International Women’s Day 2026 is a test: will the world defend women’s rights or watch them be taken away?
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This OP-ED was originally published on the Tatler.
Across Asia and the Pacific, gains in education, leadership and legal reform are being undermined by persistent inequality and emerging threats. This International Women’s Day, the fight is no longer just for progress—but to prevent regression, says Christine Arab, regional director of UN Women Asia and the Pacific.
For over 100 years, March 8, International Women’s Day, has been an annual marker for the collective progress of women. Its continued urgency is not symbolic. A recent review (Beijing+30) revealed that nearly one in four countries now reports an active backlash against gender equality, at times through laws and policies that quietly roll back women’s rights, freedoms and protections. As such, this year’s global theme for International Women’s Day is: “Rights. Justice. Action. For ALL Women and Girls.”
Read the full version of the op-ed by Christine Arab, Regional Director of UN Women Asia and the Pacific on the Tatler: https://ow.ly/VGLT50YpY53