30 years of fighting for female empowerment
A legacy of progress, a future of promise
Gender equality is key to sustainable development. Pictured: Adolescent girls play ball games in Mauritania.
© UNFPA/Gaia Squarci
29 April 2024
At the landmark International Conference on Population and Development in Cairo in 1994, world leaders affirmed a fundamental truth: Sustainable development is not possible without prioritizing human rights – including sexual and reproductive health and rights – and empowering women and girls.
This laid a path towards progress, inspiring investments in women and girls and spurring changes that unleashed a cascade of benefits for individuals and societies.
But these benefits did not reach everyone. Progress is unequal. Additionally, multifaceted crises, including climate emergencies, war and the polarization around sexual and reproductive health and rights, threaten to roll back advances.
Thirty years on from the landmark conference, as 47 United Nations Member States meet this year to assess progress, we celebrate the gains, highlight the areas where more progress is needed, and commit to closing gaps and ensuring rights and choices for all.
To that end, the images in this essay are on exhibit during the fifty-seventh session of the Commission on Population and Development at the United Nations in New York, from 29 April to 3 May 2024.
“I wanted to be the last woman on earth who underwent FGM.” –Mumina
Engaging men and boys is essential to achieving gender equality. © UNFPA Azerbaijan/Elnur Mukhtar
Strong data systems are key for exposing inequalities and taking action. © UNFPA/Tomas Pineda
Sharing an important message: Your body, your bodyright. © Yonel Puga/Costa Rica Fashion Week
Young Mums Clubs in Nigeria provide livelihood support. © UNFPA/Magnum Photos/Lindokuhle Sobekwa
Arwa learns self-defense at Zaatari refugee camp in Jordan. © UNFPA/Ghinwa Daher
The world has changed over the last 30 years, but our goals have not. The bodyright campaign, as seen at the Costa Rica Fashion Week (above), is UNFPA’s campaign for a “copyright” for the human body to demand protection from digital violence and end online abuse.
Fatoumata Dienta gave birth at a clinic amid a security crisis in Mali. © UNFPA Mali/Amadou Maiga
Mariel gave birth at a mobile clinic after a typhoon struck the Philippines. © UNFPA /Ezra Acayan
There is no such thing as a healthy pregnancy in Gaza anymore. © UNFPA Palestine/Bisan Owda
Skilled midwives are reducing maternal mortality in Tanzania. © UNFPA/Magnum Photos/Sabiha Çimen
When a climate disaster strikes, it is a disaster for women and girls. © Naymuzzaman Prince
Conflicts and crises around the world are rolling back progress on the rights of women and girls. The needs of women and girls must be central to humanitarian responses – not an afterthought.
Dr. Ghada Boulaabi reviews mammograms in Ariana, Tunisia. © UNFPA/Dhia Absi
All women and girls need quality sexual and reproductive health care. © UNFPA Georgia/Dina Oganova
Young people must be involved in decisions that affect their future. © UNFPA/Abdoulatif Keita
Tailored health services support indigenous women in Brazil. © UNFPA/Magnum Photos/Newsha Tavakolian
Amisse drives a boat ambulance in Cabo Delgado, Mozambique. © UNFPA Mozambique/Mbuto Machili
“This is the power of rights and choices.” –Divya, 16, Turkuri, India
Images on display at the UN during CPD57.
