Women have historically (and still today in many communities) been seen as cognitively inferior, physically and emotionally frail, and dependent on males. They experience discrimination everywhere. They lack inheritance rights under customary law. Within the confines of the house, they endure sexual violence, including forced marriages, genital mutilation, rape, dowry deaths, incest, rape, wife beatings, prostitution, and sterilization, in addition to mental and physical abuse. They are simple prey for crimes against humanity such as mass rape, slavery, and torture during times of war or strife. Women are not treated equally to men in terms of education, access to healthcare, or participation in institutions of power like the cabinet or the parliament. Also, they get paid less compared to men for the same job. Without receiving any compensation, they are regarded as house managers and carers. Since 1945, the United Nations (UN) and regional intergovernmental organizations have made several efforts to promote gender equality and women’s empowerment in an effort to demolish this patriarchal system of discrimination and subordination of women. This essay tries to investigate the extent to which the UN and other international regional organizations have succeeded in establishing norms and standards of equal rights for men and women that are legally enforceable. It looks at how the UN Charter defines the idea of gender equality within the context of human rights, the General Assembly’s and the Commission on the Status of Women’s roles in crafting treaties on women’s rights, especially CEDAW. It also evaluates the role of ILO and regional organizations to draft treaties to deal with women’s rights at the workplace, domestic violence and the issue of eradicating discrimination. The role of CEDAW, four international conferences on women, Beijing Platform for Action, MDGs and SDGs in advancing gender equality and empowerment of women has been analysed.