As a veteran diplomat, women's rights advocate, and former Chair of the NGO Committee on the Status of Women (CSW), Soon-Young Yoon has spent decades working at the intersection of grassroots activism and multilateral policy. She played a pivotal role in shaping the Beijing Platform for Action, has advised numerous UN agencies, and remains a leading voice on feminist leadership in international spaces. We sat down with her to reflect on her leadership journey, the future of gender equality at the UN, and the reforms she believes are necessary to move global commitments from rhetoric to reality.
What have been some of the most pivotal moments in your journey so far?
A pivotal moment for me came in 1993. Until then, I had primarily worked in academia and with the United Nations - but in 1993, I was asked to join a small team tasked with planning the NGO Forum. I was brought on to do two things: serve as the liaison with the UN Secretariat, and help shape the Beijing Platform for Action by coordinating with regional networks, which at that time didn’t exist in the way we see them today.
That moment was transformative. It introduced me to the international feminist movement. To meet our goals, I had to engage with diverse leadership, navigate conflicting opinions, and build consensus. We had over 260 organizations on the planning committee—each with their own priorities—and we had to find ways to bring them together.
Leadership during that time also meant managing crises. Just six months before the conference, the venue was moved to Huairou, a city just outside of Beijing. The infrastructure wasn’t ready—some apartments lacked running water. Then it rained. The mud became symbolic; people in wheelchairs couldn’t move between sections. And all the frustration was directed at us—the 30 people in that tiny office trying to make it all work.
Beyond logistics, the movement itself was grappling with internal tensions. At the time, the feminist community wasn’t fully embracing the rights of LGBTQ people. I felt the weight of those divisions deeply.
“History places you in pivotal moments. When that happens, you must recognize the responsibility. You must understand how much depends on that moment. And you cannot fail. That, to me, is leadership.”
- Soon-Young Yoon on Leadership
Soon-Young Yoon speaking at an event at Harvard Club, NYC.
Reflecting on your journey, how have your experiences thus far impacted your view of leadership? What does ethical leadership in the 21st century mean to you?
My experiences have shaped how I understand feminist leadership. I no longer see leadership as a military command, with a general leading troops into battle.
I see it as someone holding a torch—illuminating the way forward. Or someone being a bridge. Sometimes, a movement reaches a chasm too wide or turbulent to cross. In those moments, the leader becomes the bridge. People walk across you to reach the other side. And when they do, you lift the torch again—showing them where they’ve been, and how far they’ve come.
That image is so vivid to me now because I’ve been trampled on. If you want to be a leader, you have to be strong. You have to expect to be stepped on. But you also have to understand that without you, others may not make it across. History places you in pivotal moments. When that happens, you must recognize the responsibility. You must understand how much depends on that moment. And you cannot fail. That, to me, is leadership.
The Beijing Platform for Action, adopted in 1995, became a landmark in global women’s rights advocacy. What did it mean to you to be part of shaping such a progressive agenda?
The Beijing Platform for Action wasn’t just a document produced by governments and the UN—it was shaped by the rich diversity within the women’s movement. It recognized the importance of inclusion: respect for people with disabilities, for girls and women across all ages—including older women—and for ethnic and cultural diversity. That recognition came from the necessity of representing the voices of those who actively participated in the process.
Equally significant was the emphasis on human rights. The phrase “human rights” appears over 300 times in the document and is woven throughout all 12 critical areas of concern. That wasn’t accidental—it reflected a deliberate, collective effort.
The Platform emerged at a unique moment. Major UN social conferences of the 1990s had already laid the groundwork—on human rights, the environment, social development, racial equity, and children’s rights. The women’s movement took the lessons and language from each of those conferences and integrated them into the Beijing Platform.
That’s what makes the document such a lasting and powerful benchmark. It didn’t stand alone—it was built on the foundations of those earlier global efforts. For example, the influence of the Vienna Conference on Human Rights was particularly strong. Every constituency involved was committed to ensuring that the Beijing Platform reflected their priorities and concerns.
