At the United Nations, the USA failed in its attempt to stop a joint declaration on women’s rights.
03/10/2026, 04:2903/10/2026, 04:29
Ultimately, 37 of the 44 voting states in the UN Commission on the Rights of Women voted for a text negotiated as a compromise – only the United States voted against it, six states abstained.
The 70th session of the UN Commission on the Rights of Women is currently taking place in New York. (symbol image)Image: keystone
The German Minister for Women Karin Prien (CDU) supported the joint declaration, which is about securing women’s rights through the judiciary and dismantling discriminatory laws. “I regret that no longer everyone shares our collective commitments that we agreed in Beijing in 1995,” said Prien.
“But fortunately the vast majority still do this. That in turn is an encouraging sign.”
The US representative had previously raised objections because the draft contained “ambiguous language promoting gender ideology”. In addition, it contains obligations on sexual and reproductive health that are too vague, as well as passages that, from the USA’s perspective, could amount to censorship. What was meant were possible measures against hate speech.
The USA initially tried to prevent or delay adoption of the text. When this did not meet with approval, the US representative formulated suggestions for changes. However, the majority in the Commission refused to reopen the text agreed after weeks of negotiations.
The fact that a vote had to be held at all was a first in the Commission’s 80-year history. As a rule, such declarations are adopted by consensus by acclamation, even if individual states do not agree 100 percent with every passage. This time it didn’t work. (sda/dpa/con)