Actress Anne Hathaway addresses U.N. event

Actress Anne Hathaway addresses U.N. event

American actress Anne Hathaway delivers a speech at an International Women's Day event at the U.N. headquarters in New York on March 9, 2026.

Nobel Prize laureate Yousafzai addresses U.N. event

Nobel Prize laureate Yousafzai addresses U.N. event

Nobel Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai delivers a speech at an International Women's Day event at the U.N. headquarters in New York on March 9, 2026.

Tokyo Skytree in anti-gendered violence color

Tokyo Skytree in anti-gendered violence color

Tokyo Skytree is lit up in purple on Nov. 12, 2025, as the Japanese government launches a campaign to tackle gender-based violence the same day ahead of the U.N.-designated International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women on Nov. 25.

Tokyo Skytree in anti-gendered violence color

Tokyo Skytree in anti-gendered violence color

Tokyo Skytree is lit up in purple on Nov. 12, 2025, as the Japanese government launches a campaign to tackle gender-based violence the same day ahead of the U.N.-designated International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women on Nov. 25.

Tokyo Skytree in anti-gendered violence color

Tokyo Skytree in anti-gendered violence color

Tokyo Skytree is lit up in purple on Nov. 12, 2025, as the Japanese government launches a campaign to tackle gender-based violence the same day ahead of the U.N.-designated International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women on Nov. 25.

Tokyo Skytree in anti-gendered violence color

Tokyo Skytree in anti-gendered violence color

Tokyo Skytree is lit up in purple on Nov. 12, 2025, as the Japanese government launches a campaign to tackle gender-based violence the same day ahead of the U.N.-designated International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women on Nov. 25.

Tokyo Skytree in anti-gendered violence color

Tokyo Skytree in anti-gendered violence color

Tokyo Skytree is lit up in purple on Nov. 12, 2025, as the Japanese government launches a campaign to tackle gender-based violence the same day ahead of the U.N.-designated International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women on Nov. 25.

Tokyo Skytree in anti-gendered violence color

Tokyo Skytree in anti-gendered violence color

Tokyo Skytree is lit up in purple on Nov. 12, 2025, as the Japanese government launches a campaign to tackle gender-based violence the same day ahead of the U.N.-designated International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women on Nov. 25.

Himeji Castle lit up in yellow

Himeji Castle lit up in yellow

Himeji Castle in Hyogo Prefecture, western Japan, is lit up in yellow on March 8, 2025, to symbolize the mimosa flower, the symbol of the U.N.-designated International Women's Day, which is celebrated the same day.

Himeji Castle lit up in yellow

Himeji Castle lit up in yellow

Himeji Castle in Hyogo Prefecture, western Japan, is lit up in yellow on March 8, 2025, to symbolize the mimosa flower, the symbol of the U.N.-designated International Women's Day, which is celebrated the same day.

U.N. committee reviews Japan's gender equality situation

U.N. committee reviews Japan's gender equality situation

The U.N. Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women reviewed the Japanese government's efforts to promote gender equality at the United Nations' European Headquarters in Geneva on Oct. 17, 2024, to put forward recommendations for the first time in eight years.

U.N. committee reviews Japan's gender equality situation

U.N. committee reviews Japan's gender equality situation

Photo taken on Oct. 17, 2024, shows the flag alley at the United Nations European Headquarters in Geneva. The U.N. Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women reviewed the Japanese government's efforts to promote gender equality the same day to put forward recommendations for the first time in eight years.

U.N. committee reviews Japan's gender equality situation

U.N. committee reviews Japan's gender equality situation

Photo taken on Oct. 17, 2024, shows the United Nations European Headquarters in Geneva. The U.N. Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women reviewed the Japanese government's efforts to promote gender equality the same day to put forward recommendations for the first time in eight years.

