Asia-Pacific celebrates International Women’s Day 2025 with a focus on youth and the launch of a new AI School

Author: John Krich

The International Women’s Day 2025 celebration in Bangkok at the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific. Photo: UN Women/Pathumporn Thongking

Under the theme “For ALL Women and Girls: Rights, Equality, Empowerment,” the spotlight was on youth at the International Women’s Day 2025 celebration in Bangkok. UN Women Asia-Pacific RegionalDirector Christine Arab joined colleagues from the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP)to commemorate progress and issue a “aclarion call” to further efforts to advance gender equality.

UN Women Asia-Pacific Regional Director Christine Arab gives her Opening Remarks. Photo: UN Women/Pathumporn Thongking

Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana, Executive Secretary, United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific gives her Opening Remarks. Photo: UN Women/Pathumporn Thongking

The event highlighted 38 Youth Ambassadors chosen for their commitment to advancing transformative solutions for gender equality in environmentaland digital economies. The role of youthful energy and idealism was highlighted by keynote speaker Trisha Suresh, Head of Public Policy for Southeast Asia at LinkedIn: “Young people are not just the leaders of tomorrow,” she said. “They are the innovators of today.”

Trisha Suresh, Head of Public Policy for Southeast Asia at LinkedIn. Photo: UN Women/Pathumporn Thongking

A session on “Youth Voices on Innovation for Gender Equality” featured inspirational TED-style talks, kicked off by 19-year-old Chanphone Xongchaiyieu from the Laos’ Green Skills for Youth Programme.She forcefully urged participants to “Put the girl at the centre of your policies,” reminding colleagues that “Our voices, our choices […] small things can lead to big changes.”

Chanphone Xongchaiyieu from the Laos’ Green Skills for Youth Programme. Photo: UN Women/Panumas Sanguanwong

Young speakers Jirada Phetlam and Suchada Hnoonpakdee followed with informative presentations on how artificial intelligence (AI) can promote gender equality. While “80 per cent of software engineers are male,” Jirada recounted, “I found my voice stepping into the space where women are not expected to be.”

Jirada Phetlam, Co-Founder of Femnimitr on Technology: Closing the Digital Gender Divide. Photo: UN Women/Pathumporn Thongking

Suchada Hnoonpakdee, Software Engineer and Social Impact Entrepreneur. Photo: UN Women/Pathumporn Thongking

UN Women also announced the establishment of its own UN Women Asia-Pacific AI School. This comprehensive online course, from June to August 2025 and open to all applicants, will inculcate cutting-edge computer skills and share tools for furthering advocacy – including a GPT designed for gender equality.

A montage paid tribute to the nominees for the fifth year of The Ambassador for a Day initiative, which Lead Coordinator H.E. Cecilia Zunilda Galarreta Bazan, Ambassador of Peru to Thailand, explained “empowers young women to envision themselves as leaders and change-makers.”

H.E. Cecilia Zunilda Galarreta Bazan, Ambassador of Peru to Thailand. Photo: UN Women/Pathumporn Thongking

Students aged 19–25 were chosen based on videos on “a gender-free future”. Those selected got to shadow mentoring Ambassadors from Mexico to Pakistan who urged young people to overcome fears to speak up and take action.

As Michaela Friberg-Storey, UN Resident Coordinator in Thailand, told these young people: “You are not passengers on the journey to the future, you are co-pilots. In this defining moment, the choices we make shape the world for generations.”

Michaela Friberg-Storey, UN Resident Coordinator in Thailand. Photo: UN Women/Pathumporn Thongking

Emphasizing innovation, a Green Skills Workshop was led by Mirjana Unčanin, Adolescent Skills Consultant at UNICEF’s Asia-Pacific Regional Office, who shared her goal “to equip young women with the skills they need to thrive in a green economy.”

Panel on Artificial Intelligence, Technology and Innovation. Photo: UN Women/Pathumporn Thongking

A second panel on AI, Tech and Innovation, moderated by Caroline McGrath, Asia Regional Director for Skills for Social Impact at Microsoft, included contributions from UNDP’s Asia Pacific Regional Office and LinkedIn.

Participant Notty Noonpuckdee, Country Lead for Thailand at LinkedIn, vowed:“We must ensure that technological advancements benefit everyone.”

Career advice and application tips from HR and staff from embassies and UN entities. Photo: UN Women/Pathumporn Thongking

Advice on careers for women in Development and Diplomacy was offered by participants from ESCAP, UN Women, the German Embassy in Bangkok and LinkedIn.

Noting the 30-40 per cent women in Asia’s 1 billion-strong rural workforce, the topic of“Empowering Women and Girls in Agrifood Systems Transformation” was addressed by experts from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization,ESCAP, the ASEAN Secretariat, Grow Asia as well as the Minister for Agriculture and Cooperatives of Thailand – who stressed the need to foster rural women’s confidence in decision-making so“no one is left behind”.

The final session on Empowering Women and Girls for Agrifood Systems Transformation: Regional Insights on Innovations to Accelerate Change. Photo: UN Women/Pathumporn Thongking<

The Asia-Pacific regional commemoration of International Women’s Day 2025 took place amid the 30th anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women and Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action. UN and private sector partners like LinkedIn and Microsoft, built on the priorities set at last October’s Asia-Pacific Ministerial Conference on the Beijing+30 Review, with presentations stressing the challenges to women and girls face taking up leadership roles in emerging AI technologies, confronting algorithmic bias, digital gender divides and the recent backlash against women’s rights.