ITC Film Screening of “A Small Section of the World”

Dear Colleagues and Friends:

A warm welcome to you all. And a special thank you to Arancha and to the ITC for bringing us this moving story of women’s empowerment and for the important work that all the ITC colleagues undertake on a daily basis for the integration of women in the global economy. I am impressed by the breadth of your work and the difference that it makes.

Thank you also to the outstanding panellists and speakers. It is a privilege to be here with so many champions of women’s empowerment. I am especially glad to have this opportunity to recognize the unique leadership of Ambassador Hamamoto and Ambassador Ellis who have both in different ways greatly strengthened the work for women’s empowerment in International Geneva. I am honoured to work alongside you in this common effort and you can certainly continue to rely on my support. It is a pleasure also to have with us Andrea Illy, to demonstrate the commitment of the private sector in this shared task. There is no doubt that partnerships with business will become ever more important if we are to break further ground in women’s empowerment, and we appreciate your involvement.

As we just heard from Arancha, the benefits of women’s economic empowerment are undisputed and unequivocal: economies grow when more women work. But women continue to participate in labour markets on an unequal basis. Globally, women are paid less than men. And women are more likely than men to work in informal employment. When paid and unpaid work are combined, women in developing countries work more than men, with less time for education, leisure, political participation and self-care. Yet, there is no greater catalyst for development and for peaceful societies than women’s empowerment. There is simply no excuse for not doing more about it.

As the title of today’s film highlights, it deals with a small section of the world - the experience of a group of women that catalyzed change for an entire community and inspired many others. I salute Director Lesley Chilcott for bringing this story to the screen with such respect for the dignity of those involved. But what happened in their small section of the planet has the potential to change our entire world for the better when repeated in communities across the globe. What they accomplished was no small feat - and we all need to have big ambitions when it comes to women’s empowerment.

I hope you will all be inspired by today’s film to think big, to think long-term and to think about how we can all play a role in women’s empowerment - wherever we are and whatever we do.

As I said, there really is no excuse. We just need to get to work.

Thank you very much.