At least 10 dead as DR Congo religious sect protests UN presence

STORY: At least 10 dead as DR Congo religious sect protests UN presence DATELINE: Aug. 31, 2023 LENGTH: 00:03:06 LOCATION: GOMA, DR Congo CATEGORY: MILITARY SHOTLIST: 1. various of Goma, DR Congo 2. SOUNDBITE 1 (French): GUILLAUME NDJIKE KAIKO, Spokesperson for the military governor of North Kivu 3. SOUNDBITE 2 (Swahili): ERIC RUBWIRA, Motorcycle taximan of Goma STORYLINE: At least 10 people were killed in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) on Wednesday when troops intervened in a religious sect's planned anti-U.N. protests. Activities remained paralyzed the morning of Wednesday in Goma, capital of the North Kivu province in the eastern DRC. A mystical religious sect known as "Natural Judaic and Messianic Faith toward the Nations" had urged followers to enter United Nations (UN) bases and demand the departure of peacekeepers. Local authorities of Goma had banned the protest. Women, young girls and boys, men and children were arrested by the army. SOUNDBITE 1 (French): GUILLAUME NDJIKE KAIK

International Women's Day

International Women's Day

People buy flowers in Kyiv, Ukraine, on the U.N.-designated International Women's Day on March 8, 2023.

International Women's Day

International Women's Day

People buy flowers in Kyiv, Ukraine, on the U.N.-designated International Women's Day on March 8, 2023.

International Women's Day

International Women's Day

People buy flowers in Kyiv, Ukraine, on the U.N.-designated International Women's Day on March 8, 2023.

International Women's Day

International Women's Day

People buy flowers by the side of a road in Kyiv, Ukraine, on the U.N.-designated International Women's Day on March 8, 2023.

International Women's Day

International Women's Day

People march in the southwestern Japan city of Fukuoka calling for gender equality on the U.N.-designated International Women's Day on March 8, 2023.

International Women's Day

International Women's Day

People march in the southwestern Japan city of Fukuoka calling for gender equality on the U.N.-designated International Women's Day on March 8, 2023.

Empire State Building to be lit in orange for U.N. campaign for women

Empire State Building to be lit in orange for U.N. campaign for women

NEW YORK, United States - American Actress Teri Hatcher (L) and Ban Ki Moon (3rd from L), secretary general of the United Nations, light a model of the Empire State Building in orange as part of a U.N.-led campaign to fight violence against women, at the building in New York on Nov. 24, 2014, ahead of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women the following day.

Syrian women receive relief goods amid 40% supply cut

Syrian women receive relief goods amid 40% supply cut

DAMASCUS, Syria - Syrian women receive relief goods from the U.N. World Food Program in Damascus on Oct. 19, 2014. The WFP has been forced to cut relief supplies by 40% because of the needs for humanitarian assistance in other places such as West Africa caught in the Ebola scare.

Japan asks for partial retraction of U.N. report on wartime brothels

Japan asks for partial retraction of U.N. report on wartime brothels

TOKYO, Japan - Undated file photo of Radhika Coomaraswamy, a Sri Lankan lawyer who compiled a United Nations report on "comfort women" in 1996. Coomaraswamy has rejected the Japanese government's request to retract part of the report's contents that Tokyo sees as false, the top government spokesman said on Oct. 16, 2014.

WFP head says food aid essential for Ebola patients

WFP head says food aid essential for Ebola patients

TOKYO, Japan - Ertharin Cousin, executive director of the U.N. World Food Program, gives an interview in Tokyo on Sept. 13, 2014. She said food aid for quarantined people in West Africa due to the Ebola outbreak is essential to stop the spread of the disease. She was in Japan to attend the World Assembly for Women in Tokyo.

Ex-U.N. envoy sees no need to revise 'comfort women' report

Ex-U.N. envoy sees no need to revise 'comfort women' report

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka - Sri Lankan lawyer Radhika Coomaraswamy, a former U.N. researcher who compiled a report that urged Japan to apologize and pay compensation over the so-called "comfort women" issue, speaks during an interview in Colombo on Sept. 2, 2014. She said she sees no need to revise her 1996 report that referred to testimony by a Japanese man cited by a major Japanese daily, which later retracted it for being false.

