Report: Interactive multi-stakeholder hearing on 30th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration

Zonta UN New York Committee member, Leslie Wright, attended the hearing virtually on Thursday, 24 July 2025 from 10:00 am to 1:00 pm EDT. The in-person meeting was held in Conference Room 4 at UN Headquarters in New York, NY USA. The president of the UN General Assembly called the meeting to order. Statements were made by the Executive Director of UN Women and others at an opening panel. A second panel was then convened consisting of 5 panelists: Assel Sarsenbayeva (Kazakhstan) who addressed women in business; Ulrike Spangenberg (Germany) who spoke about the research her NGO performs on gender equality and its collaboration with government to effect change; Ilze Brands-Kehris (OHCHR Office in NY) who addressed human rights, the right to development and support for women in leadership as well as human rights defenders; Hanin Ahmed (Sudan) who spoke about violence and starvation from conflict and the role of grassroots women to alleviate suffering and advocate for peace; Martin Abregu (Ford Foundation) who discussed collaborations and the impact they have on justice and decision-making.

Following the panel were 14 interventions from Member States (countries): Argentina, Russian Federation, Rwanda, Peru, Ghana, Nigeria, Philippines, Brazil, Chile, Zimbabwe, Norway, Gambia, Timor Leste and Saudi Arabia. Most stressed the need for further collaboration and resources, especially to reach rural areas. Also noted was CSW revitalization, trafficking, child marriage, forced sterilization and abortion, sexual and reproductive health, violence against women and girls and the need to support democracy.

Interspersed among the interventions by governments were interventions from civil society (which includes NGOs) and Major Groups, as well as UN Agencies. They included WHO, Microsoft, Children/Youth Major Group, International Criminal Police Organization, Equality NOW, Temple of Understanding, Africa Center for Health, International Francophonie, American Pakistan Foundation, FEM, Feminist Major Group of women and girls, Young People in Western and Central Africa, ITC, Soka Gakkai, and PLAN International. Among the issues were violence, rape, need for peace, AI, need for effective law enforcement, need for more countries to perform annual reviews, partnerships, femicide, women’s heath, dangers of weaponizing family values, and the need to ACT BOLDLY for a new global compact that invests in girls’ leadership and rights.

25 AUGUST 2025