World leaders and civil society organizations gathered on Monday at the United Nations headquarters to mark 30 years since the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and to call for speeding up the adoption of women's rights.

Addressing the high-level meeting of the UN General Assembly on the 30th anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women, Annalena Baerbock, president of the 80th session of the UN General Assembly, said that the Beijing Declaration was "a watershed achievement advancing women's rights, resources, and representation. Yet 30 years later, the revolution remains unfinished."

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called the Beijing Declaration "the most ambitious global political commitment on women's rights ever achieved," which has helped advance legal protection, political participation and education for women worldwide. But "progress has been slow and uneven," he said.

"Thirty years ago, the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action changed the world. It brought the UN Charter's principles and promises to life for women and girls: human rights, dignity, equality," said UN Under-Secretary-General and UN Women Executive Director Sima Bahous.

"To this day, the Beijing Declaration remains the most visionary, groundbreaking and far-reaching global agenda for gender equality and women's rights," she added.

The number of women in parliament has almost doubled, and nearly 100 discriminatory laws have been reversed around the world in the past five years alone, she said. "Every step forward proved the same truth: gender equality works, but progress has not been fast enough."

As government officials and representatives reflected on progress and achievements on women's rights over the past 30 years and ongoing challenges, they found that poverty, conflict, climate shocks and technical gaps are eroding hard-won gains. Some leaders expressed their concern over a growing backlash against women's rights across the world.

"Artificial intelligence is reshaping our world. But this transformation is unfolding in an industry dominated by men, shaped by biased data, and driven by algorithms that frequently reinforce discrimination," Guterres warned.

A Swedish representative said she "is deeply concerned by this backsliding."

"Despite important gains, the pace of change remains unacceptably slow. In some places, these gains are even being reversed. We must not allow for a new normal where mothers enjoy more freedoms than daughters," she said.

Gender-based violence and barriers to accessing health care can have devastating consequences, the representative added.

A UN Women report released earlier this month found that none of the gender equality Sustainable Development Goals are on track to be fulfilled. Furthermore, around 676 million women and girls now live under the shadow of deadly conflict, the highest recorded since the 1990s.

"We are meeting at a pivotal time for the empowerment of women and girls," Liechtenstein's Deputy Prime Minister Sabine Monauni said. "In recent years, we have witnessed a backlash to gender equality."

Representatives called for decisive leadership and for accelerating the implementation of the Beijing Declaration.

Luxembourg's Prime Minister Luc Frieden called for all member states to commit to fully implement the Beijing+30 Action Agenda, with well-resourced national action plans that address violence against women, economic empowerment, political participation, access to justice, and elimination of discriminatory laws and practices.

Frieden also urges financing gender equality. "Gender equality must be central in both domestic budgets and international aid. We must close the financing gaps, including by investing in care systems, gender-responsive education, digital inclusion, and health services," he said.