Celebrities, world leaders and high officials will lead Sunday’s march for  Women’s Gender Equality and Equal  Rights, which kicks off in Dag Hammarskjold Plaza at 2:15 PM  and ends at 5 PM in Times Square.  Slated to offer  short remarks from a stage in Dag park are Nobel laureate Leymah Roberta Gbowee, UN Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, actor Paul Bettany, actresses Anna Lynne McCord and Kelly Rutherford, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and First Lady of the City of New York Chirlane McCray, and other activists for women’s rights.

The march takes place on International Women’s Day (March 8) and commemorates the 20 year anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women and the adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action. This event  celebrates the achievements women and girls have made around the world since 1995. It is  also an opportunity to underscore the need for political commitment to accelerate action to achieve gender equality by 2030.

An evocative closing at Times Square between 4.30 PM– 5.00 PM will consist of raising a collective torch to showcase intergenerational partnership. The program will bring together Ambassador Gertrude Mongella, the UN Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, Manu Sareen, Danish Minister for Children, Gender Equality, Integration and Social Affairs, Soon-Young Yoon, President NGOs CSW and others. The program will conclude with a song and a call to achieve gender equality by 2030.