Since our first days of publishing, PassBlue has been championing the rights of women. As a women-led media company that covers the United Nations, that stance is a given.

Here are the stories and an op-ed we produced in the last few months on women generally. Some of the women we have written about have achieved serious recognition for their work, despite the odds stacked against them, like activists from Belarus and Ukraine. We also highlight the stories of women who continue to take on roles that require enormous grit to improve the world, like Navi Pillay of South Africa and Margot Wallstrom of Sweden. And then there is the enormous courage of women in Iran demanding their freedom from repression.

It’s been a grueling year for women across the world, but 2023 will prove that they will fight even harder for gender equality and justice in every sphere of life.

Kind regards, Dulcie Leimbach, editor