International Women’s Day 2020: 'Gender equality benefits everyone,' says UN official

On International Women’s Day, United Nations Women chief said that the benefits of gender equality are not confined to women and girls but everyone whose lives will be changed in a fairer world. UN Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, in a statement, said that they are mobilising to realise women’s rights and called for ‘Generation Equality’.

“Generation Equality tackles issues of women across generations, from early to late years, with young women and girls at the centre,” said Mlambo-Ngcuka.

The 64-year-old UN official said that women don’t have an equal world at the moment which has made them radically impatient for change. She added that though there are some positive changes to celebrate, like a 38 per cent drop in the ratio of maternal deaths and legal reforms in 131 countries to address discrimination, no country has achieved gender equality yet.

“Our best hasn't been good enough. Challenges remain for all countries, although many of them are not insurmountable,” said Mlambo-Ngcuka.

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'United in sisterhood'

The UN official highlighted that more than three-quarters of countries have laws against domestic violence in place and more girls are in school than ever before, with more women in tertiary education than men globally. However, Mlambo-Ngcuka she also pointed out that girls are making no secret of their disappointment with the unabated violence directed against them and the slow pace of change in fulcrum issues like education.

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Mlambo-Ngcuka also called for an urgent need to provide legally binding quotas for women’s representation. She underlined how overall the proportion of women in managerial positions remains around 27 per cent even as more women graduate from universities. "So, though we are radically impatient, we are not giving up and we are hopeful," she added.

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