United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday urged binding targets for women's participation and called for a "gender data revolution" to advance women, peace and security agenda, as the Security Council met to mark the 25 years since the adoption of resolution 1325 (2000).

Guterres highlighted the rise in sexual violence and maternal mortality while girls are being pulled from school and women in public life are targeted with violence and harassment. 

He urged binding targets for women's participation, noting that the UN has set an "initial target" for at least one third of participants in UN-led peace processes to be women. He also called for a "gender data revolution" to close information gaps and ensure that women's experiences and needs are "visible and addressed."

Speaking at the meeting, UN Women Executive Director Sima Bahous said the record of the last 25 years since the adoption of the Resolution 1325 (2000) is mixed: bold, admirable commitments have been followed too often by weak implementation and chronic under-investment.

Today, 676 million women and girls live within reach of deadly conflict, the highest since the 1990s, she noted, also expressing regret that it is lamentable to see today's rising military spending and renewed pushback against gender equality and multilateralism.

Fu Cong, China's permanent representative to the UN, stressed that China supports the development of the global women's cause as "both an advocate and a doer."

Beijing will soon host another meeting on women to "build broad consensus on unity and cooperation, pool strong synergies to respond to challenges and inject new impetus into the development of the global women's cause."