Women and gender issues

Following are UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ remarks to the Military Gender Advocate of the Year Award, United Nations Woman Police Officer of the Year Award and Dag Hammarskjold Medal ceremonies, in New York today:

The United Nations has announced the 2024 recipients of the Military Gender Advocate of the Year Award and the Woman Police Officer of the Year Award.

In Chad, UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Thomas Fletcher has allocated $2.5 million from the UN Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) to urgently respond to the massive influx of refugees and returnees in the east of the country from Sudan. This brings CERF's total allocation to Chad this year to $16 million.

A report released today by the UN Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women on how funding reductions are impacting local women-led groups in crisis settings revealed that nearly half of the over 400 organizations in 44 countries expect to have to close their operations within six months.

Women and girls must be at the forefront of designing and implementing technology and artificial intelligence (AI) tools to promote gender equality and combat gender-based violence, speakers emphasized today at the tenth multi-stakeholder forum on science, technology and innovation for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The Commission on the Status of Women today adopted a political declaration on the thirtieth anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women, recognizing that 2025 is a momentous chance to bring Member States together to intensify efforts to achieve the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and to achieve gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls.

In an interactive dialogue on environmental conservation, protection and rehabilitation, the Commission on the Status of Women today heard from speakers who called on Governments to bridge the gap between policy and practice and empower Indigenous women and other marginalized groups in a world where progress is “being slashed by anti-rights actors that are in the league with fossil-fuel industries and tech billionaires”.

The Commission on the Status of Women held an interactive dialogue today on gender-based violence, stigma, and stereotypes, focusing on the role of men and boys in ending the crisis, policy and legal responses to technology-facilitated violence, and the growing threat to women’s rights amid a “resurgence of right-wing authoritarian politics”.

The Commission on the Status of Women entered its second week today with an interactive dialogue on inclusive development, shared prosperity and decent work. Speakers emphasized the urgency of turning gender equality commitments into concrete, actionable policies to ensure women have equal opportunities to improve their employment prospects and livelihoods.

The Commission on the Status of Women wrapped up its first week today, with a dialogue among youth representatives who stressed the need to include the next generation of leaders not only in conversations about women and girls’ empowerment but in leadership roles that fight for disability inclusion, finance gender equality, dismantle patriarchal norms and defend Indigenous voices.