive Director	Sima Sami Bahous
Current Position of Executive Director	UN Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director
Main Focus	Gender equality and women’s empowerment
Global Website	unwomen.org
India Website	india.unwomen.org
India Office	UN House, 55 Lodhi Estate, New Delhi–110003

What is UN Women?

UN Women is the United Nations organisation dedicated to advancing women’s rights, gender equality, and the empowerment of all women and girls.

It works with governments, civil society, women’s movements, the private sector, and other United Nations agencies to support laws, policies, programmes, services, and social changes that help close the gender gap.

UN Women also serves as the secretariat of the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), the principal intergovernmental body dedicated exclusively to gender equality and the advancement of women. UN Women — About Us

History and Formation

The United Nations General Assembly created UN Women in July 2010 through Resolution 64/289.

The organisation brought together four previously separate parts of the UN system that focused on gender equality and women’s empowerment:

United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM)
Division for the Advancement of Women (DAW)
Office of the Special Adviser on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women (OSAGI)
International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women (INSTRAW)

UN Women officially began its work on 1 January 2011, with the aim of creating a stronger and more coordinated global voice for women and girls. UN Women — UN Women Begins Its Work

Mission and Vision

UN Women’s mission is to advance:

Women’s rights
Gender equality
Women’s leadership
Economic empowerment
Freedom from violence
Equal participation in decision-making
Women’s role in peace, security, and humanitarian action

Its wider vision is to help create a world in which every woman and girl can live with dignity, safety, equal rights, and meaningful opportunities.

UN Women’s Triple Mandate

UN Women has a distinctive three-part mandate.

1. Normative Support

UN Women supports governments and intergovernmental bodies in developing:

Laws
Policies
Global standards
Gender-equality commitments
International agreements
Accountability frameworks

2. Operational Activities

The organisation works with countries and communities to implement programmes relating to:

Women’s economic empowerment
Ending violence against women
Women’s political participation
Humanitarian assistance
Peacebuilding
Gender-responsive governance
Access to services and justice

3. UN System Coordination

UN Women leads and coordinates the broader UN system’s work on gender equality. It also monitors progress and promotes accountability for commitments made by UN bodies and Member States. UN Women — About Us

Major Areas of Work

Women’s Leadership and Political Participation

UN Women supports women’s participation in:

Parliament and local government
Elections
Political parties
Public administration
Peace negotiations
Decision-making institutions

The organisation also works to remove legal, social, economic, and cultural barriers that limit women’s leadership.

Economic Empowerment

UN Women promotes women’s access to:

Decent work
Equal pay
Entrepreneurship
Financial services
Social protection
Markets and technology
Skills and training

Its economic-empowerment work also addresses unpaid care work, occupational segregation, and barriers to women’s participation in the formal economy.

Ending Violence Against Women and Girls

UN Women works to prevent and respond to:

Domestic violence
Sexual violence
Gender-based violence
Human trafficking
Child and forced marriage
Harmful practices
Online and technology-facilitated violence

It supports stronger laws, survivor-centred services, prevention programmes, and social-norm change.

Peace, Security and Humanitarian Action

UN Women promotes women’s participation in:

Peace processes
Conflict prevention
Peacebuilding
Mediation
Humanitarian decision-making
Recovery and reconstruction

It also works to ensure that humanitarian responses address the specific needs of women and girls.

Governance and National Planning

The organisation supports gender-responsive planning, budgeting, statistics, and policymaking so that national development programmes benefit women and girls equally.

Youth and Gender Equality

UN Women works with young people and youth-led organisations to promote:

Gender equality
Women’s rights
Youth leadership
Digital inclusion
Prevention of discrimination and violence
Participation in public life

Current Leadership

As of August 2026, Sima Sami Bahous serves as the Executive Director of UN Women and as an Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations.

