The advancement of women relies on all of us: UK Statement at the UN Third Committee
Statement by Archie Young, UK Ambassador to the General Assembly at the General Debate of the UN Third Committee.
Chair, thank you, we welcome this opportunity to discuss the advancement of women, and we thank all those who have been involved in the preparation of relevant reports for their work.
Chair, The UK has long been at the vanguard of championing the rights of women and girls around the world, and we will continue our work to promote women’s and girls’ rights so that they can lead development in their communities and influence international action.
We will continue to stand up and speak out for their rights and freedoms on the global stage and in our bilateral relationships. We will also ensure that all women and girls have access to essential, quality education, including comprehensive sexuality education, and sexual and reproductive health and rights.
But we are at a critical time. We are acutely conscious that 2030 is just six years away, and that investing in women and girls is a key accelerator of progress across all the Sustainable Development Goals, including SDG5.
So, we must seize the opportunity that 2025 presents. The Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action is one of the most comprehensive blueprints available for advancing gender equality and women’s empowerment, and we look forward to next year’s Commission on the Status of Women and the opportunity to mark the thirtieth anniversary of Beijing and review and encourage progress, and stand ready to make the process a success.
However, alongside such opportunities, there remain challenges, and in this respect, we thank the Working Group on Discrimination Against Women and Girls for their report on ‘Escalating backlash against gender equality and urgency of reaffirming substantive equality and the human rights of women and girls’ presented at the 56th session of the Human Rights Council.
As we have noted, we share the Working Group’s concern around the heightened backlash against the advancement of women and girls’ rights and recognise the need for concerted collective efforts to counter it.
This is even more important when, as the report on obstetric fistula states, the reduction of global maternal mortality rates has stagnated since 2016. Every day, 800 women die from preventable causes related to pregnancy and childbirth, still more experience acute or chronic morbidities.
Comprehensive sexual and reproductive health and rights are lifesaving, and should not be politicised. We, the UK, are working with partners globally to counter this, including in the multilateral system and are committed to building international consensus to stop those intent on rolling back rights and putting hard-won progress into reverse.
Ultimately, the advancement of women relies on all of us to counter this rollback and defend and promote women and girls’ rights at all levels, in all their diversity.
Chair, gender equality and the advancement of women is not just the right thing to do, it is the smart thing to do for our democracies, for our economies and for our futures. This was made clear in the Pact for the Future, and we reiterate it here today.
If we can truly prioritise women’s advancement, we will unlock the full potential of half the world’s population, with all the transformative impact that would bring.