Yousafzai at United Nations

Yousafzai at United Nations

NEW YORK, United States - Education and women's rights activist Malala Yousafzai (R) and U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki Moon (C) attend an event at U.N. headquarters in New York on Aug. 18, 2014, to mark 500 Days of Action for achieving the Millennium Development Goals.

Yousafzai at United Nations

Yousafzai at United Nations

NEW YORK, United States - Education and women's rights activist Malala Yousafzai (R front) listens to U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki Moon at U.N. headquarters in New York on Aug. 18, 2014.

PM Abe meets 'UN Women' chief in Tokyo

PM Abe meets 'UN Women' chief in Tokyo

TOKYO, Japan - Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (R) shakes hands with Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, executive director of UN Women, officially known as the U.N. Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, at his office in Tokyo on March 28, 2014. They agreed to enhance cooperation in providing support to women.

S. Korea slams Japan on "comfort women" at U.N. rights meeting

S. Korea slams Japan on "comfort women" at U.N. rights meeting

GENEVA, Switzerland - South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung Se makes a speech at a U.N. human rights meeting in Geneva, Switzerland, on March 5, 2014. Yun slammed Japan over the issue of "comfort women" who were forced to work at Japanese military brothels during World War II.

U.N. Women's Puri

U.N. Women's Puri

NEW YORK, United States - Lakshmi Puri, acting head of U.N. Women, is interviewed by Kyodo News in New York on May 23, 2013.

U.N. Women chief Bachelet

U.N. Women chief Bachelet

TOKYO, Japan - Michel Bachelet, executive director of the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, also known as U.N. Women, speaks during a press conference in Tokyo on Nov. 13, 2012.

U.N. conference on disaster, reconstruction, gender equality

U.N. conference on disaster, reconstruction, gender equality

NEW YORK, United States - A conference on disaster and reconstruction from the perspective of gender equality is held at the United Nations headquarters in New York on March 1, 2012, under the auspices of the U.N. Commission on the Status of Women.

Japan's Saiga elected as judge of International Criminal Court

Japan's Saiga elected as judge of International Criminal Court

NEW YORK, United States - Fumiko Saiga, Japanese ambassador in charge of human rights and member of the U.N. Committee for the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women, speaks at a news conference in New York on Nov. 30 after being elected to serve as a judge on the International Criminal Court to fill one of three vacancies. Saiga is the first Japanese to take that post.

Nicole Kidman named as U.N. goodwill ambassador

Nicole Kidman named as U.N. goodwill ambassador

NEW YORK, United States - Academy Award winning actress Nicole Kidman was appointed goodwill ambassador for the U.N. Development Fund for Women on Jan. 26.

UNFPA goodwill envoy Arimori tours Cambodian brothel

UNFPA goodwill envoy Arimori tours Cambodian brothel

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia - Yuko Arimori (R), a goodwill ambassador for the U.N. Population Fund (UNFPA), talks about labor conditions and AIDS prevention with women working at a Phnom Penh brothel frequented by Japanese tourists. Arimori is in Cambodia on a mission to learn about the activities of local people to fight AIDS and the spread of HIV.

Japan UNICEF envoy visits West Timor refugee camp

Japan UNICEF envoy visits West Timor refugee camp

KUPANG, Indonesia - Agnes Chan (L), envoy for the Japan Committee for the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), chats with a women afraid of returning to East Timor during her visit to a refugee camp in Kupang, West Timor, on June 14. Chan, a Hong Kong-born singer and TV personality based in Japan, made the visit as part of a week-long mission to study the conditions of children stranded in refugee camps in West Timor and in U.N.-ruled East Timor.

