'Universal message': Guru Granth Sahib stanza included in UN video on gender equality

The United Nations Human Rights Council has shared a short video on gender equality that contains a stanza from Guru Granth Sahib, the holy book of the Sikh religion. The video message was issued by the Office of the UN High Commissioner on Human Rights on the 4th anniversary of the United Nations Faith for Rights declaration. In the video, the stanza from Guru Granth Sahib is read by renowned scholar Dr. Iqtidar Cheema. 

The conference on Faith for Rights was held on March 30 and was attended by UN Human Rights chief Michelle Bachelet, Dr. Iqtidar Cheema, and various UN special rapporteurs and civil society organisations. During the conference, Dr. Cheema recited the stanza from Guru Granth Sahib and recalled how Sikh religious leader Guru Nanak called on the society for equal rights and status for women at a time when they were being oppressed by radical rituals set under the Brahmanical caste system. 

‘Faith for Rights’ also known as the Beirut Declaration was adopted by the UN Human Rights Council in 2017. The primary objective of the framework is to foster the development of peaceful societies, which uphold human dignity and equality for all and where diversity is not just tolerated but fully respected and celebrated.

Gender parity efforts reversed by pandemic

On Tuesday, the World Economic Forum released the 2021 report on global gender parity. The report says that the COVID-19 pandemic has reversed years of gender parity efforts and that women will have to wait for another generation before gender equality could be achieved. The report estimated that at the current relative pace, it will take more than 135 years to close gender gaps across the world. 

The COVID-19 pandemic has deteriorated the already scarred gender parity gaps in the world. Various studies have shown that the ongoing health crisis has affected women more severely than men. 

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