Rahma Ahmed
By Ahmed Rahma
The United Nation (UN) Secretary-General, Mr Antonio Guterres, has called for a collective action stop to violence against women.
The UN chief made the call at the start of the annual Commission on the Status of Women which takes place from March 15 to 26 and brings together thousands of women for speeches, exchanges and dozens of specific events.
According to Mr Guterres, women have been more exposed to harmful consequences such as loss of jobs, sexual abuse or child marriage than men during the global pandemic.
“Women’s equal participation is the game-changer we need,” he said, calling for gender equality and gender parity in leadership.
“Only 22 countries are headed by a woman Head of State or Government. And at current rates parity among Heads of Government will not be achieved until 2150,” Mr Guterres said.
“That’s right, another 130 years of men making the same kinds of decisions they have made for the past 130 years and more.”
Speaking further, he said the coronavirus pandemic “provided yet another opportunity for men to dominate decision-making.”
“And we spend trillions on weapons that fail to make us safer while neglecting the violence that one in three women globally have experienced,” he said.
“Changing these default settings must be seen as an imperative,” Mr Guterres said, urging the UN’s 193 members to “enact an emergency response plan to address violence against women and girls.”
As with the 2020 session, the 65th Commission will be primarily virtual due to the pandemic.
This year’s speakers include new US Vice President Kamala Harris, French minister of gender equality Elisabeth Moreno, Mexican vice-minister for multilateral affairs and human rights Martha Delgado Peralta, and the European commissioner for international partnerships, Finland’s Jutta Urpilainen.
