Women and gender issues

This morning, the Security Council met to hear from the remaining speakers in its annual open debate on women and peace and security.

Women remain starkly under-represented from peace talks and conflict resolution efforts, including in some of today’s most intractable conflicts, United Nations Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed told the Security Council today, opening its annual day-long open debate on women, peace and security.

The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) today released its annual Emissions Gap report. This year’s report says that nations must deliver dramatically stronger ambition and action in the next round of nationally determined contributions or the Paris Agreement’s 1.5°C goal will be gone within a few years.

Following are UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed’s remarks to the Security Council at the occasion of the open debate on women, peace and security, in New York today:

The latest report of the Secretary-General on women, peace and security says that the effects of war and conflict on women and girls are worsening. In 2023, the proportion of women killed in armed conflicts doubled compared to 2022 and four out of every 10 people who died because of conflict in 2023 were women.

In Lebanon, 12 UN trucks delivered bottled water, family hygiene kits and blankets, among other vital aid, to the Marjeyoun and Klayaa villages. This inter-agency mission is supported by the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, World Food Programme, UN refugee agency, UNICEF and the UN Population Fund.

The international community must not look away from the trampling of women’s rights in Gaza, Lebanon and Afghanistan, delegates told the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) today during its continued discussion on the advancement of women, as they also highlighted initiatives to accelerate progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly in achieving gender equality.

The global backlash against women’s and girls’ rights has reached extreme proportions in certain countries, threatening to undo decades of progress, experts told the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) today, as delegates underlined the need to transform structures of inequality and discrimination.

Following is UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ message for the International Day of the Girl Child, observed on 11 October:

Following are UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ remarks to the High-Level Side Event: Ways to Include Women in the Future of Afghanistan, in New York today: