UNOG Library Talk - “Women of Power: What difference do they make?”

Dear Colleagues and Friends:

A very warm welcome to our UNOG Library Talk and to an inspiring discussion on one of the most important challenges we face together: the empowerment of women. We are fortunate to have with us an experienced politician, international civil servant and champion of gender equality – Ms. Torild Skard – to present both her research and her personal reflections on the difference that empowered women can make to our world. And we welcome also the distinguished representatives of our International Geneva community who will bring their perspectives to the debate.

It is already progress that we are not asking whether women of power make a difference but what difference they make. This already demonstrates that we have come some way in changing the parameters for the discussion. And this has been moved along in large part due to the dedicated work of women in power – not just in global politics, but in local and regional politics, in business and all aspects of society.

But there is still a way to go. I am sure that this will come up in the discussion but the latest figures from our colleagues in the Inter-parliamentary Union show that only 22 per cent of all national parliamentarians were female as of January of this year. This represents much too slow an increase from 11.3 per cent in 1995. This is a problem for all of us. Research shows that gender equality and women’s participation in public and political life is a critical component in development. And we will need to confront this much more directly if we are serious about wanting our new policy frameworks to deliver. Women’s empowerment needs to be fully integrated in the implementation of the new Sustainable Development Goals.

This requires action at all levels – local, national, regional and global. And it requires action on the part of all of us. A colleague of mine pointed out not long ago that when you study the list of senior officials in the United Nations system here in Geneva that we compile here at UNOG, you will find – in the latest edition – that just under 30% of these senior leaders are women, despite our commitment to equality and women’s empowerment. There has been an intense focus on this within the Organization over the past years, and it is very welcome. But the fact remains that we have much work to do on that front.

We all need to be gender champions, at whatever level we are at and in whatever function. And I will be working closely with all my colleagues here in Geneva to see how we together can change the reality of the figures that I just quoted.

And of course, the next frontier will be a woman as Secretary-General of the United Nations!

Thank you very much.