اجتماع جانبي: قوة النساء اللائي جرى تمكينهن

12 June 2014

Thank you for this invitation. I regret very much that I was unable to hear all the remarks by today's impressive panelists. This event has become a tradition, spearheaded by the energetic group of women Ambassadors in Geneva.

In the past few decades there has been enormous progress towards the empowerment of women in various aspects of life. But that glass is still only half full. Today we are focusing on the economic empowerment of women. Decades of experience demonstrate that wherever there are enabling environments in which women have access to education, to skills, to jobs – and above all to choices – it is not only the individual women themselves who flourish. Women's economic empowerment can unleash a surge of prosperity, positive health outcomes, and greater freedom and well-being – to everyone’s benefit.

Empowerment begins with education. Women and girls must be able to build up and sharpen useful skills. They must know that they have real options for employment and financial independence. And in this respect, progress is on the march. In recent years, girls across the world have enrolled in and completed school at far higher rates than we have seen before. We are laying the foundation for a generation of girls and women to engage in society with vastly greater opportunities to make personal choices and to make their voices heard, fully and fairly, from the household to the workplace and the highest levels of government.

But this progress is not without backlash. The powerful tidal wave of women’s empowerment can erode, and ultimately break down, social and cultural norms that have for centuries assigned women to inferior roles and fewer choices. Thus although women's empowerment brings clear benefits in terms of fundamental human rights and the increased well-being of families and communities, it may also threaten those who grasp onto the old ways of subjugation and inequality.

What can we do about this? We certainly need laws. Laws that mandate the equality of women and their equal access to resources. Laws that mandate education for every single girl. Laws that give women equal rights to inherit and own land. Laws which clarify that women do not need permission from anyone to choose their own jobs and their own partners. We need laws that prevent and where necessary punish violence against women -- and we need them to be implemented, to create a safe environment, free from violence, in which women and girls can flourish. We need programs and policies targeting specific economic opportunities for women, such as initiatives to ensure access to finance and markets, and efforts to address women’s unpaid work as carers.

But we also need greater social dialogue – not only with women, but also with men and boys. We need to make it possible for everyone to realize that ensuring women’s human rights does not threaten or take away from the human rights of men. Gender stereotypes can weigh heavily on men, too, and in reality, relinquishing rigid ideas about each person's allegedly "proper" place in the community contributes to far greater freedom and well-being for everyone.

We need leadership that inspires others to overcome challenges. We need to showcase the impact of empowered women on society, and thus change prevailing attitudes and negative stereotypes.

We need a comprehensive approach. Not all the obstacles to empowerment are external. In too many cases, we see talented, capable women and girls shy back from opportunities that are open to them, because they fear they are not good enough. So we also need to work supportively with girls, to help them develop self confidence. Strong role models, and mentoring, can help build in every girl and woman the conviction that they are just as capable, just as talented, and just as legitimate as men.

Events like this one today signal the changing tide on women’s human rights. The word is spreading among women, men, girls and boys, and slowly justice and equality are becoming the norm. The pace of change will accelerate as more and more girls and women are freed from the discrimination that held back their mothers, aunts, and grandmothers, and become empowered to seize opportunities. This is the path towards more prosperous, peaceful and just societies for everyone.

Thank you for participating in this panel discussion. I trust that all of us have gained new ideas and inspiration for the work that lies ahead.

Thank you.