As the world’s foremost advocates for gender equality gathered in New York for the 70th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW70), a sobering reality cast a long shadow over the proceedings: more than 676 million women now live within 50 kilometers of active, deadly conflict. This figure represents the highest number ever recorded in human history, signaling a systemic crisis that transcends borders and political ideologies. Against this backdrop of escalating global instability, leaders from the United Nations, national governments, and civil society met on March 11, 2026, to issue a definitive call to action. Their message was clear: justice for women and girls can no longer be treated as a secondary priority or a luxury of peacetime. Instead, it must be the foundation upon which all recovery and stability are built.
The event, titled "Advancing Justice in Every Context," served as a platform for the launch of a pivotal new publication by UN Women: Advancing gender equality through legislative reform in transitional justice contexts. This report underscores a fundamental shift in how the international community views legal empowerment. Sima Bahous, Executive Director of UN Women, opened the discussion by emphasizing that reform is not merely a matter of rewriting statutes on a page; it is about fundamentally reorienting systems to serve the lived realities of those most marginalized.
“Justice reforms must begin with women and girls—and with their needs and priorities,” Bahous stated, addressing a packed hall of delegates. She argued that in the wake of conflict, the most urgent forms of justice are often the most practical. This includes the restoration of lost identity documents, the protection of land rights for widows and displaced persons, and the assurance of safety for children. For Bahous, the goal is to create environments where women can speak without fear of retribution and see their rights enforced by institutions that were previously indifferent or hostile to them. She noted that legal change is only effective when it is fueled by a "triple threat" of grassroots women’s movements, political will, and sustained, long-term financing. “Women are not only demanding justice,” Bahous remarked, “they are designing it.”
This sentiment was echoed by Alexander De Croo, the Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), who addressed the dangerous tendency of international actors to delay justice in fragile states. In many conflict-affected settings, the "justice gap" is a chasm; over 60 percent of women report that their legal needs go entirely unmet. De Croo challenged the prevailing "security first" doctrine, which often posits that legal reforms should only occur after a region has been stabilized and recovered.
“Justice cannot wait,” De Croo insisted. He argued that postponing justice does not lead to stability but instead entrenches inequity and fuels a culture of impunity that can reignite conflict. By treating women’s rights as a post-stabilization concern, the international community risks building a peace that is inherently fragile because it is not inclusive.
To bridge this gap, the UNDP-UN Women Gender Justice Platform has become a vital instrument of change. In 2024 alone, the platform facilitated access to justice for nearly 80,000 women and girls. This was achieved through a mix of formal and informal mechanisms, including innovative approaches like mobile courts and legal clinics that travel to remote or high-risk areas. These initiatives provide more than just legal advice; they offer a lifeline to women who would otherwise have no way to navigate the complexities of the law. Currently, the platform is supporting justice and security sector reforms in more than 40 countries, proving that even in the most challenging environments, progress is possible when resources are directed toward gender-responsive institutions.
The global nature of this struggle was highlighted by representatives from diverse regions, each bringing a unique perspective on how to localize justice. Peter Derrek Hof, the Netherlands’ Ambassador for Women’s Rights and Gender Equality, stressed that justice systems must be tangible. For a woman in a rural village or a refugee camp, justice is not an abstract concept; it is the ability to own her home, protect her children, and participate in her community’s economy. Hof reaffirmed the Netherlands’ commitment to supporting partners who prioritize these direct, visible outcomes.
Brazil’s Minister of Women, Márcia Lopes, shared her country’s progressive approach, which focuses on the intersection of law and community. She argued that justice must be built "with" women, not just "for" them. This involves deep listening sessions with survivors of violence, feminist organizations, and community leaders. By centering the voices of those who have experienced injustice, Brazil aims to create a legal framework that is both empathetic and effective.
The moderator of the event, Raquel Lagunas, UNDP’s Director of Gender Equality, framed the discussion with a powerful aphorism: “Justice begins where silence ends.” This theme of breaking the silence was particularly resonant in the testimony of Kateryna Levchenko, the Commissioner for Gender Equality Policy for Ukraine. Since the full-scale invasion of 2022, Ukraine has had to rebuild its justice system while simultaneously fighting a war. Levchenko explained that restoring trust in the law is essential for social cohesion. Ukraine’s ratification of the Rome Statute and the Istanbul Convention, along with its cooperation with the UN on conflict-related sexual violence, are not just legal maneuvers; they are statements of democratic legitimacy. They signal to the population—and the world—that even in the chaos of war, the rights of women remain a non-negotiable priority.
However, the path to reform is fraught with structural obstacles. Tea Trumbic, a manager at the World Bank Group, provided a stark statistical reality: globally, women enjoy less than two-thirds of the legal rights afforded to men. Perhaps more concerning is the implementation gap. Trumbic noted that even in countries where equal rights are enshrined in law, only about half of the necessary policies to enforce those laws are actually in place. In fragile and conflict-affected states, this disparity is even more pronounced. Women in these regions often face a "triple burden": fewer rights on paper, weaker institutions to support those rights, and a near-total inability to enforce them in the face of violence or displacement.
Amrita Kapur, Secretary-General of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF), pointed out that while women are on the frontlines of these crises, they often receive the least amount of financial and political support. She called for a massive increase in funding for feminist movements, which she described as the true engines of transformative change. Without sustained support for the activists who are working on the ground, Kapur warned, legislative reforms risk becoming "hollow victories" that never reach the women who need them most.
The event concluded with a call for a paradigm shift in how the world views the role of women in society. Michelle Muschett, UN Assistant Secretary-General and Director of the Regional Bureau for Latin America and the Caribbean, described the gender justice gap as a "systemic crisis" that impacts the entirety of society, not just women. She argued that when women are excluded from justice, the entire fabric of development is weakened.
“Gender equality is not just an objective itself—but is a clear accelerator of all dimensions of development,” Muschett concluded. She emphasized that the participation of women in public life and leadership is, in itself, a transformative act of justice. When women occupy roles as judges, police officers, legislators, and community leaders, the nature of the institutions themselves begins to change.
The final takeaway from CSW70 was one of defiant optimism. Despite the record-breaking levels of conflict and the persistent legal barriers, the momentum for change is undeniable. The message from the leaders gathered in New York was unambiguous: the era of waiting for justice is over. Women are no longer asking for a seat at the table of legal reform; they are building their own tables, designing their own systems, and ensuring that the silence of the past is replaced by a future of accountability and equality. The task for the international community now is to match that courage with the political will and resources necessary to turn these visions into a global reality.
