LONDON, 23rd July 2026
As of today, over 200
current and former heads of state, UN leaders,
organisations, advocates, practitioners, and researchers
from all regions of the world are calling on the next United
Nations Secretary-General to commit, act and deliver on five
concrete actions to advance gender equality across the UN
system during their tenure.
The open
letter, coordinated by Global
50/50 and published on the same day as the UN Townhall
with Secretary General candidates, warns that the United
Nations is facing a critical test of its commitment to
gender equality at a moment of rising global backlash
against women’s rights, shrinking civic space for feminist
movements, and growing pressure on funding for gender
equality programmes.
After 80 years and nine
Secretaries-General, the United Nations has never been led
by a woman. The letter states that this alone warrants
change. The signatories
further argue that the future Secretary-General must be
held accountable for how they use their power to drive
change for gender equality across the UN system once in
office.
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The next Secretary-General will lead the UN at
a time when progress across the Sustainable Development
Goals is under severe pressure. Gender equality is not a
standalone issue: UN Women says women’s
empowerment is integral to all 17 SDGs, shaping outcomes
across poverty, health, education, economic development,
climate resilience, peace, and human rights.
The next
Secretary General is likely to come from the group of
Latin American and Caribbean states, with five of the
remaining six candidates coming from this region. The
Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean – ECLAC
– reports that in 2024 at least 3,828 women were victims of
femicide, feminicide or gender-related killings in 26
countries and territories, while the ILO
reports that women’s labour force participation stood at
52.1%, compared with 74.3% for men. These inequalities
directly impact safety, economic resilience, human rights,
and sustainable development, illustrating why the next
Secretary-General must embed gender analysis, resources, and
accountability across the UN system.
The letter calls
on the next Secretary-General to act on five commitments for
gender equality:
Measure it: every UN
agency must report sex-disaggregated data as standard,
without exception.
Analyse it: gender
analysis must inform every UN initiative before it launches,
not after.
Centre it: feminist voices
must shape every UN process, not as guests, but as
architects.
Fund it: gender equality
must have dedicated resources in every UN
budget.
Institutionalise it: gender
equality must be a condition of leadership across the UN
system, built in rather than bolted on.
Professor Kent
Buse, Co-CEO of Global 50/50, said:
“Gender equality
is not a zero-sum game where men lose what women gain. It
shapes everyone’s health, security and prosperity: fix the
system and we all gain – stronger economies, healthier
societies, more durable peace. The next Secretary-General
should measure it, fund it and build it into how the UN is
led, not as a favour to women, but as a test of leadership
for us all.”
S. Mona Sinha, CEO, Equality Now
said:
“As the world confronts escalating attacks on
women’s rights, shrinking civic space, and declining
resources for gender equality, the next Secretary-General
will have a unique opportunity, and responsibility to
demonstrate that gender equality is not a side issue, but
fundamental to peace, security, economic prosperity, and
human rights. The call’s emphasis on measurement,
accountability, meaningful participation, dedicated
resources, and institutional leadership is especially
powerful.”
The call comes as the selection process
for the next UN Secretary-General gathers pace, with the
first round of Security Council straw polls expected in late
July. The current Secretary-General, António Guterres, will
complete his second term on 31 December 2026, with his
successor expected to take office on 1 January
2027.
Data below highlight the scale of the
challenge facing the next UN
Secretary-General:
- In 2023, a woman died from
pregnancy or childbirth roughly every two minutes. Almost
all of these deaths were preventable, and more than nine in
ten occurred in low- and lower-middle-income
countries. - Worldwide, women still hold barely
two-thirds of the legal rights of men, and fewer than 5
percent live in countries that come close to full legal
equality. - Official development assistance with
gender equality objectives fell by 13 percent from 2023 to
2024. Direct funding to women’s rights organisations,
already less than 1 percent of all gender-related aid, fell
by 28 percent over the same period, from USD 799 million to
USD 578 million. - In 2024, women made up just 7
percent of negotiators in peace processes worldwide, and
nearly nine in ten negotiating tracks included no women at
all.
Open letter
The full
open letter to the next UN Secretary-General is available here:
https://global5050.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Open-Letter-on-Gender-Equality-to-the-next-UN-Secretary-General.pdf
If
you would like to sign the open letter, please click here:
https://forms.cloud.microsoft/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=xEQmNUJjy0-jh47xob6kew-cdywtfmREpnmBC7ESxwFUOTlGMFU5NEhaT1BHRkkyUUI2NFRKQ0ZXUy4u
List
of signatories
The full list of
signatories can be found here:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1g0wiydmg6C_mKqClLk-hZj5eetxbxdCz/edit
About
Global 50/50
Global 50/50 is an independent,
evidence-driven think tank working to advance action and
accountability for gender justice. It produces research,
data and analysis on equality, power and institutional
accountability, including through its long-running work on
gender and global health.
For more information, visit
global5050.org
