QNA
The world’s countries celebrate the International Women’s Day which annually falls on Mar. 8, as the theme of 2021 is “Women in leadership: Achieving an equal future in a COVID-19 world”, with the aim of celebrating the tremendous efforts made by women and girls all around the world in shaping a more equal future and a recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic and highlights the gaps that remain, aligning with the theme of the 65th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women “Women’s full and effective participation and decision-making in public life.”
Today, women are at the forefront of the battle against COVID-19, as front-line and health sector workers, as scientists, doctors and caregivers, community activists and remarkable examples of effective national leaders, yet they get paid 11 per cent less globally than their male counterparts.
In his speech on this occasion, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that the COVID-19 pandemic has erased decades of progress towards gender equality, adding that from high job losses to exploding burdens of unpaid care, and from disrupted schooling to an escalating crisis of domestic violence and exploitation, womens lives have been upended and their rights eroded.
“Women have been on the frontlines of pandemic response, as they are the essential workers keeping people alive and holding economies, communities and families together,” Guterres explained, adding “women are among the leaders who have kept prevalence rates lower, and countries on track for recovery.”
Guterres expressed his pride that the UN has achieved gender parity in its leadership posts for the first time in history, praising women’s roles in all areas and positions, saying “when women lead in government, we see bigger investments in social protection and greater inroads against poverty, and when they are in parliament, countries adopt more stringent climate change policies, and when women are at the peace table, agreements are more enduring.”
“With women now serving in equal numbers at the top leadership posts at the United Nations, we are seeing even more concerted action to secure peace, sustainable development and human rights,” he said, pointing out “in a male-dominated world with a male-dominated culture, gender equality is essentially a question of power.”
The UN Secretary-General called on countries, companies and institutions to adopt special measures and quotas to advance womens equal participation and achieve rapid change, stressing that support and stimulus packages must target women and girls specifically, including through investments in women-owned businesses and the care economy.