Iwao addresses U.N. session on women

Iwao addresses U.N. session on women

NEW YORK, United States - Sumiko Iwao, professor emeritus at Keio University and the chief Japanese delegate, addresses a special U.N. General Assembly session on women as one of key speakers at the opening session June 5.

U.N.-set day to eliminate violence against women

U.N.-set day to eliminate violence against women

Kumamoto Castle is lit up in purple in Kumamoto, southwestern Japan, on Nov. 12, 2022, ahead of the U.N.-designated International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women on Nov. 25.

U.N.-set day to eliminate violence against women

U.N.-set day to eliminate violence against women

Tokyo Skytree is lit up in purple in the capital on Nov. 12, 2022, ahead of the U.N.-designated International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women on Nov. 25.

U.N.-set day to eliminate violence against women

U.N.-set day to eliminate violence against women

Tokyo Skytree is lit up in purple in the capital on Nov. 12, 2022, ahead of the U.N.-designated International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women on Nov. 25.

U.N.-set day to eliminate violence against women

U.N.-set day to eliminate violence against women

Tokyo Skytree is lit up in purple in the capital on Nov. 12, 2022, ahead of the U.N.-designated International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women on Nov. 25.

U.N.-set day to eliminate violence against women

U.N.-set day to eliminate violence against women

State Guest House in Tokyo is lit up in purple on Nov. 12, 2022, ahead of the U.N.-designated International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women on Nov. 25.

U.N.-set day to eliminate violence against women

U.N.-set day to eliminate violence against women

State Guest House in Tokyo is lit up in purple on Nov. 12, 2022, ahead of the U.N.-designated International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women on Nov. 25.

U.N.-set day to eliminate violence against women

U.N.-set day to eliminate violence against women

State Guest House in Tokyo is lit up in purple on Nov. 12, 2022, ahead of the U.N.-designated International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women on Nov. 25.

U.N.-set day to eliminate violence against women

U.N.-set day to eliminate violence against women

Kyoto Tower is lit up in purple in the western Japan city on Nov. 12, 2022, ahead of the U.N.-designated International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women on Nov. 25.

Hillary Clinton in Japan

Hillary Clinton in Japan

Former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (R) and U.N. Undersecretary General Izumi Nakamitsu discuss gender equality during a World Assembly for Women event in Tokyo on Oct. 20, 2022.

Japan PM Kishida at UN Women meeting

Japan PM Kishida at UN Women meeting

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida speaks at a meeting hosted by UN Women, a U.N. entity for gender equality and empowerment of women, in New York on Sept. 21, 2022. (Pool photo)

Ex-N.Z. PM Helen Clark declares candidacy for U.N. chief post

Ex-N.Z. PM Helen Clark declares candidacy for U.N. chief post

U.N. Development Program Administrator Helen Clark attends a news conference in New York on April 4, 2016, to declare her candidacy to become the next U.N. secretary general, replacing Ban Ki Moon. Along with the former New Zealand prime minister, seven other candidates, including three women, are currently in the running for the position, amid growing expectations that a woman will take over the post for the first time since the United Nations' inception in 1945. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

Abe slams U.N. panel viewing Japan imperial law as discriminatory

Abe slams U.N. panel viewing Japan imperial law as discriminatory

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe heads to an upper house committee meeting in Tokyo on March 14, 2016. At the meeting, Abe accused the U.N. Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women of wrongly judging Japan's imperial law as discriminatory to women after it sought to call for the amendment of the law that limits the emperor's heir to male offspring in the male line. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

U.N. chief has 1st meeting with ex-"comfort woman"

U.N. chief has 1st meeting with ex-"comfort woman"

U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki Moon (L) holds talks with Gil Won Ok, one of the surviving victims, known as "comfort women," of Japan's wartime military-run brothels at the U.N. headquarters in New York on March 11, 2016. Ban met with a former comfort woman for the first time since he assumed the U.N. post in 2007, according to a spokesperson for the secretary general. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo