The Commission on the Status of Women continued its sixty-ninth session today holding a ministerial roundtable discussion, with speakers sharing best practices and challenges in regard to their national strategies aiming to achieve gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls.

Following are UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ remarks to the town hall meeting with civil society on the occasion of the sixty-ninth session of the Commission on the Status of Women, in New York today:

The Commission on the Status of Women opened its sixty-ninth session today in the General Assembly, marking 30 years since the landmark 1995 Beijing Conference on Women, which pledged to achieve gender equality and uphold women’s rights. Speakers emphasized the critical work still needed to advance these goals “in the face of immense obstacles”.

Following are UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ remarks to the opening of the sixty-ninth session of the Commission on the Status of Women, in New York today: