UNCTAD Gender Lecture Series; “Women and Negotiations: Myth and Reality”

Secretary-General Supachai Panitchpakdi
Distinguished Ambassadors
Ladies and Gentlemen

First of all, I would like to express my appreciation for the invitation to this important meeting. I welcome my friend Secretary-General Supachai Panitchpakdi and all of you, and I thank you for your support for the empowerment of women.

The empowerment of women is one of the United Nations’ core objectives. Over many decades, the Organization has made significant progress in advancing gender equality, as a key Millennium Development Goal in its own right, but also as a prerequisite for achieving all of the eight Goals together. The United Nations Office at Geneva is fully committed to this goal and works actively to increase female representation through the staff selection system. I am pleased that we are doing so in close collaboration with our Focal Points for Women.

Empowering women as economic, political and social actors can change policy choices and have positive spill-over effects on society at large. This is why it is crucial to have women included in all areas of political and economic decision-making, including in negotiations that shape our world. Interestingly, the role of women in negotiations, and how to strengthen their participation, has not yet attracted the attention the subject deserves. I greatly appreciate that today’s event is helping to change this situation.

All too often we lack women’s voices and views at the negotiating table, which also impacts on the extent of their involvement in the implementation of agreements. We need to make a concerted effort to change this – whether we are dealing with peace, trade, climate change or any other major challenge.

We have, for example, seen the positive impact of women’s increasing participation in peacekeeping where they serve as role models for women in post-conflict communities, and can have a long-lasting impact on women’s ability to participate in post-conflict governance.

Yet, despite the strong efforts in this area, which we should acknowledge, out of approximately 125,000 peacekeepers, women still constitute only around 3% of military personnel and 10% of police personnel. Only seven women have led peace operations as Special Representatives of the Secretary-General out of the 68 peacekeeping operations since 1948.

So, we face an important collective challenge in changing these statistics, whatever the area. We need to look at negotiations broadly and not merely focus on high-profile processes that grab media attention. As the saying goes, the devil is in the detail, and important decisions about our futures are the result of detailed technical negotiations that may not attract the same level of attention. Also here we need to be conscious of the need to integrate the expertise of women.

A key component of the Secretary-General’s five-year action agenda is to promote women’s political participation worldwide. This includes encouraging countries to adopt measures that guarantee women’s equal access to political leadership and building the capacity of women to be effective leaders. Ensuring the meaningful participation of women in negotiations will need to be part of these efforts.

In order to succeed, we need the commitment and flexibility of all Member States. This is the reason why I am particularly pleased to participate in this meeting.

I believe that we will have a good exchange of views. Thank you very much for your attention.