This year, the Commission on the Status of Women’s 69th session (CSW69) in New York opened with somber words. The UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, warned attendees that the “poison of patriarchy is back with a vengeance.”
For many, the 30th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action—one of the most important blueprints for advancing women’s rights globally, adopted in 1995—was supposed to be a moment of celebration. Yet while significant progress has been made in many areas, not a single country has yet achieved gender equality. Far from fulfilling the ambitions outlined in the Beijing Declaration, progress on gender equality has stagnated or declined in 40 percent of countries. A growing backlash against gender equality and women’s rights is taking hold in one in four countries around the world— such as in Afghanistan, where women now live under what many deem “gender apartheid,” or the United States, where words such as “gender,” “gender-based violence,” “feminism,” and even “women” are being purged from government websites and documents. As we wrote recently, the backlash on gender equality, compounded by growing humanitarian crises and devastating cuts to foreign aid by the US and European donors, means millions of displaced women and girls around the world will be at increased risk of exploitation, violence, and death.
It was against this backdrop that nearly 6,000 people from around the world—including thousands of women human rights defenders, activists, community leaders, humanitarians, and policy makers, many of whom have experienced displacement or exile due to conflict or crisis—gathered in New York to discuss progress, challenges, and opportunities for advancing gender equality. Alongside the formal ministerial-level sessions, the nearly 200 side events addressed topics such as sexual and reproductive health and rights; the experiences of women in conflicts such as Sudan, Ukraine, and Gaza; gender-based violence; climate change; and the role of new technologies such as artificial intelligence in protecting or undermining women’s rights.
Whether in the grand opulence of the ministerial level sessions, the breakfast buffets at side events across Manhattan, or in hurried conversations between activists in the bustling corridors of UN headquarters, everyone acknowledged the scale of the complex crises facing the world today, which particularly put women and girls at risk. Authoritarianism, funding cuts, growing economic inequalities, and protracted conflicts where sexual violence continues to rise feel insurmountable to many. Yet amidst the frustration, anger, and very real traumas present in the conversations, there was a palpable sense of solidarity, resilience, and resistance. Activists from Sudan and Palestine exchanged common experiences of political and humanitarian neglect; ministers from various countries shared strategies for countering false narratives around reproductive health, and for defending sexual and reproductive rights. Despite the overwhelming circumstances, the message was resounding—women around the world are not giving up.
An event co-hosted by the Women’s Refugee Commission and several partners navigated how—and why—it is more important than ever to remain resilient and unwavering in our pursuit of a gender-equal world. Children and the Promise of Gender Equality emphasized the importance of fighting for gender equality for the next generation. Panelists shared projects, research, and policies that addressed gender inequality, gender-based violence, and the exclusion of girls, through community- and youth-led approaches, evidence-based innovations, and gender-transformative humanitarian programming. Lily Jacobi, WRC’s senior advisor on sexual and reproductive health, shared WRC’s research on the prevalence of sexual violence against adolescent boys and male youth in humanitarian emergencies. She spoke about new guidance and resources on how humanitarian responders can create humanitarian interventions that are more inclusive, accessible, and appropriate to the needs of adolescent boys and male youth survivors of sexual violence.
Susannah Friedman, WRC’s vice-president of programs, spoke at a separate event co-hosted by the World Bank and the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), that focused on how to improve evidence to strengthen approaches to gender equality and gender-based violence in forced displacement.
Among the many outcomes from CSW69, such as UN Women’s report reviewing women’s rights around the world and the launch of the Beijing+30 Action Agenda, it was the Political Declaration that gathered most attention. Adopted by member states at the opening of the conference, the political declaration followed weeks of negotiations, with some member states—notably the US, Argentina, and Russia—intensifying pressure to remove language on gender, inclusion, and sexual and reproductive health. Many feared how the UN, and its constituent member states, might succumb to these pressures, noting how crippling the loss of US foreign assistance and the threats of tariffs have been to so many member states. Despite this, the final political declaration is a largely powerful statement recommitting the international community to the ambitions of the Beijing Declaration, and including, for the first time, explicit references to sexual and gender-based violence. Yet many were disappointed at the exclusion of sexual and reproductive health and rights—underscoring how much there is still to fight for.
The challenge ahead now lies, as it has for 30 years, in whether international action can live up to the numerous commitments encapsulated in the Beijing Declaration and all the resolutions, commitments, and declarations for women’s rights that have followed. Governments which claim that they are still committed to gender equality must ensure those commitments are met with the resources, policy, and programs necessary to make these ambitions a reality—not the funding cuts that so many have promised. Members of Congress in the US must fight to make sure the US does not abandon its historic global leadership on women’s rights and gender equality. The UN must not compromise on standing up for gender equality, and the protection of women’s rights around the world.
For displaced and immigrant women and girls, who so often are prevented from accessing their rights, excluded from national services that can advance gender equality, and at greater risk of exploitation and violence, the urgency for action is more critical than ever.
Watch a short video of Sadia Najma Kidwai, WRC advocacy officer, speaking about the importance of CSW.