United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres, speaking at a United Nations event marking International Women’s Day, urged governments and institutions to accelerate efforts on gender equality and announced the UN’s commitment to a system-wide gender equality “clarion call.”

Guterres said the world must "move forward, resilient, united, and unwavering in our pursuit of... equality, development, and peace for all women everywhere in the interest of humanity," invoking the Beijing Declaration on its 30th anniversary as the context for renewed action.

The secretary-general cited persistent global gaps in rights and safety for women and girls: "Every 10 minutes, a woman is killed by her partner or a family member," he said; he said 612,000,000 women and girls live in or near armed conflict, that fewer than two-thirds of women worldwide participate in the labor market, and that eradicating extreme poverty for women and girls will take "130 years" at current rates. He warned that digital tools, while offering opportunities, also "are often silencing women's voices, amplifying bias, and fueling harassment."

Guterres described recent UN and partner efforts, including the Spotlight Initiative, and attributed measurable results to coordinated programs. He said the UN and the European Union’s Spotlight Initiative helped keep "1 million more girls in school," helped prevent about "21,000,000 women and girls from experiencing gender-based violence," and that conviction rates for gender-based violence doubled across 13 Spotlight Initiative countries.

The secretary-general framed the new commitment as part of the UN system-wide gender equality acceleration plan and announced the UN’s adoption of the gender equality "clarion call," which he summarized as four priorities: unified leadership across the UN; action to confront backlash and prevent rollbacks of women's rights; coordinated cross-sector impact to dismantle systemic inequalities; and protections for women human rights defenders and those who speak out.

Guterres also said the UN has reached gender parity in senior leadership and among resident coordinators worldwide since 2020, and for the first time achieved parity in international professional categories within the organization. He called on governments, businesses and multilateral development banks to increase investment, expand debt relief and support programs for education, job creation and social protection so that countries can better fund equality-promoting services.

The speech combined calls for concrete investment with warnings about a global backlash: "Instead of mainstreaming equal rights, we are witnessing the mainstreaming of chauvinism and misogyny. We cannot stand by as progress is reversed. We must fight back," Guterres said.

The remarks were delivered as part of an International Women's Day program; no formal vote or legislative action was taken during the event. The secretary-general’s announcement describes a policy commitment by the United Nations system; implementation will depend on member-state actions and funding decisions by governments and international financial institutions.

Looking ahead, Guterres said the Global Digital Compact and the UN’s broader development agenda must close the gender digital divide and protect women from online abuse, and he urged attendees to "choose action over apathy" in advancing the Beijing vision for women and girls worldwide.