Bangkok--12 Mar--UNISBKK
The “transformational” leadership of women has made the world a better place, the top United Nations official in the Asia-Pacific region says, urging continued efforts to reach targets for gender equality around the globe.
Speaking yesterday in Malaysia at the “Women of Independence Conference”, Dr. Noeleen Heyzer, UN Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), called on women to continue their quest for gender equality by building on past achievements such as the establishment of legal frameworks to protect the rights of women and girls; better access to social and economic opportunities; steps by governments to address violence against women; and the establishment of institutional mechanisms such as Ministries of Women’s Affairs.
Despite this progress, many challenges remain, said Dr. Heyzer. Violations of women’s rights continue in areas ranging from ongoing violence against women in the name of culture, the abuse of migrant and domestic workers, and trafficking of women and girls.
“We are here today because we believe that women leaders are needed to bring innovative ideas, and economic and social transformation to meet the challenge of dramatic shifts in the world, in communities and companies,”
Dr. Heyzer told the conference, which was held to mark International Women’s Day.
The world needs “transformational leaders” who can operate across boundaries, craft visions and bring together people of diverse backgrounds to tackle problems such as climate change and disaster management and also promote solutions such as green technologies and regional connectivity, she said.
To ensure that past progress for women and girls is sustained and new challenges are addressed, “women must be legitimate participants in all spheres of public life — as leaders in government, businesses and the broader community,’ said Dr. Heyzer. “If their voices are not heard and acted upon, their aspirations, needs and concerns will not be addressed with the urgency they deserve.”
Dr. Heyzer said ESCAP was emphasizing support for women’s leadership as a key area of its work to promote gender equality in the region, including a focus on emerging leadership among young women — “those leaders who will in the future carry forward the flame of those who helped to light the torch of the Beijing Women’s Conference in 1995.”
“The stakes for women are high,” she said. “Women want a world in which inequality based on gender, class, caste and ethnicity is absent from every country. Women want a world where fulfilment of basic needs becomes basic rights and where poverty and all forms of violence are eliminated. Where women's unpaid work of nurturing, caring and weaving the fabric of community will be valued and shared equally by men. They want a world where women have the opportunity to develop their full potential where progress for women is progress for all. We can finish this journey that we started.”
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Bentley Jenson
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