UNIS/SGSM/1384
4 March 2024
On International Women’s Day, we celebrate women and girls around the world, and we applaud all they have achieved in the fight for equality.
Women and girls have made great gains – demolishing barriers, dismantling stereotypes and driving progress towards a more just and equal world.
Yet they face immense obstacles. Billions of women and girls face marginalization, injustice and discrimination, while the persistent epidemic of violence against women disgraces humanity.
Our world still reflects millennia of male-dominated power relations.
And progress is under attack, with a fierce backlash against women’s rights.
At our current rate, legal equality is some three hundred years away.
We must move much faster.
On International Women’s Day, we stand with women and girls fighting for their rights, and we commit to accelerating progress.
This year’s theme – invest in women – reminds us that ending the patriarchy requires money on the table.
We must support women’s organisations on the front line.
And we must invest in programmes to end violence against women, and to drive women’s inclusion and leadership in economies, digital technologies, peacebuilding and climate action.
This all depends on unlocking finance for sustainable development so that countries have funds available to invest in women and girls.
We also need to increase the number of women leaders in business, finance, central banks and finance ministries. This can help drive investments in policies and programmes that respond to women and girls’ needs.
Women’s rights are a proven path to fair, peaceful, prosperous societies. It is good for us all.
Together, let’s take urgent action to make it a reality.
Thank you.
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We must transform how we produce and consume, and how we value nature, says the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, "Biodiversity is the bedrock of life and a cornerstone of sustainable development.... Biodiversity loss is a global challenge. No one country, however rich or powerful, can address it alone. Nor can they live without the rich biodiversity that defines our planet."
LGBTIQ+ people around the world face an onslaught of hate speech, attacks, and restrictions on their rights. The power of communities is the theme this year which reminds us that we are strongest together. "LGBTIQ+ people, and those working with them to secure their rights, have proved time and again the value of communities in providing support and driving change," says UN Secretary-General António Guterres
"From the telegraph to radio, from the Internet to Artificial Intelligence, technology has transformed how we live, work, and connect." — António Guterres
Barbados signed and deposited its instrument of ratification for the United Nations Convention on the International Effects of Judicial Sales of Ships (the “Beijing Convention on the Judicial Sale of Ships”) at the United Nations Headquarters in New York on 8 May 2025.
