NGO REPRESENTATIVE TO THE UN, AUTHOR, FEMINIST

Soon-Young Yoon

I’m an anthropologist and global women’s rights advocate, serving as the Representative for the International Alliance of Women to the United Nations. I previously chaired the NGO Committee on the Status of Women/New York and now co-direct the Cities for the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW): History & Futures Project, advancing local action for gender equality. My work with UNICEF and the World Health Organization in Asia shaped my lifelong commitment to women’s leadership in global health and development. I’m also the author of Citizen of the World: Soon-Young and the UN and was honored to be appointed to the UN General Assembly President’s Council on Gender Equality in 2021 and 2022.

Citizen of the World

Citizen of the World traces my journey from refugee to global advocate at the United Nations. Through clear, compassionate essays, I explore why seeing the world through women’s eyes is essential to peace, sustainable development, and human rights. From urban slums to UN chambers, I confront violence against women, call for social and economic justice, and highlight the leaders and grassroots movements shaping our shared future—all while reflecting on the challenges of working as a feminist anthropologist both inside and outside the UN.

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Championing Equality on the Global Stage

I’m a feminist leader and advocate for gender equality, working to bridge activism and diplomacy so that local voices shape global policy. As an author and NGO Representative to the United Nations, I strive to make rights real—translating the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) treaty into everyday change for women and girls around the world.

Soon-Young Yoon smiles in front of APUF8 and ESCAP logos in Suwon.

Advocate to the UN

I serve as the Representative of the International Alliance of Women to the UN, working to amplify women’s voices and advance gender equality worldwide. Building on my early work with UNICEF and the World Health Organization, I continue to champion women’s leadership in global policy and diplomacy.

Five women smile at the camera, holding a book, book signing event. Soon-Young Yoon

Feminist

As a lifelong feminist leader, I’ve worked to connect grassroots activism with international policy. As Chair of the NGO Committee on the Status of Women, New York, I helped launch the Cities for CEDAW campaign, bringing the principles of CEDAW to local communities. I continue to support movements that make women’s rights a lived reality worldwide.

Book cover: Making Rights Real for Future Generations, by Krishanti and Soon-Young Yoon.

CEDAW

Co-authored with Krishanti Dharmaraj, this workbook is a practical guide to implementing the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). It offers concrete strategies for government officials, civil society leaders, and youth advocates to advance gender equality and uphold the rights of all women and girls. Purchase the workbook here.

Soon-Young Yoon on stage, peace for text on background, giving a speech.

TED Talk

In my TED Talk, I explore how to peel back the layers of personal, political, and global challenges with courage, humor, and humanity. Using the onion as a metaphor, I share practical reflections on how to face complexity without losing hope—and how small acts of understanding can lead to meaningful change. Listen here.

My story begins long before the UN — with a young girl learning how the smallest voices can echo across the world.

Chinese calligraphy of the character 淳 against a white background.

1944 or 1945: Born in Pyongyang

As they say in the Buddhist tradition, I was "reborn" a girl in war-torn Pyongyang, North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea). My grandfather, Song Sang-Chum, named me "Soon-Young." It means "peace forever." My mother, Yoon Kyung-Shyn, couldn't remember if I was born in the Year of the Monkey or the Year of the Chicken. That has puzzled fortune tellers ever since.

Three people on a balcony of a building, Soon-Young Yoon

1946: Fleeing the Russians

My family had to leave our homes that had been filled with joy and music. The Russian army turned our house into its headquarters. My father, Yoon Doo-Sun, fled to avoid conscription and was thrown into prison when he arrived in Seoul. My mother, Song Kyung-Shyn, left to find him. Later, during cold winter nights, I was carried on a stranger’s back while my older siblings walked hundreds of miles from Pyongyang to Seoul. Farmers fed us the most wonderful noodles we have ever tasted.

Family portrait featuring Soon-Young Yoon, parents, and three children posing together.

1947: Arriving in Michigan

My siblings and I were reunited with our parents in Seoul. My aunt’s many connections with army generals and government officials arranged our passage on a US Navy ship from Busan to San Francisco. American immigration officers didn’t believe our visas were real and threw us into jail. My aunt, Grace (Song Pok-Shyn) Line, and her husband, Winfield H. Line, rescued us and took us to our new Michigan home. At night, we cried if windows were left open because we feared many things from the outside world.

Workers unloading grapes near a building with text: Magasin Cooperatif des ROGNES.

