LAGOS, Nigeria(VOICE OF NAIJA)- At a major UN gender equality gathering in New York, Secretary-General António Guterres praised women’s rights advocates for confronting entrenched power structures while warning that disinformation, culture wars, and shifting politics threaten progress on inclusion.
The women’s rights advocates received strong backing from the United Nations leadership this week, at the town hall meeting on the margins of the 70th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW70) at UN Headquarters in New York.
The UN Chief described activists as catalysts for global change in a world where leadership structures remain largely male-dominated, commending them for confronting entrenched systems of privilege that continue to sideline women from power.
“You are foundation-shakers and you are shaking out justice, dignity and equality for communities across the globe,” Guterres said.
The high-level gathering, which opened on March 10 and runs until March 19, brought together policymakers, activists, scholars and civil society leaders focused on advancing women’s inclusion across political, economic and technological spaces.
However, Guterres warned that progress toward gender equality faces growing resistance worldwide. Rising disinformation campaigns, culture wars and deepening political divides are fuelling renewed pushback against women’s rights. According to the Secretary-General, the backlash is sustained by false narratives and fear-driven politics designed to silence women’s voices.
“These are trying times. A bitter wind is blowing around the world. That wind is hardening attitudes and fuelling a backlash against women’s rights. That wind thrives on disinformation, that exploits fear and insecurity, that weaponizes culture wars and that seeks to push women into silence,” Guterres said, stressing that activists must refuse to retreat.
He added that “the last thing I want from you today is silence.”
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Meanwhile, discussions at the forum also touched on proposals to restructure parts of the UN’s gender architecture. Several participants questioned a plan that could merge UN Women with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), two agencies central to global gender equality and reproductive health programmes.
While some advocates raised concerns about preserving each agency’s mandate, Guterres explained that the proposal is intended to create a “more powerful” structure capable of delivering stronger impact through shared resources.
Voices from the Global South also called for renewed commitment from governments. Nigerian legal scholar Joy Ngozi Ezeilo highlighted shrinking civic spaces, funding shortages and mounting restrictions on activism as barriers to women’s advancement.
“It’s time States must tell themselves the truth. Now, it’s time to reassert that women’s rights are human rights,” she said.
Ezeilo also noted that despite gains made since the historic Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, governments must strengthen financial and political commitments to sustain progress.
Now in the final year of his tenure, Guterres said that reshaping global power structures to enable gender equality remains one of the legacies he hopes to leave behind. Defending the rights of women and girls while expanding opportunities for leadership often brings risks, he acknowledged.
“It comes at a price. You may face threats, intimidation and harassment. When you push for change, you are pushing against the patriarchy, and the patriarchy is pushing back,” he noted.
Support from the UN system, he assured activists, will continue even amid rising resistance.
“You can count on me to be with you, now and always. No to the pushback, no to the rollback, no to going back, no surrender. We will never, ever give up,” Guterres said.
(NAN)
