International Women's Day 2025 - UN Chief's message | United Nations

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When the doors of equal opportunity are

open for women and girls, everyone wins.

Equal societies are more prosperous and

peaceful and the foundation of

sustainable development. On this

International Women's Day, we recognize

30 years of progress and achievement

since the landmark United Nations

Conference in Beijing.

This transformed the rights of women and

reaffirmed those rights as human rights.

Since then, women and girls have

shattered barriers, defied stereotypes,

and demanded their rightful place.

But we must be cleareyed about the

challenge. From push back to roll back,

women's human rights are under attack.

Age old horrors, violence,

discrimination, and economic inequality

still plague societies.

And newest threats such as biased

algorithms and programming inequalities

into online spaces opening up new arenas

of harassment and abuse.

Instead of mainstreaming equal rights,

we are seeing the mainstreaming of

misogyny.

We must fight these outrigides and keep

working to level the playing field for

women and girls.

We need action to unlock finance so

countries can invest in equality and to

prioritize those investments. Action to

open up equal opportunities for decent

work, close the gender pay gap, and

tackle challenges around care work.

Action to strengthen and implement laws

to end all forms of violence against

women and girls. Action to secure

women's full participation in decision-m

including in peace building and action

to remove the obstacles to women and

girls in the fields of science,

technology, engineering and mathematics.

The United Nations spect for the future

and the global digital compact offer

blueprints to guide these actions. When

women and girls can rise, we all thrive

together. Let's stand firm in making

rights, equality, and empowerment a

reality for all women and girls, for

everyone, everywhere.

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