UN Women: 10 years of championing women and girls

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equal rights have

never come easy whether it's girls

access to education

women's place in leadership or women's

and girls freedom and choice over their

own bodies

progress for women's rights has always

been a hard one battle

but ten years ago un member states took

a historic

step on the path towards gender equality

by enlisting some crucial allies

us by bringing together four parts of

the un systems

dedicated to women's issues it will now

be much more difficult

for the world to ignore the challenges

facing women and girls

or to fail to take the necessary action

as un women we hit the ground running

together with civil society governments

the private sector and in coordination

with our sister agencies in the un

system we have worked tirelessly to

place women's rights

priorities and voices on critical global

agendas

our staff in more than 90 countries have

delivered programs to transform

lives on the ground we have worked with

governments to change

laws and set standards to meet women's

needs

we have teamed up with influential and

intergenerational partners to spread our

message

we have engaged men and boys to create a

united force for gender equality

and thanks to our work with governments

and numerous partners over the last

decade

we have seen true progress more than two

billion women benefit from better

national policies to fully participate

in the economy

more than 1.5 billion women and girls

enjoy enhance the legal protections and

higher quality services to address

gender-based violence more than 25

countries

have reformed their constitutions in

support of women's political

participation

we need big bold steps

not incremental steps as covid 19

exposes the massive fault lines of

global inequality

as climate and humanitarian emergencies

threaten the most vulnerable

as movements for racial justice demand

an end to systemic discrimination

and as innovation and technology shape

our future societies

today a decade after our establishment

you and women's work is more important

than ever

women and girls need an ally and a

champion

to take on the unfinished business of

gender equality

equal rights have never come easy

but we've been standing alongside women

and girls in this fight

for 10 years and we're ready

for the next 10.

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you