1971: French and Anthropology in College

While at the University of Michigan, I earned an AB in French Literature, and a MA and PhD in Anthropology. My dissertation covered the history of French winegrowers’ cooperatives. After living for two years in Rognes, a remote French village, my English got worse. My Provençal French improved. Old men in the village thought that a Vietnamese woman had come to write a novel about them, so they divulged many good tales. It’s not the only time I’ve been involved in a case of mistaken identity.

A decorated scarecrow with flags against a white background, representing harvest festival.

1972: First Trip Back to Korea

After leading a group of exchange students in Japan, I returned to Korea to visit my aunt, Song Do-Shyn, in Seoul. A friend from Ewha Womans University invited me to the school’s retreat in the eastern Sorak Mountains. The students stayed out of the sunshine as much as possible so they wouldn’t tan. I occasionally coaxed them outside the black roofed tent to play on the beach.

Woman walking on a path in front of traditional houses, Soon-Young Yoon.

1976: Teaching in Korea

Dr. Kim Ok-Kill, President of Ewha Womans University, invited me to teach in Seoul in the sociology department as a Fulbright Scholar. My Korean was poor, so most Koreans thought that I was a Japanese tourist. While doing anthropology research on shamanism and traditional medicine, I met Ok Sun Mun, a famous Jeju Island shaman. She was one of the most intelligent women I have ever met.

Young girl kissing a woman's hand, family moment, cultural tradition.

1978: UNICEF

I joined the UNICEF Regional Office in Bangkok, Thailand as a social development officer. I had the amazing chance to put my anthropological theory into practice and learn first-hand about women and children’s issues. My work took me to villages and development projects throughout Southeast Asia and Pakistan, where I met women leaders working to develop their villages and urban slums, feminist activist demonstrating in the streets, labor union leaders organizing peddlers, government officials fighting corruption, and UN defenders of women and children’s human rights. They gave me enough inspiration to last a lifetime.

Buddhist monk blesses a man's forehead with others seated in background.

1978: Married by Nine Buddhist Monks

Nine Thai monks married me and Rick Smith at the Marble Temple in Bangkok, Thailand. I described my husband as my biological and cultural opposite–not a bad formula for an interesting, life-long love affair. The former editor of the international edition of Newsweek, Rick worked in New York. For two years, we had the world’s most expensive commuter marriage.

Colorful buildings line a canal with boats and reflections in Copenhagen, Denmark.

1980: Hoboken Home and UN Consultancies

Rick and I moved to Hoboken, New Jersey, because I wouldn’t live in Manhattan. I told him, “We have dictators in Asia, but our streets are safe. The same can’t be said of New York City.” I learned to rollerblade, but never mastered the art of stopping. Elizabeth Reid from Australia asked me to join the UN Secretariat for the UN World Conference on Women in Copenhagen, where we introduced the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) to women ministers from around the world. After the conference, I returned to my research on women’s studies as a visiting researcher at Sarah Lawrence.

Young woman playfully poses among abstract metal sculptures and brick building. Soon-Young Yoon

1982: Research Associate at Sarah Lawrence

I continued my research in women’s studies, women in development, and shamanism and health. My article, “A Legacy Without Heirs: Korean Indigenous Medicine and Primary Health Care”, was published in Social Science and Medicine the next year. I claimed that “…the ancestral shadow of Korean indigenous medicine is alive and kicking.” This is still true many years later.

Two nurses in white uniforms sit at a table in a meeting.

1985: WHO in India

I accepted a job as a social scientist for the World Health Organization Southeast Asia Regional Office in New Delhi, India. The office covered eleven countries, including North Korea. I got a hands-on crash course in a wide range of public health topics, including HIV/AIDS, immunization, sanitation, maternal health, and tropical diseases. I have a large collection of photos from this phase of my life that I call my “statue phase”: I’m usually the only woman in a group of serious-looking men standing in orderly rows. When I wore a sari, locals thought I was from Nepal, the Indian hill tribes, or Tibet.

Beijing skyline with many skyscrapers and a busy highway in China.

1995: The Fourth World Conference on Women

Irene Santiago, Director for the NGO Forum on Women, asked me to be the UN Liaison for the Fourth Conference on Women in Beijing. My job was to coordinate regional networks and work on an NGO Beijing Platform for Action document. Fifty thousand delegates gathered at the largest UN world conference ever. If we had all stomped on the earth together at the same time, we would have knocked the earth out of orbit. On opening day, two angry Americans accused me of being part of a Chinese conspiracy to sabotage the conference.

