New York, 10 March 2026 – The United Nations marked the International Women’s Day this year while the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) began its annual meeting at UN Headquarters and has adopted a set of Agreed Conclusions to strengthen access to justice for all women and girls.
CSW is the UN’s principal intergovernmental body dedicated to advancing gender equality and women’s empowerment globally. Established 70 years ago, the Commission held its meetings in New York attended by delegations of women from around the world under the theme “Rights. Justice. Action.” The UN celebrates the International Women’s Day 9 March each year and the CSW meets 9-19 March.
The Commission said the Agreed Conclusions aimed at “Ensuring and strengthening access to justice for all women and girls, including by promoting inclusive and equitable legal systems, eliminating discriminatory laws, policies, and practices and addressing structural barriers.” The Agreed Conclusions are considered a global policy to guide governments, UN agencies and non-governmental organizations on gender equality issues.
The commission said the Agreed Conclusions were adopted with 37 votes in favor against one (the United States) with six abstentions: Côte d’Ivoire, Egypt, Mali, Mauritania and Saudi Arabia.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in an address opening the meeting that
the CSW has been from the beginning a “meeting ground of frontline defenders. A wellspring of conviction, passion, and energy. And a global platform for truth-telling.”
“So let me begin with an often unspoken, but age-old, truth: We live in a male-dominated world and a male-dominated culture. Gender equality is – and always has been – a question of power.
He said, “Not a single step forward for women’s rights has ever been given. It has been won. Won by generations of women and girls, advocates and activists, community
leaders and justice seekers. Won by you.”
The UN Chief said women around the globe hold only 64 per cent of the legal rights enjoyed by men. ”In a world strained by conflict, climate chaos, widening inequalities and technological upheaval, the pushback on women’s rights is in overdrive,” he said. “Hard-won legal protections are being eroded.”
“Yet, over 40 countries have amended constitutions to advance women’s rights; 90 per cent have strengthened laws against violence. “The world is changing because women are changing it. But we have barriers to overcome and gaps to fill – opportunity gaps, implementation gaps, justice gaps.”
UN Chief applauds civil society organizations for “shaking the foundations of privilege” in a male-dominated world.
Following his address to CSW, the UN chief held a townhall meeting with NGOs and called them “You are foundation-shakers, and you are shaking out justice, dignity and equality for communities across the globe.”
Guterres pointed out the persistent power imbalances, including in politics, the economy and emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and he warned of a growing backlash against women’s rights fuelled by disinformation and culture wars.
“These are trying times,” he said. “A bitter wind is blowing around the world. That wind is hardening attitudes and fuelling a backlash against women’s rights…that thrives on disinformation, that exploits fear and insecurity, that weaponizes culture wars and that seeks to push women into silence.”
“The last thing I want from you today is silence,” he said.
Governments reach a powerful global agreement to strengthen access to justice for all women and girls, UN Women Executive Director says in a press release.
New York – As the largest United Nations convening dedicated to gender equality and women’s rights opens today, governments meeting at the 70th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW70) have adopted by broad consensus a powerful set of Agreed Conclusions aimed at strengthening access to justice for all women and girls and advancing gender equality worldwide.
Through this negotiated outcome, global leaders reaffirmed that access to justice is a transformative force for women and girls, which advances equality and non-discrimination, protects against violence and abuse, and strengthens trust in institutions. The Agreed Conclusions provide a roadmap to build more inclusive governance, support peace and social cohesion, and prevent future violations.
Welcoming its adoption, Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of UN Women Sima Bahous said: “I applaud the delegations that have worked tirelessly to reach these Agreed Conclusions. They represent an important commitment to advancing access to justice for women and girls, ending impunity, and building justice systems that work for everyone, equally. By coming together, governments are once again demonstrating to the world what this Commission can achieve – and what our multilateral system can deliver for women and girls.”
The Chair of the Commission on the Status of Women, Ambassador Martiza Chan of Costa Rica, reflected on the importance of carrying these commitments forward beyond the session, noting: “We came here to commemorate, and we’re leaving with something harder to carry – responsibility.
Every woman who spoke to us today carried a single message: behind every statistic is a life, behind every negotiating position, is a woman or girl waiting to see if we mean what we say.”
“The answer depends on political will”, she concluded.
“We no longer need to debate why women’s rights matter. The facts are clear… It’s not that we don’t know better,” said Annalena Baerbock, General Assembly President.
“The answer is that inequality is an active choice. Rollbacks on equal rights are an active choice,” she said ad reported by UN News.
Globally, women have only two thirds of the legal rights afforded to men.; 54 per cent of countries lack consent-based legal definitions of rape; 72 per cent allow child — so de-facto girls — marriage, and 44 per cent do not mandate equal pay for equal work.
“These are not oversights but deliberate choices that violate the UN Charter, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and 70 years of commitments made in this Commission,” she said.
The most extreme example is in Afghanistan. “So we have to be clear: any normalization with this — what some call gender apartheid regime — would be also an active choice to tolerate the most severe women’s rights violation,” she said.
She pointed out that three quarters of parliamentarians worldwide are men, and 103 countries have never had a female Head of State.
“I am only the fifth female President of the General Assembly,” she said. And in 80 years, a woman has never been Secretary-General – an active choice.
“The question is not why a woman should be Secretary-General — but why not,” she said, stressing: “Justice in practice will never be delivered without justice in power.”