Introduction from SI President Renata Trottmann Probst
As Soroptimist International marks International Women’s Day and prepares for the opening of the 70th session of the Commission on the Status of Women, I am delighted to introduce a colleague whose dedication inspires me every day: Berthe De Vos‑Neven, our Director of Advocacy.
Berthe leads Soroptimist International’s global advocacy efforts with passion, clarity and deep commitment. Through her representation of our organisation in international policy arenas — including at the United Nations — she ensures that the voices, challenges, and achievements of women and girls in our global network are brought to the forefront of global decision‑making.
In the message below, Berthe reflects on this year’s International Women’s Day theme — Rights. Justice. Action. For ALL Women and Girls — and reminds us of the work still ahead to ensure that the rights promised to women and girls are not only recognised, but truly realised in their everyday lives.
Message from SI Director of Advocacy, Berthe De Vos-Neven
Good morning — and Happy International Women’s Day.
I am honoured to serve as the Director of Advocacy for Soroptimist International — a role that allows me to carry forward a mission close to my heart: ensuring that the voices of all women and girls — from every region, every community, every walk of life — are heard where decisions are made.
Soroptimist International has held general consultative status with the United Nations for over seventy years. We are a global network of more than 66,000 members in over 120 countries, united by the pillars that guide everything we do: education, empowerment, health, a sustainable environment, equal access to justice, and a world free from violence against all women and girls. When we advance these together, entire communities are transformed.
This year’s International Women’s Day theme — “Rights. Justice. Action. For ALL Women and Girls” is a reminder of commitments the world has yet to honour.
Because in 2026, no country has achieved full legal equality between women and men. Note one. Globally, women hold only 64 percent of the legal rights that men hold. In areas that shape everyday life, the law still systematically disadvantages women.
Even where laws exist, justice is not guaranteed. Women continue to face weak protections, poor enforcement, and harmful norms that silence them. Gender-based violence continues. Economic inequality persists. Discrimination is reinforced by tradition and tolerated by the systems meant to protect.
Think about what that means. It means that in many countries, a woman or girl cannot open a bank account, own land, or seek protection from violence on the same terms as a man. It means that justice systems designed to protect everyone still fail half of humanity.
As the Commission on the Status of Women convenes its seventieth session, we have an opportunity to hold governments accountable for the promises they have made, and to insist that rights are upheld in law and realised in practice.
Soroptimist International is committed to turning those promises into lived reality. Through our empowerment programmes, our grassroots-to-global advocacy, and our partnerships across civil society, the United Nations, and Member States, we work every day to close
the gap between the rights all women and girls are guaranteed on paper and the justice they experience in practice.
Because rights without justice are fragile, and justice without action is empty.
On this International Women’s Day, I invite you to join us. Speak up for the laws that must change. Stand with all women and girls who are still waiting for justice. And act — because equality is not a favour granted. It is a right owed.
Rights. Justice. Action. For all women and girls. Not eventually. Now.
Berthe De Vos-Neven
Soroptimist International Director of Advocacy 2026-2027
