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STORY: UN / CSW70 GUTERRES CIVIL SOCIETY
TRT: 3:34
SOURCE: UNIFEED
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 10 MARCH 2026, NEW YORK CITY / FILE
FILE – NEW YORK CITY
1. Wide shot, exterior, United Nations Headquarters
10 MARCH 2026, NEW YORK CITY
2. Wide shot, conference room
3. SOUNDBITE (English) António Guterres, Secretary-General, United Nations:
“We still live in a male-dominated world with a male-dominated culture. And gender equality is fundamentally a question of power. We see those power gaps everywhere – from the arena of politics, to economic decision-making, to the technologies shaping our future, including AI.”
4. Wide shot, conference room
5. SOUNDBITE (English) António Guterres, Secretary-General, United Nations:
“A bitter wind is blowing around the world. That wind is hardening attitudes – and fueling a backlash against women’s rights. A backlash that thrives on disinformation. That exploits fear and insecurity. That weaponizes culture wars. And that seeks to push women into silence.”
6. Wide shot, conference room
7. SOUNDBITE (English) António Guterres, Secretary-General, United Nations:
“After all, the greatest obstacles – and the greatest opportunities – are in societies themselves: in laws, institutions, and power structures. That is why your work matters so much. You are pushing leaders to act when they would rather postpone. And you are expanding the boundaries of the possible. Women are leading the fight for rights across the board – from health to climate, from peacebuilding to labour.”
8. Wide shot, conference room
9. SOUNDBITE (English) António Guterres, Secretary-General, United Nations:
“Don’t let up. Progress is fragile. Rights can be rolled back much faster than they were won. Space can close quickly. And, yes, fatigue is also real – especially when opponents are well funded and ruthless. But I want you to know: Your work is making a real difference. For women and girls. For peace and sustainable development. For human rights and our shared future. For each and every one of us.”
10. Wide shot, conference room
11. SOUNDBITE (English) António Guterres, Secretary-General, United Nations:
“Keep shaking the foundations of privilege. You can count on me to be with you – now and always. And together, we will say loud and clear: No to the pushback. No to the rollback. No to going back. No surrender. We will never, ever give up.”
12. Wide shot, conference room
13. SOUNDBITE (English) Rosa Lizarde, Global Director, Feminist Task Force:
“One, we stressed reorganizing in a way that significantly strengthens and not whittles down the UN's gender equality work, leveraging its collective power to protect and promote the rights of women and girls and all their diversity, and allocating substantial resources for this work. Back then, we call for ambitiously funded gender equality architecture.”
14. Wide shot, conference room
15. SOUNDBITE (English) Joy Ngozi Ezeilo, Activist for Gender Equality from Nigeria:
“Solution, Mr. Secretary-General, I think it's time that the States must tell themselves truth. Gender budgeting is a solution that is part of accountability and State responsibility to enforce and fulfill women's rights and their commitment to United Nations and their commitment to other ratified international treaties.”
16. Wide shot, conference room
At a town hall with women civil society leaders, UN chief António Guterres said women are leading the fight for rights – from health to climate, from peacebuilding to labour, urging them to “keep shaking the foundations of privilege” and never give up.
In his remarks today (10 Mar), Guterres said, “we still live in a male-dominated world with a male-dominated culture. And gender equality is fundamentally a question of power.”
“We see those power gaps everywhere – from the arena of politics, to economic decision-making, to the technologies shaping our future, including AI,” the Secretary-General added.
Guterres cautioned that “a bitter wind” is sweeping the world, hardening attitudes and driving a backlash against women’s rights — a backlash fueled by disinformation, fear, and insecurity. “It weaponizes culture wars and that seeks to push women into silence,” he said.
The UN chief also said “the greatest obstacles – and the greatest opportunities – are in societies themselves: in laws, institutions, and power structures.” He underscored civil society’s vital role, “you push leaders to act when they’d rather delay, and you expand the boundaries of what’s possible.”
The Secretary-General reiterated, “your work is making a real difference. For women and girls. For peace and sustainable development. For human rights and our shared future. For each and every one of us.”
He said, “keep shaking the foundations of privilege. You can count on me to be with you – now and always.”
Guterres concluded, “together, we will say loud and clear: No to the pushback. No to the rollback. No to going back. No surrender. We will never, ever give up.”
For her part, Rosa Lizarde, Global Director of Feminist Task Force commented on UN reform. She stressed that the reorganizing should “significantly” strengthen and not whittle down the UN's gender equality work, “leveraging its collective power to protect and promote the rights of women and girls and all their diversity, and allocating substantial resources for this work.”
Nigerian activist for gender equality Joy Ngozi Ezeilo said, “it's time that the States must tell themselves truth. Gender budgeting is a solution that is part of accountability and State responsibility to enforce and fulfill women's rights and their commitment to United Nations and their commitment to other ratified international treaties.”
The town hall meeting of women civil society was held on the sideline of the he seventieth session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW70) in New York.
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