Director-General/Executive Director
Excellencies,
Ladies and gentlemen,
I am honoured to join you this morning to mark the 30th anniversary of the Beijing Platform for Action.
I want to thank the Permanent Missions of China and Sweden and the Group of Friends of Gender, for bringing us together to reflect on and reignite the promise of Beijing.
Thirty years ago, 189 governments raised their voices to declare that the rights of women and girls are universal, inalienable, and essential to the progress of our societies.
It was more than just a policy shift; it was a paradigm shift that placed justice and women’s rights at the core of peace, security, and human rights.
Like many of you, I was a young professional at the time, working on a UNDP project providing micro finance to rural women and I was so inspired and motivated by the Beijing Declaration.
It made us believe that real, lasting change was possible.
Since then, we have seen some of that change.
According to a global study by UN Women, more than 1,500 legal reforms have been implemented over the past three decades to advance gender equality.
And the number of countries that have enacted laws criminalizing various forms of gender-based violence has increased from 12 to 162.
Yet despite the progress, challenges persist, and women in many places around the world are not receiving the attention or support they need.
Budgets are shrinking, along with resources for women’s organizations.
And the consequences are clear – more violence, more suffering, and more inequality, with women and girls hit the hardest.
For example, the number of femicides remains at staggering levels globally, with 85,000 women and girls killed in a single year because of their gender.
In too many cases, victims of femicide had previously reported violence and their killings could have been prevented.
Women and girls also account for the majority of detected human trafficking victims, at greater risk of suffering sexual exploitation and forced marriage.
And in the digital space, women, especially journalists and politicians, face escalating abuse, harassment, and threats that silence their voices and deters them from running for public office.
Amidst these challenges, women are too often shut out of the spaces where decisions are made, in security institutions, in law enforcement, and in the judiciary.
Women today make up just 17 per cent of police officers and 40 per cent of judges globally, and the higher up the career ladder they try to climb the lower their chances of progressing.
That’s why, when I joined UNODC as the first woman Executive Director, I made women’s empowerment an institutional priority in UNODC’s Corporate Strategy.
I’m especially proud that we have achieved and maintained gender parity across UNOV/UNODC.
We’ve also increased the number of women field representatives from 18 per cent to 41 per cent.
This wasn’t about ticking boxes. It was about impact. We didn’t select them because they are women, we selected them because they are the best.
Women make up 50 per cent of our societies, and when institutions reflect the people they serve, they are stronger, more accountable, and more effective.
And the same applies in the justice sector.
When women participate in law enforcement, they build trust in communities.
When programmes are gender-responsive, the results reach more people, more fairly.
And when women lead, change takes root and lasts longer.
Excellencies,
Over the past decade, UNODC has been helping to build criminal justice capacities in 60 countries to address violence against women and girls.
We’ve been engaging with frontline institutions, including police officers, prosecutors, customs agents, prison staff, and civil society actors working on justice reform.
In East Africa, for example, we have been working with UN Women through our Empowering Every Badge project, to make law enforcement more effective through training, leadership development, and male engagement.
This is a strong example of collaboration and partnership within the UN system, combining UN Women’s experience in social change and UNODC’s operational reach in security institutions.
In Nigeria, we supported the country’s first-ever conviction for conflict-related sexual violence and worked with UNFPA and national partners to ensure that survivors received care, support, and dignity.
In our Passenger and Cargo Control Programme, the proportion of women in UNODC-supported units has more than doubled since 2015, and nearly a third now hold leadership roles.
These changes are translating into stronger institutional trust, better service delivery, and more effective crime prevention strategies.
We are also supporting professional women’s networks in justice and security.
This includes the Women in Justice/for Justice initiative, which I have been extremely proud to champion.
Last year, to expand the initiative, we launched a mentorship programme connecting women professionals across regions and disciplines, amplifying expertise, leadership, and solidarity.
And beyond justice, we are looking at the root causes of vulnerability.
Through our Alternative Development programmes, we are empowering women in rural communities to move away from illicit crop cultivation toward sustainable livelihoods.
In Colombia, we helped set up almost 200 inclusive businesses, training 600 women in entrepreneurship and market access.
And in Myanmar, we supported hundreds of women, who have gone on to form business enterprises, leading to a community-driven movement where they are making business decisions and linking to new markets.
Because when women have access to education, jobs, and economic empowerment, they are better protected and more resilient to violence.
Ladies and gentlemen,
While we have made progress over the past 30 years, we meet at a time when gender equality is facing growing resistance and pushback globally.
This conference is an opportunity to respond to this pushback with renewed urgency and to reaffirm that multilateral action is essential for gender justice.
And this is a pivotal year to do so, with the High-Level Political Forum in July, the 25th anniversary of Security Council Resolution 1325, and the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development in Sevilla.
These will be key moments to put gender equality front and centre.
We are also working on UNODC’s new Corporate Strategy for 2026-2030, of which gender will be a top priority.
And the insights you provide over the course of this conference will help feed into our work.
Let us use this conference to carry forward the legacy of Beijing, by translating it into concrete action that delivers protection, participation, and justice for women and girls, everywhere.
Thank you.
