Advocacy & Lobbying

Iranian authorities have escalated their crackdown on women’s rights defenders, journalists, singers and other activists demanding equality or who defy compulsory veiling using arbitrary detention, unjust prosecution, flogging, and even the death penalty in a bid to quash Iran’s women’s rights movement, Amnesty International said today.

Since International Women’s Day (IWD) on 8 March, the Iranian authorities have arbitrarily arrested at least five women’s rights activists. These arrests come amid an intensified crackdown that has included summoning women’s rights activists and journalists for interrogation, and arresting women singers for performing without the mandatory hijab while shutting down their social media accounts. In the lead up to IWD, the authorities flogged a male singer 74 times for performing a protest song against Iran’s discriminatory compulsory veiling laws and, in February 2025, sentenced a women’s rights activist to death.

“In the wake of the Woman Life Freedom uprising of 2022, the Iranian authorities consider the widespread defiance of women and girls demanding their rights as an existential threat to the political and security establishment. Instead of addressing systemic discrimination and violence against women and girls, they are attempting to crush Iran’s women’s rights movement,” said Diana Eltahawy, Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa Regional Office.

“Ahead of a key UN Human Rights Council session tomorrow to deliver findings on the human rights situation in Iran, and in the context of the Council’s ongoing negotiations to extend the mandates of the Special Rapporteur on Iran and the UN Fact-Finding Mission on Iran, the international community must stand up against impunity and for the rights of women and girls in the country.

Read here the full article published by Amnesty International on 17 March 2025.

Image by Amnesty International

69th Commission on the Status of Women

Interactive Dialogue: Participation, accountability, and gender-responsive institutions

18 March 2025, UNHQ, New York

Statement by International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance

Excellencies,

International IDEA firmly believes that gender equality is essential for democracy, and that democracy is essential for gender equality. One cannot thrive without the other. However, we are deeply concerned about the global backlash against both gender equality and democracy, threatening hard-won gains over the past decades.

Women must have an equal voice in leadership and policymaking at all levels and across all sectors. When women hold power, governance becomes more inclusive, transparent, and effective, leading to stronger policies on economic growth, education, health, and climate resilience—all critical to achieving the 2030 Agenda.

However, achieving gender equality demands gender-responsive democratic institutions. Parliaments, electoral bodies, political parties, civil society organizations must actively dismantle barriers, create space for women to lead, and integrate gender perspectives to:

•    Ensure inclusive policymaking that reflects the needs of all citizens.

•    Strengthen democratic accountability and public trust.

•    Combat discrimination, bias in political financing, and gender-based violence in politics.

The 69th session of CSW is a critical moment for Member States to reaffirm their commitment to accelerating progress on gender equality. But this commitment must go hand in hand with putting democracy at the heart of UN discussions. Democracy is the most powerful instrument to advance gender equality. It is therefore deeply disappointing that Member States failed to reaffirm the essential link between democracy and gender equality in the political declaration approved last week.

International IDEA remains committed to working alongside the UN, Member States, and civil society to ensure that gender equality remains central to the future of democracy and sustainable development.

Thank you.

Statement delivered by Ms. Rumbidzai Kandawasvika-Nhundu, Principal Adviser, Democracy and Inclusion, International IDEA

Taken from International IDEA  - published on 18 March 2025.

Feminism in South Asia has been a powerful force for change, but it continues to face significant challenges. In this special International Women’s Day episode of Unraveled, Marvi Sirmed explores the state of women’s rights in South Asia with Syeda Hameed – Scholar, former member of the Planning Commission of India and Women’s Commission, and women’s rights advocate, and Khushi Kabir – a veteran Bangladeshi women's rights activist, environmentalist and Director at Nijera Kori, an organization that fights for the rights of the poor. Together, they discuss key issues such as gender-based violence, political representation, economic empowerment, reproductive rights, and the growing backlash against feminism. They also delve into why women-led governments in Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan have struggled to dismantle patriarchy and how religious nationalism fuels gender oppression. Tune in to hear insightful conversations on the intersection of politics, religion, and patriarchy in South Asia, and the ongoing fight for gender justice across the region. 

