UN Women 2026: Defending Equality in an Age of Crisis

At the first regular session of the UN Women Executive Board on 18 February 2026 at UN Headquarters, Sima Bahous, United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of UN Women, delivered a message that was both sober and resolute: the mandate to advance gender equality has never been more urgent.

Addressing Member States, she underlined that more than 676 million women and girls now live within 50 kilometres of deadly conflict, the highest number recorded since the 1990s. From Afghanistan to Gaza, Sudan to Ukraine, women and girls continue to suffer first and most amid conflict, climate shocks and economic instability.

Crisis Response and Women’s Leadership

Bahous emphasised that UN Women has established itself as a recognised actor across humanitarian, development and peacebuilding contexts. As a member of the Inter-Agency Standing Committee, the agency works to ensure women’s voices shape humanitarian response.

In Afghanistan, Sudan and Syria, women’s advisory groups have strengthened leadership and accountability within humanitarian country teams. She highlighted evidence from conflict contexts that when women lead local mediation efforts, peace processes gain traction and durability.

Concrete results were cited. In Somalia, UN Women’s support contributed to the adoption of a 30 per cent women’s quota in the Electoral Law. In Afghanistan, advocacy as co-lead of the Gender in Humanitarian Action Working Group led to a twenty-fold increase in funding from the Afghanistan Humanitarian Fund to women-led organisations, rising from USD 250,000 in 2023 to USD 5.07 million.

Across the Arab States region, the agency supported Women, Peace and Security National Action Plans in Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, Morocco and Tunisia. In Europe and Central Asia, gender-responsive budgeting was institutionalised in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo under UN Security Council Resolution 1244, North Macedonia and Serbia. In Latin America and the Caribbean, 22 countries were supported in developing care-related laws and policies.

Governance, Accountability and Reform

The Executive Director reported UN Women’s 14th consecutive unqualified audit opinion from the UN Board of Auditors and five consecutive years with no long-outstanding recommendations. Progress on internal controls and enterprise risk management was presented as evidence of organisational discipline at a time of funding pressure.

Board members are also expected to deliberate on governance reforms following a Joint Inspection Unit review, as well as discussions under the UN80 process, including a proposal assessing the potential merger of UN Women and United Nations Population Fund.

Funding pressures remain significant. Although UN Women’s resources declined by less than 11 per cent from 2024, this was described as smaller than the reduction in global official development assistance. Bahous warned that women and girls remain at heightened risk, particularly in the HIV and AIDS response, where up to 10 million new infections could occur without urgent action.

Strategic Shift and Global Agenda

In 2026, UN Women begins implementation of its new Strategic Plan. A structural shift will move one third of its workforce to Bonn and Nairobi by year’s end, a pivot intended to enhance field effectiveness and cost efficiency.

The organisation will also publish the 10th Progress of the World’s Women report, focusing on gender equality and climate change. The report will build on commitments from COP30 in Brazil and inform COP31 in Türkiye.

Next month, the 70th session of the Commission on the Status of Women will centre on access to justice under the theme “Rights. Justice. Action. For All Women and Girls.” Bahous underscored a stark global reality: women possess only 64 per cent of the legal rights afforded to men, and no country has achieved full equality under the law.

Parity Within the UN System

As the Office of the Focal Point for Women in the UN system, UN Women reported that women reached 50.7 per cent representation in Professional and higher categories in 2025, with sustained parity at senior leadership levels, including Resident Coordinators and the Senior Management Group.

Looking ahead to 2026, Member States will also select a new UN Secretary-General. Bahous signalled that gender equality and women’s leadership will weigh heavily in those deliberations.

A Mandate Under Pressure, A Mission Unchanged

Despite political polarisation, shrinking civic space and financial strain, Bahous affirmed that UN Women remains steadfast. Its triple mandate, operational, normative and coordination, remains the most comprehensive gender equality mandate in the UN system.

Her closing message was unequivocal: UN Women stands on unshakeable ground, alongside Member States, civil society and women’s rights defenders, determined to advance the voice and empowerment of all women and girls in their diversity, everywhere.

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