Speech: We are not deterred – Let us push forward together for gender equality

We are here today because we, collectively, know that the backlash against gender equality is on the rise. Long-established, universal human rights and women’s rights frameworks are being challenged. National and multilateral policy discussions are marred by paralysing polarization. Hard-won gender equality gains are at risk and already being reversed. And advocates of equality face escalating hostilities, compromising their abilities to effect change. This is happening against a backdrop of cascading crises, from a planet on fire, to the wars and violence in Gaza, Sudan, Ukraine, Haiti, and many other places in the world.

Yet, we are not deterred. Women human rights defenders, youth, civil society, parliamentarians, and public servants at all levels within governments and in multilateral organizations are working to push forward for gender equality in their communities and in their countries. They are working for peace, a planet in balance, and to advance the promises of the Sustainable Development Goals.

And that is why I am hopeful about today’s discussion.

I welcome this opportunity to shine a light on this work so we can learn from it. So that we can replicate it. So that we can be buoyed with solidarity and strategy to push forward in bringing to life the existing gender equality commitments we have already made. I hope that the takeaways from today will carry through to the Summit of the Future, and in your discussions—in whatever form—on the Pact for the Future. I hope the Pact can be bold and ambitious, and that it does justice to the rights and needs of women and girls everywhere.

At UN Women—with our sister UN agencies—we will amplify and increase awareness of impactful practices, across diverse and often difficult contexts. We will do this through reaffirming the international human rights frameworks on women’s rights and equality and through holding inclusive, open spaces for dialogue to build trust, common positions, and collaborative ways forward.

We will centre the importance of intergenerational and intersectional learning, especially from the women’s movement, and we will provide technical and financial resources to directly support women human rights defenders, civil society, and youth groups. In doing so, we will ensure that the lived experiences of women and girls are front and centre. And that our solutions are driven by the specific contextual needs.

Next year we will mark the 30th anniversary of the Beijing Platform for Action. It can be a watershed moment for all of us, if we choose it, to recommit to the promises made then, and to get us back to a path of sustainable development, peace, security, and equality.

I will end by reiterating my call from International Women’s Day: For us to be the light that brings hope and accelerates progress towards an equal, sustainable, and peaceful future for all people, for every woman, and every girl, everywhere.

I know that this is within our reach, so, let us all push forward together.

I thank you and wish you a successful CSW68!