Click here to see the full video published by The Friday Times on 13 March 2025.

Image by The Friday Times

Guest Editors
Roopa Dhatt, MD, MPA, Georgetown University, USA
Anna Kalbarczyk, DrPH, Johns Hopkins Center for Global Health, USA

Submission Status: Open   |   Submission Deadline: 7 December 2025

BMC Public Health is calling for submissions to our Collection on Women's role in politics and public life. We invite research that delves into the role of women in politics and public life, focusing on their leadership, participation, and the challenges they face. We welcome studies that examine gender equality, women's rights, and the impact of women's economic participation on public policy and health outcomes, with the aim of fostering a more inclusive political landscape.

Click here to apply.

Image by BioMedCentral

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Confronting a rising backlash against women’s rights, the U.N.’s 193 member nations made a commitment Monday to accelerate action on more than a dozen fronts to achieve gender equality.

A political declaration adopted at the start of the annual meeting of the U.N.’s preeminent body promoting equality for women and girls recognizes that men and boys must be “strategic partners and allies” to achieve the goal.

The declaration — approved by consensus and a bang of the gavel by the chair of the Commission on the Status of Women — coincides with the 30th anniversary of the Beijing women’s conference where the world’s nations adopted a 150-page roadmap to achieve gender equality.

While it recognizes progress toward implementing the Beijing platform, the declaration also recognizes that after 30 years no country has achieved gender equality and that progress has been “slow and uneven,” with major gaps and obstacles to overcome.

A report released last week by UN Women, the agency focused on empowering women, found that nearly one-quarter of governments worldwide reported a backlash against women’s rights in 2024. Its policy and program director, Sarah Hendriks, told a news conference the number of countries reporting a backlash is likely underreported and reflects “an increasingly hostile environment.”

Read here the full article published by AP News on 10 March 2025.

Image by AP News

In 2025, the global community will mark the 30th anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women and the unanimous adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action. In celebration of this milestone, the sixty-ninth session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW69), taking place at United Nations Headquarters in New York from 10-21 March, will bring together representatives of Member States, UN entities, ECOSOC-accredited non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and other stakeholders from all regions of the world to discuss the implementation of the Beijing Declaration of 1995. 

Coinciding with International IDEA’s 30th anniversary and its year-long #DemocracyForAll digital advocacy campaign, this milestone reaffirms the commitments made in 1995 that women's equal participation in decision-making, alongside equal rights, opportunities, and access to resources, is essential for democracy, peace, and human rights, ensuring a just society that protects the interests of all.

At #CSW69, International IDEA will advocate—through statements, analysis, and events—for gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls as essential to vibrant and inclusive democracies.

Analysis

Beijing+30: Will it take another 30 years for gender equality? 

At the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, 189 countries adopted the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (BPfA), outlining 12 critical areas of concern for gender equality and women’s empowerment, including violence against women, armed conflicts, women's participation in decision-making, and the protection of their human rights. At that time, member states were convinced that the achievement of equality, development, and peace was connected to women’s empowerment and their full participation in society, including in political decision-making. Countries also believed that equal rights, opportunities, and access to power and resources for women were crucial to the consolidation of democracy more broadly. 

Beijing+30: Taking Stock of Progress on Gender Equality Using the Global State of Democracy Indices 

The Beijing Declaration in 1995 recognized that gender equality is essential to democracy. Yet, 30 years after, progress remains uneven and at risk, with backlash against gender equality, and democratic values threatening hard-won gains. Drawing on International IDEA’s Global State of Democracy Indices, this article explores advances, setbacks, and gaps in women's political participation since 1995. As threats to gender equality and democracy grow, the CSW 2025 Political Declaration must reaffirm that women’s equal participation in decision-making is fundamental to democracy—and that both must be protected. 

Check here the full list of event where International IDEA is involved.