Earth at night, North America lights up, space background, beautiful view.

1996: The Earth Times

Pranay Gupte, Editor of The Earth Times, asked me to replace Bella Abzug as a columnist on social development issues. I started to wear hats in case there was some Bella magic in them. Through EarthTimes, I covered global conferences: Rio Plus Five (Brazil), Habitat II (Istanbul), the World Economic Forum (Davos) and World Bank meetings. At the Rio Plus Five meeting, I spoke at my first international press conference along with Maurice Strong, UN Secretary-General of the first Earth Summit (1992), and an impressive tribal chief representing the indigenous peoples of the Amazon. They were both very supportive of the feminist agenda.

Pregnant woman's belly with text "It's a woman's right"

1998: WHO and Tobacco

As a consultant for the World Health Organization Tobacco Free Initiative, I headed a team of scientists working on gender, women and tobacco. Dr. Jonathan Samet, Director of the Institute for Global Health at USC, and I edited the WHO report, Gender, Women and the Tobacco Epidemic. We launched the WHO conference on women and tobacco in Kobe, Japan by wearing Japanese jackets and hammering sake barrels. Dr. Gro Brundtland, then Director-General of WHO gave the barrels their hardest blow.

Group photo of people, Soon-Young Yoon, smiling and holding hands, together.

2002: Climate Change Conference in Doha, Qatar

Mary Robinson, former President of Ireland, led the way to pass a resolution calling for equal representation of women in treaty negotiations. At a strategy meeting, I sat behind the government delegate from Bangladesh who supported the idea. How does a feminist advocate for women’s freedoms behave in a country that says women must cover up their legs in public? Christiana Figueres, Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, put on a light scarf at the opening ceremonies to abide by local traditions. The next day, I changed from shorts to long pants. Sometimes my anthropological instincts kick in, and I conform to local customs.

Soon-Young Yoon speaks at podium for UN Women for Peace Association.

2015

I spoke at my first New York City Times Square rally as Chair of the NGO Committee on the Status of Women/New York (NGO CSW/NY) for part of our Beijing Plus 20 celebrations. I have always said “As a volunteer at an NGO, I do a happiness check every year. I plan to quit if I stop smiling.” How do we organize more than 4000 NGO representatives every year around the UN Commission on the Status of Women? It is a miracle—and that makes me smile.

Two smiling women posing together, one wearing a scarf, Soon-Young Yoon.

2017: The Women’s Environment and Development Organization (WEDO)

The WEDO Board asked me to represent WEDO for UN Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat), where I met women mayors who are making a difference. As Chair of the WEDO Board, I also attended the annual UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Conference of the Parties meetings. If women in cities don’t make climate change a priority, we cannot save our planet in time. WEDO is right on target.

Red and yellow Chinese lanterns, with visible text, festive celebration background.

2020: A Year of Anniversaries

The Year of the Rat began a new cycle of 12 zodiac symbols. The year was a foundation for dramatic explosions of expectations that gave hope to some and enraged others. It was one of the busiest times of my life, marking 25 years after I was involved in the NGO Forum and the UN Fourth World Conference on Women. Other anniversaries kept popping up on my calendar: the 20th anniversary of UN Security Council resolution #1325, 100th year celebration of American suffrage, and tenth birthday for UN Women. These anniversaries were more than memories of the past: they inspired change for the future.

Women will save the world.

How can we beat the earth's clock?

For years, the feminist and women’s movements have argued this truth: if you want to scale up and speed up progress on any development agenda, you have to unleash the power of women’s potential. Rural and indigenous women are particularly knowledgeable about protecting biodiversity and combatting climate change because they practice seed selection, manage forests, and make decisions about household energy use. This isn’t just about human rights principles. It is applying these principals to get practical results and solve global problems.

Are you worried about the future of our planet? I want to hear from you!

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The Tapestry of Life

I write because I believe that every life is woven into the larger stories of justice, identity, and shared future. In this blog, I share personal reflections, lessons from my work at the United Nations and in grassroots movements, and essays that invite you to see the world through women’s eyes.

Citizen of the World is the heart behind much of what appears here — it’s where my journey as a refugee, feminist, and advocate meets the causes I continue to fight for.

Here, you’ll find writing on identity, violence, health, empowerment, and change — in a voice that travels between the personal and the political. Each post is an invitation: to think, feel, and act.

Welcome.

NGO REPRESENTATIVE TO THE UN, AUTHOR, FEMINIST

Soon-Young Yoon

Citizen of the World

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