Speech: The Political Declaration’s vision must be made real – Change is there now to be grasped
Date:
Closing remarks by Ms. Sima Bahous, UN Under-Secretary-General and UN Women Executive Director, at the 69th session of the Commission on the Status of Women, 21 March 2025, UN headquarters.
Photo: UN Women/Ryan Brown.
This Commission on the Status of Women has shown that, whatever the headwinds, the United Nations is still the place where consensus can be found on gender equality. As this 69th Commission on the Status of Women closes, we share a deep recognition of the challenges and opportunities of gender equality. They have been articulated frequently, eloquently, and effectively these last two weeks—in an exceptional year.
We have seen stakeholders—be they from within or outside of government, national, global, or grassroots—we have seen them come together in a shared agenda and determination to do more together than could be done alone.