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STORY: UN / INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY
TRT: 03:20
SOURCE: UNIFEED
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 09 MARCH 2026, NEW YORK CITY / FILE
FILE - NEW YORK CITY
1. Wide shot, exterior, United Nations
09 MARCH 2026, NEW YORK CITY
2. Wide shot, General Assembly
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Sima Bahous, Executive Director, UN Women:
“Despite the many strides forward towards equality and justice, for too many women and girls, justice is selective, inaccessible, and denied. Globally, no country meets its duty of full legal equality for women and girls.”
4. Wide shot, UN Women Executive Director at podium
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Sima Bahous, Executive Director, UN Women:
“Be in no doubt: equality is within our reach. It is close. And I believe all of us here will have the great good fortune not only to work for it, but to witness it, also.”
6. Med shot, Nobel Laureate Malala Yousafzai, WABC-TV News Anchor Sade Baderinwa and other participants clapping
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Anne Hathaway, actress, UN Women Goodwill Ambassador:
“Our choosing to celebrate today does not signal that we are here to accommodate injustice. No. Our celebration today affirms our determination to outlast it. Don’t let us wait, please. Happy International Women’s Day.”
8. Various shots, participants clapping, Malala Yousafzai walking to podium
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Malala Yousafzai, female education advocate / Nobel Laureate:
“For nearly five years now, the Taliban have been erasing women and girls from public life, and the world has responded by looking away or by excusing the abuses of the Taliban under the banners of culture or religion. This is not culture. It is not religion. It is a system of segregation and domination. We must call the regime in Afghanistan by its true name: gender apartheid; and we must explicitly recognize it as a crime under international law.”
10. Wide shot, Yousafzai walking to podium
11. SOUNDBITE (English) Malala Yousafzai, female education advocate / Nobel Laureate:
“By codifying gender apartheid, we can protect women and girls and prevent these atrocities from happening for another generation, it is not enough to grieve for those who are suffering. We must move from sympathy to accountability.”
12. Wide shot, Yousafzai walking to podium
13. SOUNDBITE (English) Malala Yousafzai, female education advocate / Nobel Laureate:
“So, I ask the member states in this room: how long will you allow the law to stand still while injustice evolves? 13 years ago, I believed that speaking in this hall would be enough. Today, I know that speeches do not protect girls, but law accountability and political courage can. You have all three within your reach. Now is the time to use them. Thank you.”
14. Wide shot, Yousafzai leaving podium, participants clapping
Leading voices on women’s rights and justice joined UN Women for the official United Nations commemoration of International Women’s Day 2026 today (9 Mar) at United Nations Headquarters in New York. Among the speakers, UN Women Goodwill Ambassador Anne Hathaway and Nobel Laureate Malala Yousafzai.
At a time when women’s rights face renewed backlash around the world, the International Women’s Day 2026 event, held under the theme “Rights. Justice. Action. For All Women and Girls”, underscored the power of women and girls, across generations, movements and cultures, in all their diversity, coming together to defend equality and demand change for all women and girls.
Addressing the event, Sima Bahous, Executive Director of UN Women said, “Despite the many strides forward towards equality and justice, for too many women and girls, justice is selective, inaccessible, and denied. Globally, no country meets its duty of full legal equality for women and girls.”
She also said, “Be in no doubt: equality is within our reach. It is close. And I believe all of us here will have the great good fortune not only to work for it, but to witness it, also.”
Anne Hathaway, actress and UN Women Goodwill Ambassador stated, “Our choosing to celebrate today does not signal that we are here to accommodate injustice. No. Our celebration today affirms our determination to outlast it. Don’t let us wait, please. Happy International Women’s Day.”
Malala Yousafzai, female education advocate and Nobel Laureate said, “For nearly five years now, the Taliban have been erasing women and girls from public life, and the world has responded by looking away or by excusing the abuses of the Taliban under the banners of culture or religion. This is not culture. It is not religion. It is a system of segregation and domination. We must call the regime in Afghanistan by its true name: gender apartheid; and we must explicitly recognize it as a crime under international law.”
She continued, “By codifying gender apartheid, we can protect women and girls and prevent these atrocities from happening for another generation, it is not enough to grieve for those who are suffering. We must move from sympathy to accountability.”
She concluded, “So, I ask the member states in this room: how long will you allow the law to stand still while injustice evolves? 13 years ago, I believed that speaking in this hall would be enough. Today, I know that speeches do not protect girls, but law accountability and political courage can. You have all three within your reach. Now is the time to use them. Thank you.”
Aligned with 70th Commission on the Status of Women, the observance is conceived as a single, continuous political moment that will elevate global attention to justice as the critical bridge between rights on paper and rights in practice, reaffirming collective resolve to confront persistent setbacks, violence and the denial of rights.
Bringing together Member State delegations, global leaders, advocates, Goodwill Ambassadors and global voices, the observance served as a high-visibility platform to galvanize leadership, media engagement and concrete action towards ensuring equal access to justice for all women and girls.
