--- description: Just weeks after they announced partnership to create 1 million jobs for women title: UN Women Breaks Off Partnership With Uber image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [Living](/tag/time-section-living/) ## Living Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # UN Women Breaks Off Partnership with Uber  by [Charlotte Alter](/author/charlotte-alter/)  ## Charlotte Alter Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Senior Correspondent Mar 23, 2015 8:41 PM CUT  by [Charlotte Alter](/author/charlotte-alter/)  ## Charlotte Alter Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Senior Correspondent Mar 23, 2015 8:41 PM CUT [UN Women](http://www.unwomen.org/en "undefined") has cancelled a partnership with Uber that aimed to create jobs for women at the company after objections were raised about Uber’s safety record with women and treatment of its drivers. On March 10th, UN Women and Uber [announced a partnership ](http://blog.uber.com/un-women "undefined")to create one million Uber jobs for women by 2020, as part of their endeavor to increase economic empowerment for women around the world. But on March 12th, the International Transport Federation [published a letter](http://time.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/no-to-un-women-uber-partnership.pdf "undefined") criticizing the partnership, noting that Uber drivers often lack basic job protections like minimum wage and health care. “Women already make up a high percentage of the precarious workforce, and increasing informal, piecemeal work contributes significantly to women’s economic dis-empowerment and marginalization across the globe,” the ITF [wrote.](http://time.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/no-to-un-women-uber-partnership.pdf "undefined") Uber jobs, they said, would “not contribute to women’s economic empowerment and represents exactly the type of structural inequality within the labor market that the women’s movement has been fighting for decades.” ### See Uber Protests From Around the World  French Taxi drivers burn tires as they protest in the southern city of Marseille on June 25, 2015 as they demonstrate against UberPOP, a popular taxi app that is facing fierce opposition from traditional cabs. Anne-Christine Poujoulat—AFP/Getty Images  Police officers in riot gear attempt to flip a car back onto it's wheels at Porte Maillot on June 25, 2015 in Paris. Protesters blocked roads to airports and train stations, overturning cars and setting tires on fire. Guillaume de Senneville—Demotix/Corbis  Hundreds of taxi drivers gather next to the Olympia Stadium to protest ride-sharing apps on June 11, 2014 in Berlin. Sean Gallup—Getty Images  A demonstrator kicks a car, suspected of being a private taxi during a 24 hour taxi strike and protest in Madrid on June 11, 2014. Paul White—AP  A taxi driver listens to speeches by his colleagues, during an Europe-wide protest of licensed taxi drivers against taxi hailing apps that are feared to flush unregulated private drivers into the market, in front of the Olympic stadium in Berlin on June 11, 2014. Thomas Peter—Reuters  Taxi drivers hold a banner during a protest in Barcelona on June 11, 2014. Josep Lago—AFP/Getty Images  London taxi's line up on The Mall during a protest against a new smart phone app, 'Uber' on June 11, 2014 in London. Dan Kitwood—Getty Images  Taxi drivers park their cars and honk the horn in protest on Pennsylvania Avenue, bringing street traffic to a stop as they demand an end to ride sharing services such as Uber X and Lyft on June 25, 2014, in Washington. PAUL J. RICHARDS—AFP/Getty Images  An Italian taxi driver distributes leaflets reading "Don't take an illegal taxi, take a white regular taxi" during a protest on June 11, 2014 in Rome. ANDREAS SOLARO—AFP/Getty Images  Taxis drivers block a highway outside Paris, near Roissy on June 11, 2014, as they take part in a demonstration to protest the growing number of minicabs, known in France as Voitures de Tourisme avec Chauffeurs (VTC). Fred Dufour—AFP/Getty Images So in a speech last week, UN Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka quietly cancelled the partnership. “Not only are we listening, we are aligned,” Mlambo-Ngcuka [said.](http://www.buzzfeed.com/johanabhuiyan/un-women-cancels-uber-partnership#.fvk38kPmb "undefined") “I also want to assure you that UN Women will not accept an offer to collaborate on job creation with Uber, so you can rest assured about that.” ([UN Women](http://www.unwomen.org/en "undefined") is the branch of the United Nations that works to empower women and girls and to end gender discrimination.) \[H/T [Buzzfeed](http://www.buzzfeed.com/johanabhuiyan/un-women-cancels-uber-partnership#.fvk38kPmb "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3754537/un-women-breaks-off-partnership-with-uber/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3754537/un-women-breaks-off-partnership-with-uber/"},"headline":"UN Women Breaks Off Partnership with Uber","datePublished":"2015-03-23T20:41:25.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T04:45:00.156Z","description":"Just weeks after they announced partnership to create 1 million jobs for women","url":"https://time.com/3754537/un-women-breaks-off-partnership-with-uber/","keywords":["Living","Tech","women","apps","drivers","Uber","sexism"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Charlotte Alter","jobTitle":"Senior Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/charlotte-alter/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-living/","name":"Living"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3754537/un-women-breaks-off-partnership-with-uber/","name":"UN Women Breaks Off Partnership with Uber"}}]}] ```