Special Commemoration of International Women’s Day 2025

International Women’s Day is a global recognition and celebration of the accomplishments and resilience of women. The 2025 theme calls for action that can unlock equal rights, power and opportunities for all. Central to this vision is empowering the next generation—youth, particularly young women and adolescent girls—as catalysts for lasting change.

Thirty years after the adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (BPfA), this transformative framework for advancing women’s rights continues to guide progress across key areas such as education, health, peace, climate justice, media, political participation, economic empowerment, and the elimination of violence against women and girls.

The Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action transformed the women’s rights agenda in areas such as legal protection, access to services, youth engagement, changing social norms, and women’s participation in peace. Yet, in 2025, the global landscape for gender equality is shaped by complex and intersecting challenges: escalating climate crises, rising conflicts, the digital gender divide, and the rapid emergence of transformative technologies like generative AI.

To mark International Women’s Day and the 30th anniversary of the BPfA, UN Women, the United Nations Office in Geneva (UNOG), and the Delegation of the European Union organize the Intergenerational Dialogue on Beijing +30: For All Women and Girls – Rights, Equality, Empowerment. This special commemoration aims to reaffirm global commitments to gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls. 

Agenda and Speakers

Opening Remarks (3-5 minutes):

• H.E. Ms. Tatiana Valovaya, Director-General, United Nations Office in Geneva.

• H.E. Jürg Lauber, Permanent Representative, Permanent Mission of Switzerland to the United Nations Office and other international organizations in Geneva. 

• Mr. Volker Türk, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.

• H.E. Ms Lotte Knudsen; Ambassador; Head of the Delegation of the European Union to the United Nations Office and other international organizations in Geneva.

Panelists:

• H.E. Ms. Usana Berananda; Permanent Mission of Thailand to the United Nations Office and other international organizations in Geneva.

• Ms. Suraya Yosufi, Recipient of a Maria Rosario Lazzati Niada scholarship, Graduate Institute.

• Dr. Li Xiaomei, Minister, Permanent Mission of the People's Republic of China to the United Nations Office at Geneva and Other International Organizations in Switzerland.

• Ms. Rebeca Grynspan; UNCTAD Secretary General (video). 

• Mr. James Mumo Nyumu, Student at the Master in International and Development Studies, Graduate Institute. 

• Youth representative from Peru

Moderator: Ms. Sofia Calltorp, Director, UN Women Geneva Office.

Interventions from the floor:

Statements from interested delegates and stakeholders.