UN Women faces possible setback in negotiations
Written by Matilda Alexis Camara, Journalist, LIMUN 2026
Nerves were completely absent for the delegates within the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and Empowerment of Women. The beginner committee came to the conference with high spirits as they eagerly discussed their first agenda of addressing the need for equitable political representation and happily entered discussions in their first moderated caucus concerning the difference between equity and equality.
Positive agreements or potential obstacles?
The moderated caucus helped make clear to the delegates where each country stands on the prevalent issue of gender gaps in governance. The delegate of the United Kingdom set an optimistic tone that heard echoes of approval from fellow delegates by suggesting their need for quotas or entry mechanisms to ensure a vast range of political representation.
On the other hand, whilst Russia acknowledged their own need to have more gender inclusion, Russia interestingly criticised Afghanistan, claiming they were hypocritical for advocating for gender inequality when their government allows terrorist groups such as the Taliban to control every aspect of their lives. Despite the direct accusation from Russia, the delegate of Afghanistan remained unfazed and confidently stood their ground emphasising a priority in culture and religion for growth. Notably, Afghanistan indirectly deflected from answering directly to Russia’s claim and the topic at hand which may suggest that they could hinder this committee from reaching a resolution by the end of this weekend. However, Afghanistan has positively mentioned that the proportion of women in their parliament has doubled since 1955. It will be intriguing to see how Afghanistan balances their priority in preserving their cultural society and the need to reach a satisfactory resolution with the UN Women Committee.
Contrastingly, the delegate of Poland has announced they are open to modernising their culture with their innovative idea of building respect from the ground upwards by starting with tackling education and awareness in schools to instill respect and promote female empowerment from a young age. This was heavily supported by the delegate of Myanmar who held the view that ‘men can be our allies’; they intend to reform education to help educate young boys and empower women.
What comes next?
This committee promises optimistic but challenging days ahead as they will have to push themselves and each other to find a resolution that can integrate in the various cultural societies at present. Fortunately, their collaboration creates a positive framework that will make discussions easier to navigate. It will be intriguing to find out if delegates have to make sacrifices in favour of the committee or in favour of their country’s priorities. We look forward to seeing how their discussions proceed during this weekend.
