Executive Director, UN Office on Drugs and Crime, Ghada Waly:

Statement on International Women's Day - 'I Am Generation Equality: Realizing Women's Rights'

8 March 2020

A world where every woman and girl can realize all of her rights was the goal of leaders in Beijing twenty-five years ago, when they signed on to an ambitious declaration and plan of action. 

A generation later, we have achieved much progress, but discrimination and violence against women and girls are still keeping us from fulfilling the promise of the Sustainable Development Goals: to leave no one behind.

Women represent around one out of three people who use drugs, but far fewer women than men can get the treatment they need. Three-quarters of all detected victims of human trafficking are women and girls. More than half of the women and girl victims of homicide die at the hands of their intimate partners or other family members.

Bold, decisive action can bridge the gap to Generation Equality.

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) is helping women access prevention and treatment services for drug use and associated disorders. We manage the only UN Trust Fund addressing the needs of women and girl victims of human trafficking, which provides direct assistance to 3,500 victims a year in over 60 countries. With our UN partners, UNODC promotes holistic approaches to gender-based violence, bringing together health, social, police and justice sectors to build prevention strategies and provide support services. We help integrate gender perspectives in responses to terrorism and prison management. 

Together, on today's International Women's Day, let us pledge to realize the commitments of the Beijing Declaration and the SDGs in the Decade of Action.