The 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) will open on 8 September 2026. Amid a record number of conflicts, stalled progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and an organised backlash on the rights of women and girls, realising the rights of all women and girls is more important than ever. UN Women is calling for urgent action: The multilateral system cannot deliver peace, development, or rights for anyone while women do not have equal access to power.
On 17 September 2026, UN Women and the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA) will launch via a press conference the landmark 2026 Gender Snapshot. The report – the world’s leading source of data on gender equality and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development – finds that, in 2026, women’s leadership is failing to advance globally, and is reversing, at various levels of power, in many countries.
The report comes ahead of the UNGA High-Level Week (22–26 September), when Heads of State and Government, ministers, and civil society leaders gather in New York, and as Member States embark on the process of selecting the tenth United Nations Secretary-General – a position no woman has held in the UN’s 81-year history.
Key events
UNGA81 Media report launch: “Progress on the Sustainable Development Goals: The Gender Snapshot 2026”
When: 17 September 2026, 12.30 p.m. EDT
Where: UN Headquarters, New York, Press Briefing Room S-237
Livestream: UN Web TV
UN Women and the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs will launch Progress on the Sustainable Development Goals: The Gender Snapshot 2026 on 17 September during a press briefing at United Nations Headquarters in New York. The report will focus on leadership and will show that progress towards women’s equal participation in political leadership has lost momentum. The report will underscore that achieving gender equality in leadership is about increasing women’s representation as much as it is about ensuring they have equal access to positions of real authority and influence.
Annual meeting of the UNGA Platform of Women Leaders
When: 23 September 2026, 1.15–2.45 p.m. EDT
Where: UN Headquarters, New York
Closed meeting. No livestream or public access.
The United Nations General Assembly Platform of Women Leaders brings women leaders together to share perspectives, build collective leadership, and advance gender-responsive multilateralism. It offers a space to identify practical ways to strengthen international cooperation, accelerate SDG implementation, and keep multilateralism responsive to people’s needs everywhere. Co-hosted by the President of the General Assembly and the Executive Director of UN Women, this year’s meeting focuses on “Women’s leadership in restoring trust and managing transformation for a United Nations that delivers for all.” Discussions will identify actions to accelerate implementation of the 2030 Agenda, including through women’s full, equal, and meaningful participation and leadership, gender-responsive policymaking and financing, and more inclusive and accountable global governance.
G77 and Emerging Partners Ministerial Roundtable: Addressing Technology-Facilitated Violence Against Women and Girls
When: 23 September 2026, 3.00–4.45 p.m. EDT
Where: UN Headquarters, New York, Conference Room 6
Livestream: TBC
UN Women and the Republic of Croatia will co-host the G77 and Emerging Partners Ministerial Roundtable on Addressing Technology-Facilitated Violence Against Women and Girls (TF VAWG). Bringing together senior government representatives, ministers, and technology sector leaders, the event will examine the new risks created by technology, including AI-enabled abuse and the growing impact of TF VAWG on gender equality, women’s leadership, and inclusive digital transformation. The roundtable will promote evidence-based solutions, showcase promising practices, and foster strategic partnerships and political commitment to advance coordinated, rights-based action to prevent and respond to TF VAWG.
WPS Focal Points Network Ministerial-Level UNGA81 Side Event: Delivering on WPS: Consolidating Implementation and Accountability in a Fragmented Security Landscape
When: 23 September 2026, 3.30–5.30 p.m. EDT
Where: UN Headquarters, New York, Conference Room 1
Livestream: UN Web TV. Registration required for in-person participation.
The Women, Peace and Security Focal Points Network (WPS-FPN), currently co-chaired by Italy and the Philippines, with UN Women as Secretariat, will gather in New York during UN General Assembly High-Level Week to mark its 10th anniversary and secure high-level political commitments to strengthen the WPS agenda within national institutions and multilateral processes. At a time of growing global instability, government ministers responsible for defense, security, and women’s rights, alongside senior officials from regional organisations, are expected to build on the Rome Meeting Joint Communiqué to integrate WPS priorities more firmly into defense and security decision-making.
High-Level Dialogue on Reinvigorating Feminist Multilateralism
When: 25 September 2026, 3.30–5.00 p.m. EDT
Where: UN Headquarters, New York
Livestream: UN Web TV
The Government of Mexico, UN Women, and Karama, in collaboration with Member States and regional and civil society partners, including FEMNET, FFP Collaborative, ARROW, and Women’s Environment & Development Organisation (WEDO), will convene a high-level public dialogue during High-Level Week of UNGA81. The dialogue will focus on the criticality of centring women’s leadership globally – to advance a feminist approach to multilateralism that is responsive to today’s political, social, economic, and environmental challenges.
SDG Media Zone events
The leadership gap: Can the SDGs be achieved without women in power?
When: 22 September 2026, 3.30–3.50 p.m. EDT
Who leads shapes whose voices are heard, whose priorities are funded, and whose rights are protected. Yet despite progress, women remain underrepresented in political leadership while facing growing barriers, including online abuse, disinformation, and democratic backsliding. Drawing on the latest findings from the Gender Snapshot 2026, this conversation explores what the data tells us about the state of women’s political participation, why inclusive leadership is essential to restoring public trust, and what governments, institutions, and citizens can do to accelerate change. Bringing together global leadership, political experience, and independent voices, the session examines why achieving the SDGs requires women equally represented, wherever decisions are made.
Leadership Town Hall
When: 23 September 2026, 3.30–4.30 p.m. EDT
This session will explore the qualities that tomorrow’s global leaders – and particularly the next generation of UN leadership – must embody to respond effectively to today’s interconnected challenges. This Town Hall will feature Helen Clark, Irina Bokova, Susana Malcorra, and more in a discussion on female leadership and multilateralism.
Feminism and AI
When: 24 September 2026, 10.30–10.50 a.m. EDT
Amid a growing global backlash against women’s rights and the weaponisation of technology to harm women and girls, the fight for gender equality is more urgent than ever. UN Women’s SDG Media Zone discussion, “AI and Feminism”, brings together advocates, experts, and global leaders to examine how artificial intelligence is fuelling a backlash against women and girls, while exploring its potential to help dismantle it. Speakers will discuss practical pathways forward, from survivor-centred approaches and platform accountability to stronger governance and safety-by-design. Technology should be a force for equality, not a weapon against it, and this conversation asks how.
Originally published by UN Women
