Secretary-General Calls Gender-Based Violence ‘an Ongoing Emergency in Its Own Right’, at Townhall with Women’s Civil Society

Following are UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ opening remarks at the Townhall with women’s civil society at the Commission on the Status of Women, in New York today:

It is a great pleasure to be here with all of you.

The Townhall during the Commission on the Status of Women is an important and regular fixture in my calendar.  I never miss it.  I welcome this opportunity to meet with women’s organizations and feminist civil society, and to hear your ideas and concerns as I’ve said.

Let’s be clear.  Gender equality is essentially a question of power.  And power has for millennia been concentrated in the hands of men, to the detriment of all.  The challenges we face today — the COVID-19 pandemic, the climate crisis, the growth and spread of conflicts — are largely the result of our male-dominated world and male-dominated culture.  Without this, we would not have a war with Russia in Ukraine.  That is why gender equality and gender parity are not only a matter of women’s rights, but fundamental prerequisites for a safer, more peaceful, more sustainable world for all.

We cannot separate the perilous state of peace in our world from millennia of patriarchy and the suppression of women’s voices.  Even today, we see a widespread pushback against women’s rights and gender equality around the world.  When jobs are lost, they are often women’s jobs.  When rights are threatened, they are often gender-based rights.  We must push back against this pushback.

My recent report on Our Common Agenda outlines five transformative actions to share power more equally.

• To repeal all laws everywhere that discriminate on grounds of gender, and we have these still practically all over the world;
• To achieve equal participation of women in all sectors, and at all levels of decision-making — through special measures and quotas where necessary.  Parity is essential to have good decision-making wherever, from the boards of companies to the Governments to the United Nations;
• To invest in women’s economic inclusion and address unpaid care work — and it is very interesting that we still have bias in the algorithms for credit distribution against women-led companies.  This is something that needs to be eradicated;
• To centre the voices and leadership of young women, the contribution of young women is more necessary than ever when my generation is showing its inability to deal with the global challenges we have in the world;
• And finally, for every country to have a plan to end all forms of violence against women and girls.  We have made progress on this, but we are far from reaching everywhere as we must.  And, of course, all this must be treated as the emergency that it is — backed by the laws, policies and political will needed to achieve this goal.

Taken together, the five actions I have just mentioned have the potential to radically transform societies and create the gender-equal world we need.

This year’s Commission on the Status of Women comes at a moment where the world is facing emergencies on several fronts.  The war in Ukraine is of great concern to us all.  But that is just the latest crisis we face.  We have chaotic coups and conflicts affecting multiple countries, from Mali to Ethiopia and Yemen.  Of course, there is a human tragedy, a terrible tragedy, in Ukraine but we cannot be so concentrated on Ukraine that we forget that people are suffering in so many other parts of the world, and the suffering of one human being has the same importance wherever that human being is.

The latest report by the [Intergovernmental] Panel on Climate Change was an atlas of human suffering, describing a horrific escalation of impacts that are hitting women and girls disproportionately.  The continued unequal recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic is laying bare its severe impact on women’s rights.

The truth is that rich, developed countries have been able to spend trillions of dollars in their recovery.  Those dollars are not available — or whatever other currency — are not available in most of the poorest countries and even middle-income countries that are today in a dramatic debt trap and have not the capacity to provide for the well-being of their populations and women being the most at risk.

These are widespread and interlinked crises that affect us all — but not equally.  More women than men have lost their jobs, as the informal economy struggles to get back on its feet.  The responsibility of unpaid care work continues to fall mainly on women and girls, with dire consequences for education, economic independence, and intergenerational poverty.  Gender-based violence is an ongoing emergency in its own right.

But despite all these challenges, women continue to advocate, to raise their voices for peace, equality, climate action, sustainable development, and human rights for all.  Courageous women are in the streets on every continent, fighting for their rights, and for more peaceful, inclusive, sustainable economies and societies that benefit us all.

