In a statement delivered at an opening session of the Commission on the Status of Women in New York, UN Secretary-General António Guterres noted on March 13 that world needs more men standing up for gender equality.
“Women already have what it takes to succeed. Empowerment is about breaking structural barriers.
“Men still dominate, even in countries that consider themselves as progressive.
“Male chauvinism blocks women – and that hurts everyone.
“We are all better off when we open doors of opportunity for women and girls: in classrooms and boardrooms, in military ranks and at peace talks, in all aspects of productive life.
“This is vital to address a historic injustice that continues today.
“But it is also about effectiveness.
“Institutions, companies, governments and organizations – including our own – those in which gender equality reflect the people they serve get better results by every measure.
“If countries address the gender gap at work, women can generate enough funds to underpin success across the 2030 Agenda which was approved by all leaders at the United Nations in 2015.
“One study found that women’s equality can add twelve trillion dollars to global growth over the next decade.
“Women and girls with better reproductive health and education have also better chances in life. They earn higher salaries. They invest more in the health of their children. Investments now pay dividends for generations.
“Empowerment is also the best way to prevent protection challenges that arise from violent extremism, human rights violations, xenophobia and other threats.
“We need you more than ever before.
“Globally, women are suffering new assaults on their safety and dignity.
“Extremists have built their ideologies around the subjugation of women and girls and the denial of their rights.
“Sexual violence, forced marriage, human trafficking and virtual enslavement – these are weapons of physical and psychological warfare in today’s world.
“Some governments are enacting laws that curtail women’s freedoms. Others are rolling back legal protections against domestic violence.
“Discrimination against women sounds a loud alarm that our common values are under threat.
“Women’s rights are human rights – and attacks on women are attacks on all of us. This is why we have to respond together.
“For the 830 women at risk of dying each day from causes related to childbirth.
“For the 225 million women who lack access to modern contraceptives.
“For the 15 million girls forced to marry each year.
“For the 130 million women and girls who have suffered genital mutilation.
“For the women domestic workers who globally do two and a half times as much unpaid work as men.
“And for the nearly one billion women who will enter the global economy in the next decade.
Empowerment will unleash the potential of all these women and girls – and they will lead us to a new future.”