The 69th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) recently concluded. How have you seen CSW evolve over time?
I’ll start with 2014, when I was chair. Back then, everything was in-person. Aside from a few recordings, there really wasn’t a virtual dimension. A turning point was the creation of UN Women. Attendance grew dramatically—what used to be considered a large meeting at 1,000 participants ballooned to 4,000, then 6,000, and eventually 8,000 people attending in person.
The real transformation came during the pandemic. When CSW went virtual, we suddenly had 35,000 participants. That shift was monumental. It allowed access for people with disabilities, for young people who couldn’t afford to travel to New York, and for those facing visa restrictions. Participation became truly global. That change only began around 2020, but its impact continues today.
At this year’s CSW, we had around 20,000 participants registered virtually, and 750 events. In-person gatherings were relatively small, constrained by limited space at the UN—we even had to host an event off-site due to venue shortages.
For me, the expansion in numbers and diversity of voices is one of CSW’s biggest successes. Every event is a kind of seminar, a learning experience. And participation is growing not just on the NGO side, but also within the UN’s own programming.
“If we combine the policy guidance of Beijing with the legal accountability of CEDAW and the measurable targets of the SDGs, we could create a much stronger and more unified CSW. So, these are some of the concrete steps we’d like to see: bring CEDAW back into the CSW normative framework, integrate it into CSW’s reporting guidelines, improve access to the negotiations, and move at least one CEDAW session back to New York.”
- Soon-Young Yoon on CSW Reforms
Soon-Young Yoon with Executive Director, Kate Landon, and other friends and supporters of BKMF.
What are your boldest visions of reform for CSW?
I’m very clear on what I want from CSW.
CSW is successful in many ways—in terms of its growth, openness, and the participatory nature of its meetings. But it fails when it comes to accountability. And the reason we lack accountability is because the women’s movement is not allowed into the negotiations. The CSW Bureau and Secretariat need to find a way to allow civil society into those spaces. NGOs should have observer status during negotiations—each regional caucus could select two observers to attend the informal sessions. Without that kind of access, we can’t hold negotiators accountable, and that’s where the gap lies. If CSW is supposed to be a normative leader within the UN system, it has the potential to be that…but CSW is failing to bring those ideas together and make them actionable. And without full civil society participation, that process remains incomplete.
CEDAW (Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women), adopted in 1979, is one example. As you know, CSW created CEDAW because they wanted a better accountability mechanism. But when CEDAW moved to Geneva in 2008, it became separated from CSW.
CEDAW has legal power. The Beijing Platform for Action is policy—it’s not legally binding. CEDAW, however, would make it binding. Beijing gives us the policy guide; CEDAW is the roadmap to implement that policy. 189 countries agreed to the Beijing Platform for Action, but most don’t link it with CEDAW. One simple step would be to add CEDAW as a standing agenda item. Every time CSW addresses one of the 12 critical areas of concern, it should also reference the relevant CEDAW articles and recommendations.
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the 2030 Agenda also need to be integrated into this. The same countries that adopted the 2030 Agenda have signed CEDAW—and they all show up at CSW. So why not use CSW as the platform to bring it all together?
CSW should be reviewing the Beijing Platform for Action alongside the SDGs, because the Platform itself doesn’t contain measurable targets. Only the SDGs do. If we combine the policy guidance of Beijing with the legal accountability of CEDAW and the measurable targets of the SDGs, we could create a much stronger and more unified CSW. So, these are some of the concrete steps we’d like to see: bring CEDAW back into the CSW normative framework, integrate it into CSW’s reporting guidelines, improve access to the negotiations, and move at least one CEDAW session back to New York.
Another opportunity for growth is in how we document and preserve these experiences. This kind of documentation helps us build a historical record—a collective memory of the women’s movement as it evolves through CSW. We have hundreds of events, but without proper recording, it’s difficult to grasp the full trajectory of our progress. If we improve how we capture these moments, we’ll be able to reflect more clearly on where we’ve been—and where we’re going.
