The Secretary General of the United Nations Organization (UN), António Guterres, celebrated this Monday the progress made during his tenure towards gender parity within the Organization, but expressed his concern about the decrease in women in secretarial level positions. initial.
On the occasion of the fifth anniversary of his strategy on gender parity at the UN, Guterres indicated that achieving said parity was a priority in his first term as leader of the United Nations and that it continues to be a priority issue in his second term.
“Our male-dominated world hurts both men and women. (…) It is vital that the United Nations represent the values it stands for, the values enshrined in the Charter, and lead by example. Gender parity among our people is fundamental, the only way to achieve gender equality in our work”, defended Guterres in New York.
In an assessment of the strategy he outlined, the UN leader noted a number of progress made, including achieving gender parity among senior leaders for the first time in UN history in 2020, two years earlier than provided; or the parity between the chiefs and deputy chiefs of Peace Operations, given that five years ago the proportion of women in these functions was only 25%.
However, the former Portuguese Prime Minister lamented the existence of “gaps” in this area, assessing that “on the ground, progress has been slow and, in some cases, there have been setbacks.”
“We should be particularly concerned about the decline in women being hired for entry-level secretarial positions in the field. This could have a serious impact on future parity prospects,” she advocated.
At the current rate of progress, the UN Secretariat as a whole should be close to parity in its professional staff by 2025, three years ahead of schedule.
But that number, however, “disguises the fact that, on the ground, parity is unlikely to be reached at any level until 2028,” António Guterres stressed.
In this sense, the Secretary General argued that the next phase of implementation of the Gender Parity Strategy must focus on advancing and sustaining progress on the ground.
“Gender parity is essential to meet the expectations of the people we serve and to build a more sustainable, just, inclusive, peaceful and prosperous world for all,” she concluded.
Source: TSF
