UN Women - United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women - Vindobona.org

Austria Tumbles in Gender Equality Index

Austria has plummeted to 47th place out of 146 countries in the global ranking of gender equality published by the World Economic Forum (WEF).

June 21, 2023

Orange the World: Austria Combating Violence Against Women

Violence against women and girls remains one of the most widespread human rights violations. Especially in Austria, the worst violence against women recently occurred, namely femicides. In 2022, Austria will also participate in the UN campaign "Orange the World - 16 Days against Violence", which takes place annually between November 25, the International Day against Violence against Women and Girls, and December 10, the International Human Rights Day.

November 24, 2022

Head of UN Women Discusses Deteriorating Situation Under Oppressive Taliban Rule

UN Women Executive Director Sima Sami Bahous discussed the distressing situation for women in Afghanistan under the Taliban with the Austrian Minister for Women Susanne Raab. Read more about their conversation.

February 11, 2022

Homicides of Women by Family Members: Every 11 Minutes Worldwide, Every 11 Days in Austria

On the occasion of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, various findings were presented, including that the number of murders during the various waves of COVID-related mobility restrictions are particularly high.

November 25, 2021

Austrian Development Agency: An Additional 2 Million Euros for Afghanistan

At the United Nations donor conference for the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan, the Austrian Minister for Integration and Women's Affairs Susanne Raab announced that Austria will provide an additional 2 million euros in aid to Afghanistan. The aid is being made available through funds from the Austrian Development Aid Cooperation of the Austrian Austrian Development Agency (ADA) and the Austrian Foreign Ministry. The conference resulted in pledges of nearly double the amount of money that the UN had set as its goal.

September 16, 2021

Aid Package for Afghanistan Approved by Austrian Federal Government

The Austrian Federal Government has officially approved 18 million euros in emergency aid for Afghanistan that it had previously promised. The aid will go from the Austrian Foreign Ministry's Foreign Disaster Fund (AKF) to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), UN Women, and the UN World Food Program.

September 9, 2021

Schallenberg on Afghanistan: "Clear advance of mistrust toward the Taliban"

The Gymnich Meeting of EU foreign ministers recently took place in Slovenia. One of the main issues discussed during the two days of meetings was the situation in Afghanistan and how to deal with the Taliban going forward. Alexander Schallenberg expressed that there is a deep mistrust of the Taliban, but technical cooperation with them is currently necessary. Read more about what Schallenberg said and watch the video of him taking questions from the press.

September 7, 2021

Iraqi Minister of Foreign Affairs Fuad Hussein in Vienna

Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein met Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg in Vienna for bilateral discussions. Some specific issues the pair discussed include Afghanistan, the security situation in Iraq and the Middle East, terrorism, and migration. Read about their meeting and watch their joint press conference.

September 1, 2021

Austrian Emergency Aid Package of 18 Million Euros for Afghan Women

Austria has announced that it will provide 15 million euros in emergency aid to help the people of Afghanistan. This is in addition to the 3 million euros that Austria already promised to donate to the UNHCR. The total of 18 million euros is intended to benefit, above all, organizations that campaign for the empowerment of women in the region, such as UN Women.

August 26, 2021

Waly and Raab: Cooperation in Protection of Women

Ghada Waly, UNODC head and Director-General of the United Nations Office at Vienna, met with Susanne Raab, Austria's Minister for Women's Affairs, to discuss the protection of women from violence and the concrete measures taken by the UNODC and Austria's government in this issue.

March 8, 2021

Equal Pay Day: Austria's Women Earn 14.3 Percent Less

On February 21, 2021, Austria "celebrates" its Equal Pay Day. The current gender gap in income is at 14.3 percent, which amounts to 52 days of the year in which women work uncompensated. Austria's Women's Minister Susanne Raab uses the occasion to install certain measures that aim to reduce this difference.

February 19, 2021

UN Campaign Orange the World: Parliament Shines in Orange

The UN campaign Orange the World is the reason for the Austrian Parliament shining in orange from November 25 to November 29. The Parliament is one of 130 buildings in Austria that want to draw attention to the fight against violence against women - the topic of the UN campaign.

November 25, 2020

Violence Protection Summit Welcomes International Guests

The Violence Protection Summit organized by Austria's Federal Chancellery and the Federal Ministry of the Interior will be supported by international participation. UN Special Rapporteur Dubravka Simonovic and EU Commissioner for Equality Helena Dalli will be participating in the summit.

November 23, 2020

European Commission Launches Initiatives Against Gender Pay Gap

With regards to the European Day of Equal pay, the day from which women will symbolically no longer be paid for the same work compared to their male colleagues until the end of the year, the European Commission has launched initiatives to tackle the persistent gender pay gap.

November 12, 2020

Equality in the Job Market: Federal Minister Advocates For Improvements

At the informal meeting of EU ministers and at a discussion with EU Commissioner Helena Dalli, Austrian Minister for Women's Affairs Raab pleaded for a mix of measures to meet the current challenges on the labor market and to bring more women into future industries.

October 13, 2020

UNIDO Partners Up With Women Leadership Forum to Hold Special Event

UNIDO and the European Brand Institute have organized the 8th Women Leadership Forum, which was held as a hybrid event in Vienna. International successful women as well as other supportive public figures have gathered together to empower women.

October 1, 2020

Austrian Officials Open 13th IPU Summit of Women Speakers of Parliament

The 13th IPU Summit is held virtually and will cover important topics dealing with countless inequalities women face today. The organization of the event is a common effort between the Austrian Parliament and the United Nations.

August 18, 2020

How to Eliminate Violence against Women?

In context with the UN-sponsored campaign "International Day for the elimination of violence against women", there are various initiatives against violence against women not only at the UN, but also in Brussels and Vienna. Federica Mogherini announced that the EU has decided to allocate an additional €5 million to support the projects of Nobel Peace Prize laureates, Nadia Murad and Dr Denis Mukwege. And the Austrian Foreign Ministry, together with the Austrian Integration Fund, is participating in the campaign "16 days against violence against women".

November 26, 2018

UN's Lakshmi Puri on Enhancing Women's Share in Peace and Security: "This is a historic moment!"

At the Austrian Parliament a high-level panel of international politicians and prominent activists have discussed significant achievements and major obstacles in the implementation of the women, peace and security agenda. The speakers included Ambassador Anwarul Chowdhury, Ursula Plassnik, former Austrian Foreign Minister, Lakshmi Puri, the Deputy Executive Director of UN Women, May Chidiac of the Chidiac Foundation and Hanan Ashrawi, PLO Executive Committee Member.

November 4, 2014