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Women’s Leadership, Democracy, and Human Rights
Ann F. Kaplan Women’s Initiative
We develop policy and research to close the gender gap in leadership, strengthen democracy through women’s political and civic participation, and advance human rights and gender equality under the law.
The Future of Women’s Rights
Beijing+30: A Roadmap for Women’s Rights for the Next Thirty Years
Authors: Jennifer Klein, Rachel Vogelstein, and Lauren Hoffman
This year marks the thirtieth anniversary of the 1995 United Nations (UN) Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, a watershed moment in the fight for women’s rights, where 189 nations adopted an ambitious Platform for Action to achieve the full and equal participation of women and girls. While the past three decades have produced important gains, this work remains unfinished, and new challenges threaten to reverse progress for women and girls.
This report, produced by the Women’s Initiative at Columbia's Institute of Global Politics and GWL Voices, provides an actionable roadmap to advance the full and equal participation of women and girls in the twenty-first century—including in the areas of democracy and human rights, technology, economic participation, and conflict and climate. The report also proposes key levers designed to accelerate the pace of change, including innovative financing, institutional leadership and reform, coalition building, and improved data and research. It concludes with a call to accelerate action towards fulfilling the Beijing Platform and realizing the promise of women’s human rights once and for all.
March 12, 2026
On March 12, the Institute of Global Politics (IGP) Women’s Initiative and the Columbia Law School Human Rights Institute cohosted a discussion on the future of human rights in US foreign policy. The event, cosponsored by the Human Rights, Gender, and Equity (HRGE) Concentration, featured insights from former US government officials who previously shaped US policy on human rights.
November 17, 2025
"In Beijing in 1995, we witnessed the power of women organizing. In Reykjavik in 2025, we need to wield that power again, to meet the pressing challenges of this time,” IGP Women’s Initiative Director Rachel Vogelstein told attendees of the Reykjavik Global Forum this month.
September 25, 2025
IGP Carnegie Distinguished Fellow Susana Malcorra, former director-general of UNESCO, Irina Bokova, and IGP Women’s Initiative Director Rachel Vogelstein discussed new Beijing+30 report and the future of women’s rights globally.
March 12, 2025
World leaders, longstanding advocates, and young activists at the forefront of the women’s movement gathered at Columbia SIPA to commemorate the historic conference and chart a path forward.
Gender Apartheid
October 9, 2025
The Institute of Global Politics (IGP) Women’s Initiative convened a roundtable on October 9 to discuss the global implications of the erasure of Afghan women’s rights under Taliban rule.