Gender parity: Game changer or gamble?

Merci, Monsieur Burrin, directeur de l’Institut de Hautes Études Internationales et du Développement,

First of all, let me wish all of you a happy International Women’s Day – an important day as a catalyst for action. Today is not just a day to highlight the crucial contributions by women to society; it is also a day for all of us to celebrate the achievements of grass roots movements and leaders who drive progress by demanding equality globally and locally. So let us use this day, and this important debate here at the Graduate Institute in Geneva, to renew our shared commitment for true gender equality across the international community.

And we can start here, right in Geneva! Here, we work for peace, rights and well-being every day. These noble goals will remain elusive without the full participation of women and girls at all levels of society. This is why Ambassador Hamamoto and I launched the Geneva Gender Champions Initiative last year, with the support of women@thetable.

With now close to 100 Gender Champions, including International Organizations, Member States and Non-State Actors, we are changing the way we do business. At the heart of this initiative is the panel parity pledge. It implies that at least one participant from each gender needs to be represented in panel discussions. And in addition to this, each Gender Champion chooses two more concrete, measurable commitments for gender equality in their organization. The network is about practical steps that fit the context and we are working with UN WOMEN now to hopefully see this being launched in other UN duty stations as well.

Through this flexibility we acknowledge that, to achieve gender equality, we must look beyond parity in numbers. But what the incredible growth of the network has shown is that simple, concrete commitments can trigger collective action. The announcements by the Director, Mr. Burrin, of the important commitments by the Graduate Institute are an excellent example. They will further strengthen Geneva’s place as a facilitator of dialogue and critical thinking for progress. This kind of action and more efforts to achieve gender equality are urgently needed.

By some estimates, gender equality in the workplace won’t be achieved until 2095 if we continue business as usual. That is ridiculous and way too late. So we need a game changer. And looking at just how many different organizations came together in the preparation of today’s discussion alone, I hope and am confident that the Geneva Gender Champions Initiative brings about the transformation needed, not least by sparking discussions – and hopefully action – like today’s. I thank everyone involved in organizing this debate and look forward to a thought-provoking exchange.

Thank you very much.