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STORY: UN / CSW 69 OPENING
TRT: 04:12
SOURCE: UNIFEED
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGES: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 10 MARCH 2025, NEW YORK CITY / FILE
FILE – NEW YORK CITY
1. Wide shot, United Nations headquarters
10 MARCH 2025, NEW YORK CITY
2. Wide shot, General Assembly Hall
3. Various shots, musical composition inspired by the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, titled ‘Sonic journey through women's empowerment’
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Abdulaziz M. Alwasil, Chair, Asia and Pacific States Group, Saudi Arabia:
“We gather here today, not only as a leaders and advocates, but as custodians of a vision, one that in 1995 set forth the most ambitious and transformative agenda for gender equality and the rights and empowerment of all women's and girls. Beijing was watershed moment, a bold and unequivocal commitment by the League, by the global community, to ensure women's and girls’ full and equal participation in all aspect of life.”
5. Wide shot, the Secretary General Antonio Guterres walks up to the rostrum
6. SOUNDBITE (English) António Guterres, Secretary-General, United Nations:
“Women's rights are under siege. The poison of patriarchy is back, and is back with a vengeance, slamming the brakes on action, tearing up progress and mutating into new and dangerous forms.”
7. Wide shot, the Secretary General Antonio Guterres at the rostrum
8. SOUNDBITE (English) António Guterres, Secretary-General, United Nations:
“Now is the time for the world to accelerate progress and deliver on the promise of Beijing.”
9. Wide shot, the Secretary General Antonio Guterres at the rostrum
10. SOUNDBITE (English) António Guterres, Secretary-General, United Nations:
“In many countries, women and girls are still denying the most basic of rights, the right not to be raped by your husband, the right to own property or confer citizenship on an equal footing with Men, or to access credit without your husband's permission. Around the world, hard one gains are being thrown into reverse. Reproductive rights are under attack and equality initiatives discarded. In Afghanistan, women and girls have been stripped of their most basic rights, forbidden even from raising their voices in public.”
11. Wide shot, the Secretary General Antonio Guterres at the rostrum
12. SOUNDBITE (English) António Guterres, Secretary-General, United Nations:
“Up to 95 per cent of all online deep fakes are nonconsensual pornographic images, and 90 per cent depict women and an equal access to technologies inflames existing inequalities.”
13. Various shots, the Secretary General Antonio Guterres leaves the rostrum, the audience clapping
14. Wide shot, General Assembly President Philemon Yang at the GA rostrum
15. SOUNDBITE (English) Philemon Yang, President, General Assembly:
“As the 2030 deadline for the sustainable development goals nears, we must be resolute in delivering on the promise of Beijing to end poverty and enhance economic development. We must unleash women's potential, and we are at a defining moment. I believe it is possible to achieve gender equality in our lifetime, if we seize this opportunity.”
16. Wide shot, UN Women Executive Director Sima Bahous at the rostrum
17. SOUNDBITE (English) Sima Bahous, UN Under-Secretary-General and UN Women Executive Director:
“2025 must be a turning point, a moment in the history of this long struggle where we embrace bold, urgent and transformative action, where we show our resolve to push forward for rights, for equality and for empowerment for all women and girls.”
18. Various shots, women delegates
“Women’s rights are under siege. The poison of patriarchy is back, and it is back with a vengeance,” United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres told delegates at the opening of the 69th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), marking the 30th anniversary of the landmark Beijing Declaration.
The session, chaired by Saudi Arabia, convened world leaders and advocates today (Mar 10) to assess progress and persistent challenges in gender equality. Guterres warned that hard-won gains are being reversed, citing setbacks in reproductive rights, economic equality, and legal protections. “In many countries, women and girls are still denied the most basic of rights—the right not to be raped by your husband, the right to own property or confer citizenship on an equal footing with men, or to access credit without your husband's permission,” he said.
The Secretary-General also pointed to the rise of digital threats. “Up to 95 percent of all online deep fakes are nonconsensual pornographic images, and 90 percent depict women,” he noted, underscoring how technological disparities worsen existing inequalities.
General Assembly President Philemon Yang called for decisive action, urging nations to meet the 2030 deadline for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). “We must unleash women’s potential, and we are at a defining moment. I believe it is possible to achieve gender equality in our lifetime if we seize this opportunity,” he said.
UN Women Executive Director Sima Bahous echoed the urgency, declaring that 2025 must be a “turning point” in the fight for women’s rights. “We must embrace bold, urgent, and transformative action,” she said.
Saudi Arabia’s representative, Abdulaziz M. Alwasil, opened the session by reflecting on the Beijing Declaration’s legacy. “Beijing was a watershed moment, a bold and unequivocal commitment by the global community to ensure women’s and girls’ full and equal participation in all aspects of life,” he said.
The session follows Guterres’ recent International Women’s Day address on March 7, where he launched the Gender Equality Clarion Call - “a bold, urgent pledge to defend and advance the rights of all women and girls.”
