Thank you, Mr Chair.
As the United Kingdom prepares to mark International Women’s Day on 8 March, the day serves as an important reminder that gender equality benefits everyone. Progress towards a prosperous world free from poverty cannot be achieved without accelerating gender equality and the empowerment of all girls and women.
The current global trajectory is deeply concerning. Gender equality is under threat, and the world is off track to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 5 on Gender Equality by 2030. The power of online disinformation, harm and abuse, and the harnessing of violent misogynistic narratives by influential actors and groups globally is driving new and acute threats to gender equality. Where there have been hard-won legislative safeguards protecting women’s control over their health and bodies, we are seeing these being undermined and removed. Maternal mortality rates are stagnating and, in some cases, increasing. Human rights defenders and those who have dedicated their lives to advancing gender equality face violence and intimidation. In the OSCE region, there has been horrific evidence of conflict-related sexual violence perpetrated through Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine.
Growing levels of conflict and crisis disproportionately affect women and girls. They bear the brunt of conflict; humanitarian disaster; environmental degradation and food insecurity. The rights, freedoms, and wellbeing of women and girls in conflict and under repressive regimes are acutely constrained, driving intergenerational inequality and suffering.
In this context, it is more important than ever that we stand up for gender equality. Accelerated progress on gender equality will deliver global economic growth, contribute to a safer and more secure world, and contribute to solving the energy and climate crises.
The theme of International Women’s Day in 2025 is “Accelerate Action”. This focuses on the importance of taking swift and decisive steps to achieve gender equality. According to data from the World Economic Forum, at the current rate of progress it will take until the year 2158 – roughly five generations from now – to reach full gender parity. There is an urgent need to increase momentum in addressing the systemic barriers and biases that women face, both in personal and professional spheres.
The UK is committed to improving the outlook for women and girls globally, including through large-scale programmes to pioneer effective approaches to ending Gender Based Violence, and through supporting women’s rights activists’ advocacy in key decision-making fora. The UK particularly champions the voices and leadership of women and girls in Ukraine, recognising the critical contribution women are making on the frontline and in communities affected by Russia’s illegal invasion.
Mr Chair, we can only build a fairer, freer, safer, wealthier and greener world if we put women and girls at the heart of the OSCE’s work. Women’s inclusion in leadership and meaningful decision making is essential for local, national and regional progress.
It is vital that we, as OSCE participating States, fulfil our commitments to gender equality – as set out in the 1999 Charter for European Security, and related decisions – and ensure adequate funding for OSCE executive structures working to implement the organisation’s gender equality commitments.
As the UK has stated previously, the principles we mark on International Women’s Day are not just for a day. Advancing gender equality is a policy from which everyone benefits. It is vital that we follow through on our commitments to ensure the equal rights of all women and girls.
