The President of the United Nations General Assembly, Annalena Baerbock says stronger global action is needed to advance Women’s rights.
Addressing the 70th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW70) opening in New York, Baerbock said the global community already understands the importance of women’s rights, but implementation remains the major challenge.
“After 70 sessions of this Commission on the Status of Women and 30 years since the Beijing Declaration, we no longer need to debate why women’s rights matter. The real question is, why are we still not delivering?” she queried
Baerbock warned that setbacks in gender equality are deliberate decisions rather than accidents.
“It’s not that we don’t know better. The answer is that inequality is an active choice. Rollbacks on equal rights are an active choice,” she stated.
She urged governments to move beyond commitments to concrete action, stressing that justice must be realised in law, in practice and in positions of power across societies and institutions.
Meanwhile, President of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), Ambassador Bahadur Sapa said the Commission has helped shape global commitments on gender equality for nearly eight decades.
“Today, we must confront a difficult truth. Progress towards gender equality remains far too slow,” Sapa said.
Sapa noted that women still lack equal legal protections in many parts of the world.
“Women globally still enjoy only about two-thirds of the legal rights available to men, and even where laws exist, many women and girls still struggle to access justice,” he said.
Sapa stressed that passing legislation alone does not guarantee equality.
“Equality is not achieved simply by adopting laws alone. It is achieved when justice systems work in practise. For every woman and every girl,” he added.
Civil Society Representative, Eunice Musiime said women and girls still face major barriers in accessing justice globally.
“For women and girls, justice is still a broken promise. In many rural areas, women will walk 200 kilometres to reach a police station. Justice cannot be a privilege of geography,” Musime stated.
Calling for urgent action, she said governments must ensure justice becomes a lived reality.
“Justice delayed is justice denied, and justice denied is dignity stolen. We will not accept stolen dignity,” Musiime said.
The outcome of CSW70 is expected to inform discussions at the 2026 High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development.