UN Women Leads Bold Global Push for Gender Equality at HLPF 2025 in New York

As the world nears the 2030 deadline for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), UN Women is spearheading a renewed international campaign to center gender equality at the heart of global development and financing efforts. At this year’s High-Level Political Forum (HLPF) 2025, taking place at UN Headquarters in New York, the organization is leveraging its leadership, partnerships, and advocacy to spotlight the urgent reforms and investments needed to close persistent gender gaps.

This year’s HLPF marks a critical checkpoint in the global pursuit of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, particularly as Sustainable Development Goal 5 (SDG 5): Gender Equality undergoes a full thematic review. UN Women is seizing the moment to call for stronger accountability, better policies, and significantly increased financing to meet gender-related commitments made a decade ago.

SDG 5 Under Review: A Wake-Up Call for Action

With just five years remaining to achieve the 2030 targets, progress on SDG 5 remains alarmingly off-track. According to UN Women, the gender financing gap in developing countries alone stands at $420 billion annually. Addressing this shortfall is essential not only for women and girls but for the achievement of all 17 SDGs, as gender equality is foundational to sustainable development.

In her address to the Forum, UN Women Executive Director Sima Bahous emphasized, “There can be no progress on the 2030 Agenda without gender equality. Investing in care systems, gender-responsive institutions, and social protections that reach the most marginalized women is not optional—it’s urgent.”

UN Women is urging governments and financial institutions to scale up investments in inclusive economic policy, law reform, climate action, and digital access—all areas where gender disparities persist.

Beijing+30: A Milestone for Feminist Leadership

A highlight of HLPF 2025 is the upcoming multistakeholder hearing on 24 July, co-convened by UN Women and the President of the UN General Assembly, marking the 30th anniversary of the Beijing Platform for Action. Adopted in 1995, the Platform remains the most ambitious global blueprint for women’s rights and empowerment.

The high-level event will bring together feminist leaders, governments, international organizations, and grassroots activists to identify the bold policy shifts and coordinated actions needed to realize the Beijing vision in today’s context.

Speakers will include the UN Secretary-General, the President of the General Assembly, and Executive Director Bahous, alongside youth advocates, Indigenous leaders, and women human rights defenders from around the world.

Launch of Global Alliance Against Work and Descent-Based Discrimination

On 17 July, UN Women will launch a groundbreaking policy brief and announce the creation of a global alliance of women from historically marginalized communities who have been subjected to work- and descent-based discrimination. These include Dalit women in South Asia, Quilombola in Brazil, Haratine in Mauritania, Burakumin in Japan, and Roma women across Europe.

The initiative will, for the first time, elevate grassroots leadership from these communities to the global stage, calling for recognition and protection under international law. The policy brief highlights the deep, intersectional forms of discrimination faced by these women, and proposes legal and social pathways for justice and inclusion.

Grassroots Feminism: Climate, Land, and Economic Justice

Throughout HLPF 2025, side events hosted by UN Women will feature grassroots women leaders sharing their lived experiences and solutions in fields like land rights, climate resilience, feminist economic development, and food systems. These sessions provide journalists and policy-makers with personal stories of change from the front lines.

These voices challenge top-down approaches and emphasize the importance of community-led models in addressing systemic inequalities and advancing sustainable development.

Mobilizing Donors to End Gender-Based Violence

A key side event on 22 July will unveil a new UN Women report series as part of the Beijing+30 review process. The series focuses on ending violence against women and girls, offering Member States data-driven guidance on prevention, protection, and the implementation of robust national action plans.

It also recognizes the central role of women’s rights organizations in leading local responses and holding systems accountable.

Sport, Partnerships, and Girls’ Empowerment

Another notable event will examine the transformative power of sport as a tool for gender equality, tying into both SDG 5 and SDG 17 (Partnerships for the Goals). The session will include speakers from global sports, youth development, philanthropy, and government.

Building on UN Women’s broader campaigns, the event will explore how strategic investments in girls’ sports access can improve educational outcomes, health, and community leadership—especially for girls from marginalized backgrounds.

Why This Forum Matters

This year’s HLPF comes at a turning point. After years of pandemic-related setbacks, geopolitical crises, and mounting economic inequality, there is growing demand for systems-level change. HLPF 2025 is not only reviewing progress; it is setting the direction for the final stretch of the 2030 Agenda.

UN Women is making it clear: the world cannot afford to fail women and girls again. The commitments made in Beijing in 1995, and again in 2015 with the adoption of the SDGs, must now be realized through deliberate action, ambitious reforms, and sustained investment.

Media Opportunities

The Forum offers rich material for journalists covering:

• Global economic policy and gender budgeting

• Climate justice and feminist environmental leadership

• Racial and caste-based discrimination

• Women’s rights in sports, education, and public life

• Feminist movements and Beijing+30 progress

UN Women senior officials, grassroots leaders, and technical experts are available for interviews. Embargoed materials, including policy briefs and country-level data, can be accessed through UN Women’s media liaison.

A Defining Moment for Gender Equality

Thirty years after the Beijing Platform for Action, and five years before the SDG deadline, the 2025 HLPF is a pivotal platform. As countries face pressure to demonstrate real results, UN Women is driving home the message that gender equality is not only a human right—it is the key to unlocking every other global goal.