She became UN Women’s third Executive Director in 2021. In September 2025, UN Women announced that she would continue for a second term as the organisation implemented its Strategic Plan for 2026–2029. UN Women Executive Leadership UN Women Press Release

Other members of the current executive leadership listed by UN Women include:

Kirsi Madi — Deputy Executive Director for Resource Management, Sustainability and Partnerships
Nyaradzayi Gumbonzvanda — Deputy Executive Director for Normative Support, UN System Coordination and Programme Results

Strategic Plan 2026–2029

UN Women began implementing its new Strategic Plan 2026–2029 in 2026.

The plan places emphasis on:

Greater impact at country level
Stronger accountability for results
Gender equality in peace and security
Women’s economic empowerment
Protection from violence
Gender-responsive climate action
Support for women-led organisations and movements
Strengthening gender equality throughout the UN system

In a June 2026 speech, Executive Director Sima Bahous described gender equality as central to peace, development, human rights, and the Sustainable Development Goals. UN Women Strategic Plan and Executive Board Speech

UN Women in India

UN Women has a country office in India that operates from the UN House in New Delhi.

The India office works with government institutions, civil society, women’s organisations, and other partners on issues connected with:

Women’s political participation
Economic empowerment
Gender-responsive policies
Ending violence against women
Women’s rights and social protection
Gender data and development planning

The official Asia-Pacific office listing identifies Shoko Ishikawa as the Country Representative for UN Women India. UN Women Asia and the Pacific — Regional and Country Offices

Contact Details

UN Women Global Headquarters

UN Women
220 East 42nd Street
New York, NY 10017
United States of America

Telephone:
+1 646 781-4400

Fax:
+1 646 781-4444

Mailing Address:
UN Women
United Nations Secretariat
405 East 42nd Street
New York, NY 10017–3599
USA

The official global contact page lists New York, Nairobi, and Bonn among UN Women’s global offices. UN Women Official Contact Page

UN Women India Office

UN Women India
UN House
55 Lodhi Estate
New Delhi–110003
India

Country Office Telephone:
+91 11 465 32250

Fax:
+91 11 246 27612

Website:
india.unwomen.org

General UN India directory email:
registry.india@unwomen.org

The UN India directory also lists a general UN House telephone number of +91 11 46532333. Because public listings show more than one UN India office line, users should confirm the appropriate contact through the official country-office website. UN Women Asia-Pacific Contact Listing UN India Contact Directory

Official Social Media Accounts

Global UN Women

X/Twitter: @UN_Women
Facebook: UN Women
Instagram: @unwomen
LinkedIn: UN Women
YouTube: UN Women
Pinterest: UN Women

UN Women India

X/Twitter: @unwomenindia
Facebook: UN Women India
Website: india.unwomen.org

UN Women’s official social-media directory lists the global and country-office accounts, including the India accounts. UN Women Official Social-Media Directory

Google Search Result Contact Note

Google search results may show several UN Women contact pages, regional office pages, UN House directories, and third-party organisation listings.

For reliable communication, users should prioritise:

UN Women does not operate a single public emergency helpline for all women’s-rights complaints worldwide. For urgent local assistance, contact the relevant national authorities, women’s commission, police service, or recognised support organisation.

Some Lesser-Known Facts About UN Women

UN Women was created through a UN General Assembly decision in July 2010.
It became fully operational on 1 January 2011.
The organisation merged four earlier UN bodies focused on women’s rights and gender equality.
UN Women is the secretariat of the Commission on the Status of Women.
It has a triple mandate: normative support, operational work, and UN system coordination.
Its work is connected to Sustainable Development Goal 5 on gender equality.
UN Women works with governments, civil society, women’s movements, youth organisations, and the private sector.
Its programmes cover leadership, economic empowerment, freedom from violence, peace, security, and humanitarian action.
The organisation has global offices in New York, Nairobi, and Bonn, along with regional and country offices.
The India Country Office is located at UN House, 55 Lodhi Estate, New Delhi.
UN Women’s official social-media accounts are different from those of independent UN Women national committees or partner organisations.

Disclaimer: UN Women office addresses, country representatives, telephone numbers, emails, and social-media accounts may change. The contact information above was compiled from UN Women’s official contact pages, UN India directories, official social-media listings, and publicly indexed Google search results. Always verify details on the official UN Women website before sending documents, donations, or personal information.