This year’s priority theme at the Commission on the Status of Women is “Achieving gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls in the context of climate change, environmental and disaster risk reduction policies and programmes”.  And this is more necessary than ever.  This is essential for every community and every country.  As I made clear in my first ever report to the Commission on the issue, it is the greatest sustainable development challenge of our age.

The triple planetary crisis of climate change, pollution and biodiversity loss pose an enormous threat to progress on women’s rights and gender equality.  Women and girls, particularly in small island developing States, are bearing the brunt of climate-related droughts, landslides, floods, and hurricanes.  The climate crisis is a human rights crisis — and a women’s rights crisis.  The Paris Agreement is essential to protecting and advancing women’s rights and gender equality.  And climate action must include investing in women activists, human rights defenders and civil society organizations.

In my recent report on Our Common Agenda, we have set out a series of proposals for a safer, more peaceful, equal, and sustainable world.  Member States now will have to decide whether and how to take them forward.  I would like to stress that this is a feminist agenda, based on equal power, participation and leadership by men and women.

We have heard overwhelming support for the specific actions on gender equality, and the United Nations will prioritize their full implementation.  These proposals are rooted in existing agreements.  They build on the momentum and commitments of the Beijing Platform and Agenda, and the concrete achievements of the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women.

One of the proposals is to renew the social contract, to respond to today’s social and economic needs, the climate and environmental crises, the digital revolution, and the need for gender justice, among other factors.  It is long overdue that our social and economic systems take full account of the unpaid care work and informal labour done mainly by women.  Valuing this work is part of the broader proposal we have presented for metrics that complement gross domestic product that doesn’t reflect the reality of our societies.

At the global level, Our Common Agenda proposes a more inclusive, networked multilateralism, based on equal rights and opportunities for all.  And inclusivity means full participation and equality by women and men.  The report recommends a New Agenda for Peace aimed at reducing violence in all its forms, including gender-based violence.  The New Agenda for Peace calls for women’s participation and leadership in all peace efforts — taking its lead from the thinking developed and promoted by feminist civil society around women, peace and security.  Our Common Agenda also recommits to the internal reforms needed to make the United Nations a global leader as a gender-equal organization.

We have achieved gender parity among the senior leadership — 190 people, full gender parity — two years ahead of schedule and we have sustained and deepened this over the past two years.  We have also parity amongst our heads and deputy heads of missions, for the first time.  I remember when there was only one woman as deputy head of mission at the United Nations.  Today, in Afghanistan, in Iraq, in Libya, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, in the Central African Republic, we have women leading the United Nations effort.  This is something completely new in the history of the Organization as we are dealing with some of the most dramatic crises around the world, and we have reached parity on that.

I am committed to achieving this goal across the Organization, at every level, in every entity, by 2028.  But numbers are just one step.  The entire United Nations system must be realigned to deliver for women and girls.  To this end, I have asked the Deputy Secretary-General to oversee an independent review of the gender architecture of the entire United Nations family.  I want to ensure that we are fit for purpose to deliver on gender equality.  We will also build on the success of the Generation Equality Forum, as a model of inclusive, networked multilateralism with women and girls at the centre.

I am deeply concerned about the decline in civic space globally.  According to one authoritative survey, just 3 per cent of people around the world live in countries where civil society organizations can operate in full freedom.  Civil society organizations link Governments and people.  They are a vital voice for human rights.  When civil society is muzzled, we lose an essential forum for dialogue — and we lose the lifeblood of democracy.  That is why I advocate at every possible opportunity for the protection and expansion of civic space.  Women’s rights organizations, young activists, and women environmental and human rights defenders must be able to play their full part everywhere.

The work of civil society, including women activists and feminist groups, is also essential to the success of the United Nations.  To our own success.  This Townhall is an important opportunity for me to hear from you and to engage with you directly as we pursue our common goals.  Thank you.  I am here to listen and please see me as an ally, as I look forward to hearing your views.