What do the SDGs mean for your work? Thinking of what comes after Agenda 2030, what needs to shift for whatever framework replaces the SDGs, especially considering we’re unlikely to meet the targets set in 2015?
I think long-term. There are several key areas we need to focus on, starting with information, education, and communication (IEC)—but as a unified approach, not separate tools. On the information side, we’re failing, especially when it comes to misinformation. We face significant challenges in providing accurate information, and this turbulence makes it difficult to engage with the SDGs effectively.
However, on the education side, we have more traction, and that’s where we can make a difference. I’d like to see required courses on global citizenship for middle and high school students. So, how can we expect people to understand the SDGs if we’re not teaching them? The information side is challenging because of misinformation, but education offers a more stable foundation for creating real impact. We can build better curricula for young people on topics like the UN, its role, and its goals. A good entry point could be climate change, as half of the SDGs are tied to it.
From a women’s perspective, this could connect to issues like water, biodiversity protection, land ownership, and climate change adaptation. These topics can be incorporated into a curriculum that resonates with people concerned about the planet’s future. This is something we’re missing—we don’t have enough strong programs to teach these critical issues.
On the communication side, I’d love to see better use of AI and language translation. One major flaw is our inability to leverage technology to communicate across languages. While mobile phones can translate, there are still millions of languages and dialects, particularly among indigenous communities. In Nigeria, for example, there are over 500 languages. If we’re talking about global citizenship in the context of climate change, we need to find ways to communicate in languages that people understand.
How would you like to see the issue of women’s leadership or gender equality better represented in the post-2030 agenda? What does that look like for you?
“We need to expand our focus on women’s leadership beyond just global initiatives. While national and global leadership are important, we must also prioritize leadership in smaller towns and cities. The post-2030 agenda should recognize the crucial role of cities, where women are leading efforts on issues like climate change. These cities often work together across borders, but their leadership struggles to be recognized at the UN.”
- Soon-Young Yoon on Women’s Leadership
Soon-Young Yoon with Madame Yoo Soon-taek at a BKMF event.
We need to expand our focus on women’s leadership beyond just global initiatives. While national and global leadership are important, we must also prioritize leadership in smaller towns and cities. The post-2030 agenda should recognize the crucial role of cities, where women are leading efforts on issues like climate change. These cities often work together across borders, but their leadership struggles to be recognized at the UN.
We also need to remember that multilateralism is under crisis. Some argue that we're looking at it all wrong. The UN isn’t just about nation-states—it’s one-third nation-states, one-third governments, and one-third civil society. What we need is a multilateralism for the 2030 Agenda that functions better at all levels—locally, nationally, and internationally. Women’s leadership, across local, regional, and global levels, is critical to this. A bottom-up and top-down approach is essential to fully integrate women’s leadership into the 2030 Agenda and beyond.
What's your call to action for any global decision-makers that might be reading your interview?
What’s ailing leadership today is the mythology of individualism — that somehow we’re in control of our own destiny, which we’re not. Ethical leadership today requires recognizing that we are not isolated individuals in control of our own destinies. The myth of individualism—especially prevalent in American culture—fails to account for how interconnected we all are. Every action, every word, every thought has an impact on others.
Leaders must be more aware of how their actions and words impact others—often in ways they don’t even realize. Good and bad, everything they do affects so many people. My call to action for decision-makers is simple: think twice before you act or speak. Ethical leadership means understanding the broader consequences of your decisions and being mindful of the ripple effects they create across the world.
What does Ban Ki-moon's leadership and legacy mean to you?
Ban Ki-moon was an exceptional leader because he embodied the role of a bridge. He understood the historical moments he was part of and never sought the spotlight for himself.
He was willing to be that bridge, and he was that bridge for women. He was proud to appoint more women to high-level positions than any other Secretary-General at the time. He was unwavering in his commitment to the human rights agenda and the youth agenda. Under his leadership, the UN became a powerful voice for those who could not speak for themselves.