United Nations in Iraq Statement on International Women’s Day 2025

Baghdad, 08 March 2025 - This year’s International Women’s Day global theme, “For ALL Women and Girls: Accelerate Progress. Rights. Equality. Empowerment.”, underscores the opportunity to build a society where every woman and girl can thrive, contribute, and lead—free to pursue their aspirations with dignity, security, and equal opportunities.

As we celebrate International Women’s Day 2025, we honor the pivotal role of Iraqi women. Throughout history, women in Iraq have shaped the nation's identity, and enriched its culture with their resilience, determination, sacrifices and remarkable achievements.

Iraq has made notable progress towards the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal 5 on realizing equality between women and men and empowering all women and girls. The quotas for women’s political participation have been met and the Government of Iraq has adopted comprehensive and ambitious frameworks to empower women, including the National Strategy for Iraqi Women and will soon launch its Third National Action Plan on Women, Peace, and Security.

Much progress and many achievements have been realized in Iraq, however, more work is on the way including on legislation that will provide further protection to Iraqi women against violence, increase women’s participation in the labor force and pave the way for greater participation and representation for women in decision making institutions at all sectors. In this regard, we call on the relevant institutions in Iraqi to protect and maintain these gains, especially in women’s political participation, including in the upcoming Council of Representative Elections.

The United Nations will provide all required support to Iraqi institutions, in line with international framework, to, advance women’s and girls’ rights, ensure their protection and empowerment, and amplify their voices in contributing to shaping the nation’s future.

On this day, we celebrate the momentum gained and encourage all stakeholders to build on this foundation, driving forward a future where every woman and girl in Iraq thrives with strength, resilience and boundless opportunities.