The role of women at and with the United Nations has been through flows and ebbs. Over time, women have gradually strengthened themselves with their networks and grounded knowledge—and states have taken note, or the movement has made the state take note, of their collective strength.
However, during this evolution, the UN group of institutions has lost its space as a critical entity, as the game-changer that it was during the 1970s, 80s and 90s. With the growth of globalisation and the increasing power of the private sector, of multinational corporations and international capital on a global scale, governments and intergovernmental organisations like the UN were pushed backstage.