At this moment of global convergence and consequence, from the Women Deliver conference in Naarm to the Commission on the Status of Women in New York, we are reminded that affirming the dignity of every girl and woman is a sacred act of justice. Where well-funded and coordinated anti-gender backlash seeks to instill fear and division, we are choosing to ground ourselves in the strength of our partners’ self-determination. Gender justice is not just a fight for rights, but a creative act of building a world where everyone has the power to define their own needs and build their own solutions toward a thriving future. We are honored to walk alongside the movements making this future real.

In Australia, Pacific feminist movements are reclaiming space. 

This year’s upcoming Women Deliver convening will not just be a global conference for us; we will also support our Pacific feminist partners to gain ground where advocates can assert self-determination. By naming the compounding crises facing women and LGBTQ+ communities across the islands, we will talk about Non-Economic Loss and Damage through a gendered lens. Our partners are making their presence felt at global climate negotiations by leading with Indigenous women leaders. 

At UUSC’s Converging Futures convening, global leaders developed strategies to advance gender justice.

In Lisbon, Portugal, UUSC brought together leaders from grassroots movements, progressive faith communities, legislative advocacy, and research for a 3-day convening focused on advancing gender justice. Participants interrogated religion’s complex relationship to social power, identified shared strategies to resist anti-gender backlash, and used collaborative creativity to connect past resistance strategies with today’s tools.

While CSW convenes governments, we are supporting the moral focus of grassroots movements driving change. 

This March, UUSC showed up at CSW70 in solidarity, ready for the long work of justice. In this political climate, where those most impacted are targeted by coordinated backlash, centering the leadership and courage of our partners deepens our resolve and builds the beloved community we know is possible. To that end, we were proud to support four partner-led events that embody what collective power looks like in practice:

• Leading voices from Haiti’s women’s rights movement examined women’s indispensable role in shaping Haiti’s future
• The Women in Migration Network launched their landmark Feminist Migration Policy Agenda
• Haitian grassroots organizers bore witness to survivors of gender-based violence
• A coalition of faith leaders united to reclaim religion as a force for gender justice and LGBTQ+ rights. 

A new, innovative report charts a movement-led path from harm to justice. 

Women in Migration Network, with UUSC’s support, recently joined the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES) Foundation and led researchers to produce the 2026 Spotlight Report on Global Migration (SRGM). From the 75 million domestic workers worldwide, 80% of them women, this report names six interlocking pillars of systemic oppression: from exclusion of labor protections to the compounding harm of climate displacement on communities. A different world is achievable in which rights, dignity, and power are returned to those whose leadership has always been the answer. 

Deepen Your Understanding

For people of faith and conscience, ready to learn more. 

Here are some resources for further justice education:

Women Making History…Today – UUSC

• A collection of our partner stories centering women’s leadership across Haiti, migration, and global justice movements.

The New Global Struggle Over Gender, Rights, and Family Values – Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

• Curious to learn more about the current analysis of the coordinated transnational anti-gender justice movement and how feminist and faith-based movements are responding? We encourage you to read this movement report.

Progress and Backlash: Accountability for the Rights of Women and Girls – Equality Now

• Building on the latest analysis from coalition partners, this report provides a clear and crucial update on global backlash trends and concrete recommendations to strengthen legal equality.

Weaponising Gender – Transnational Institute

• This article explains why gender has become such a central target and how the anti-gender movement isn’t just about social conservatism; it’s a political strategy to centralize power.