Speech: UN Secretary-General’s remarks to the opening of the 70th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women

Gender equality is – and always has been – a question of power. Not a single step forward for women’s rights has ever been given. It has been won. Won by generations of women and girls, advocates and activists, community leaders and justice seekers. Won by you.

So before anything else, I want to say: thank you. Thank you for being the conscience and catalyst for a better world – for women, for girls, and for all of humanity.

Excellencies, dear friends, this year’s theme cuts to the heart of the struggle for equality: access to justice. Here we are, well into the 21st century, yet justice remains a distant dream for millions upon millions of women and girls. Discriminatory laws persist. Patriarchal norms endure. Around the globe, women hold only 64 per cent of the legal rights enjoyed by men.

This gap is structural, not accidental, and it limits opportunity across societies. We are a world strained by conflict, climate chaos, widening inequalities and technological upheaval. And in this turbulent world, the pushback on women’s rights is in overdrive.

Let’s be clear: backlash is what entrenched power does when it feels its grip loosening. And the evidence is all around us. Hard-won legal protections are being eroded. Women human rights defenders are under attack. Sexual and reproductive health and rights are being undermined.

At the same time, at a moment when the Middle East and other parts of the world are engulfed in conflict, we know that women and children are bearing the brunt of violence and displacement. The number of women and girls living within 50 kilometres of a deadly conflict is at its highest in decades. Conflict-related sexual violence has surged by 87 per cent in just two years. 

And yet – despite the troubling trends and pressures – women’s movements are persisting. Driving reforms. Defending communities. Shaping societies. More than 40 countries have amended constitutions to advance women’s rights. Ninety per cent have strengthened laws against violence.

The world is changing because women are changing it. But we have barriers to overcome and gaps to fill – opportunity gaps, implementation gaps and justice gaps. 

And that brings me to my core message: Justice for women and girls must be a cornerstone of the world we seek to build. Equality is the bedrock of progress – as affirmed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights … the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women … and the Beijing+30 Plan of Action.

Let me highlight four frontlines for justice.

First, justice is the engine for sustainable development. When women and girls can claim their rights – to inherit property, to fair work, to legal identity, to land – entire societies move forward. But when justice systems fail women, inequality hardens into poverty – and development stalls before it can begin.

This is a global challenge. Yet the situation in Afghanistan stands out. Women are being systematically erased from public life – and now even prevented from entering UN compounds.

This is injustice in practice – undermining development today and closing off the future for all Afghans. Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals means achieving equal access to justice for everyone, everywhere.

Second, justice is the foundation of peace and security. When women participate meaningfully in peace processes and transitional justice, agreements last longer and societies heal more deeply. 

But the world continues to fall short. Inclusion is proclaimed, yet women are absent from negotiating tables. Protection is pledged, yet sexual violence persists with impunity. Leadership is invoked, yet women peacebuilders are underfunded, under threat, and under-recognized.

In conflict zones, the absence of justice becomes another form of violence. Impunity fuels brutality. Survivors remain unheard. Communities fracture. And cycles of abuse deepen. Ensuring access to justice – even in the midst of crisis – is essential to breaking those cycles.

Third, justice is the guardian of human rights and human dignity. When a woman’s testimony is dismissed – when a girl is denied her day in court – when laws discriminate, or police fail to act – human rights erode for everyone. And justice also means confronting the epidemic of violence against women and girls in all its forms: domestic abuse, trafficking, sexual violence in conflict, and the harassment that limits women’s freedom every single day.

These crimes permeate every level of society. And as we sadly see, the exploitation of women and girls can reach the highest halls of influence – sustained by a toxic convergence of money, patriarchy and impunity.

This must end. We cannot – and must not – look away.

Fourth, justice is essential to a safe and inclusive digital future. If gender equality is a question of power, then we must look at one of the most powerful industries on Earth – technology, and, increasingly artificial intelligence. Patriarchy still casts a long shadow in the Silicon Valleys of the world – embedding the hierarchies of the past into the infrastructure of the future. Just one in four tech workers is a woman. 

When women are absent from the design of digital systems, male chauvinism fills the gap. Algorithms that hardwire discrimination. Online platforms that are megaphones for misogyny. And artificial intelligence that reinforces inequality instead of correcting it.

Technology companies must take responsibility.

And all of us must work to close the digital gender divide.

As an engineer, I want to emphasize this must include expanding opportunities for girls and women in science and technology. 

Fifth, justice is essential for climate action. Women and girls – especially in rural and marginalized communities – bear the brunt of climate devastation. When laws deny women equal rights to land, water, resources, and environmental decision-making, climate resilience collapses. But when women lead – when they help design adaptation strategies, safeguard ecosystems, and shape climate policy – responses become more just, and more effective.

Climate justice and gender justice go hand-in-hand.

Excellencies, dear friends, allow me one final point of personal privilege. After nearly a decade as Secretary-General, this is my final time addressing the opening of the Commission on the Status of Women. Let me be clear: this is not a farewell.

I look forward to working with you through the entire year and far beyond, wherever I’ll be. But I want you to know what I have seen. I have seen women around the world standing strong in the rubble of earthquakes and in the ashes of war. In refugee camps and rural villages. In parliaments and in protests. 

I have heard you demand accountability in the face of impunity. I have seen you in action, lifting countless lives. I have watched you build movements that have reshaped the world. I am profoundly honoured to be your ally in the struggle.

You can keep counting on me every step of the way. For equality. For dignity. For justice. For every woman and girl.

Thank you.