Women’s rights fight intensifies at UN Summit

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As the Commission on the Status of Women drew to a close at the United Nations headquarters in New York on March 19th, the tone was urgent and resolute.

The challenges facing gender equality are mounting, delegates heard, but so too is the determination to confront them.

Over two weeks of negotiations and debate, representatives from nearly every corner of the world gathered to push a familiar but still unfinished agenda: securing justice and equal rights for women and girls. The outcome, described as a set of “historic” agreed conclusions, places access to justice at the centre of global efforts to advance gender equality.

Closing the session, UN Women Executive Director Sima Bahous acknowledged the scale of the obstacles ahead, from discriminatory laws to entrenched social norms, but emphasized a shared conviction that progress remains possible. Without women’s full participation in public life, she noted, ambitions for peace, prosperity, and sustainable development will remain out of reach, according to the statement issued recently.

This year’s session unfolded against a backdrop of global crises. From conflict zones to fragile states, women and girls continue to bear disproportionate costs. Bahous pointed to countries including Afghanistan, Ukraine, Sudan, and Haiti as places where the erosion of rights is most visible and most urgent.

Yet the commission also marked tangible steps forward. Governments are committed to reviewing laws that enable practices such as child marriage and unequal property rights, while calling for stronger protections against violence, both online and offline. The conclusions also highlight the need for better access to legal aid and survivor-centred justice systems.

Notably, the agreement recognises, for the first time, the role of community justice workers and paralegals in expanding access to justice, as well as the specific challenges faced by women in detention. It also underscores the importance of civil society, particularly feminist organisations, in driving change.

Participation at the session reflected the breadth of global engagement, with 190 member states represented and thousands of civil society actors contributing to discussions and side events.

Even so, the broader picture remains sobering. With the 2030 deadline for the Sustainable Development Goals approaching, none of the targets under Goal 5 on gender equality have been fully achieved.

As delegates departed, the message was clear: the gales are strong, but the resolve to overcome them is stronger—a reminder that the path to equality, while uncertain, remains firmly in motion.