Overview

• World leaders convened in New York for the 30th anniversary of the 1995 Beijing Declaration, reaffirming the commitment to its goals as progress remains slow and uneven.
• UN Secretary‑General António Guterres warned that an AI industry dominated by men, biased data and discriminatory algorithms is reinforcing inequality, with technology spreading hate.
• Officials described a growing backlash against women’s rights, with Guterres citing a “wave of misogyny,” and countries pointing to legislative rollbacks and anti‑gender rhetoric.
• UN Women’s Sima Bahous said about 676 million women and girls live within reach of deadly conflict, the highest since the 1990s, with crises spanning Afghanistan, the DRC, Gaza, Sudan, Ukraine and Yemen.
• Leaders called for concrete steps including investment in girls’ STEM education, universal CEDAW ratification, gender parity in decision‑making and funding for women’s organizations, noting that no woman has ever served as UN secretary‑general.