United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) Executive Board Annual Session 2026

Executive Director,

New Zealand commends UN Women for its continued leadership in advancing gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls in an increasingly complex global environment.

We meet at a time when progress on gender equality is under significant pressure. Conflict, climate change, and economic instability are exacerbating inequalities and reinforcing barriers to women's full participation in society. In this context, UN Women's triple mandate is more important than ever.

We particularly welcome UN Women's continued focus on reaching those most at risk, including in fragile and crisis-affected settings, and its emphasis on strengthening national systems, supporting women's organisations and movements, and locally led approaches.

New Zealand places particular importance on UN Women's engagement in our Pacific region. Women and girls in the Pacific face disproportionate challenges, including climate-related risks, economic vulnerability, the lowest levels of women's political representation globally, and among the highest rates of gender-based violence. We welcome UN Women's continued work to support women's leadership, resilience, and economic participation in Pacific Island Countries.

Turning to the broader system context, New Zealand strongly supports the Secretary-General's UN80 Initiative. The UN development system must be more focused, more efficient, and better coordinated - particularly at the country level, including through the retention of strong in-country technical capability.

As we consider the reform agenda ahead, New Zealand recognises that a range of options are being advanced to strengthen the effectiveness and coherence of the system. It is important that these are assessed holistically, and we underline the important role of this Board in providing strategic guidance on these questions.

As Member States, we have a responsibility not only to consider the options presented, but to drive timely decisions on the way forward while ensuring that gender equality remains a central and system-wide priority. Given the urgency of the challenges we face, we should move beyond analysis toward clear conclusions and direction, so that reforms can be implemented without delay.

New Zealand remains concerned about the challenging funding environment facing UN Women. Core, predictable and flexible funding is essential to enable UN Women to effectively advance gender equality and women's rights, including maintaining its normative leadership, strengthening systems and institutions, and responding to emerging needs and contested priorities. We encourage all partners to support UN Women through flexible contributions and to ensure resources are directed toward areas where they can deliver lasting impact for all women and girls.

In closing, New Zealand reaffirms its strong support for UN Women and its vital role in advancing gender equality globally.

Thank you.

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