SPECIAL REPORT: UNITED NATIONS AT 75 THE COMMONWEALTH AND THE UN
THE POWER OF WOMEN’S LEADERSHIP FOR A MORE INCLUSIVE, COLLABORATIVE FUTURE Over the past several months, the COVID-19 pandemic has brought on devastating health and economic shocks, exposing vulnerabilities in social, political and economic systems around the world and amplifying existing inequalities, especially for the most marginalized. These challenges have given new dimensions to UN Women’s work on gender equality and women’s empowerment and reaffirmed the urgent need to ‘build back better’ through a strong, multilateral response. In this 75th year of the United Nations, our commitment to multilateralism and collaboration has never been more critical. The pandemic has brought to light the multiple and intersecting inequalities that define our world, with women and girls often the hardest hit across every sphere; from health to the economy, security to social protection. Women are the majority of workers in healthcare, and in sectors that leave them vulnerable to the impacts of the economic downturn. Millions of girls are out of school, putting them at greater risk of child marriage, female genital mutilation, unintended pregnancies, and HIV infection. A ‘shadow pandemic’ of genderbased violence has arisen in situations of lockdown, while women’s access to justice and to sexual and reproductive health services has been compromised, and their unpaid care work is increasing. This situation is further compounded by the double discrimination many women and girls face due to their race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, age, migration status and many other factors. If we do not take concerted action, we risk reversing the limited gains made on women’s rights and empowerment in the past decades. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres recently warned of the “corrosive effects of today’s levels of inequality” and called for people from all sectors to come together around a New Social Contract and New Global Deal based on unity, peace, justice, the planet and human rights. The achievement of gender equality and women’s empowerment is inextricably connected to this vision. It is an essential element for achieving the ideas set out in the UN Charter
in 1945, and it underlies the ambitious 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, including through a standalone goal (SDG5). The year 2020 marks the 25th anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women, when 189 countries came together to unanimously adopt the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, a groundbreaking blueprint for women’s rights. The extraordinary circumstances of the current moment demand that we unite in that same spirit of global solidarity, and bring to the fore the importance of multilateralism in the promotion of gender equality and the human rights of all women and girls. Women and leadership in the era of COVID-19 One key indication of societies out of balance is the lack of women in leadership and decision-making roles at every level of society, and in national, regional and local level deliberative bodies. To build back better and achieve gender equality, women must be able to lead and participate fully in decision-making, both on the COVID-19 response and recovery and across all areas of public life. In several countries, including in the Commonwealth, we are seeing powerful examples of how women’s leadership and participation can provide a more effective, inclusive and fair response to the pandemic. Yet, while women’s political participation has increased over the last few decades, it is still far from equal. The latest data from UN Women and the Inter-Parliamentary Union1 shows that women comprise just 24.9% of Members of Parliament and 20.5% of Speakers of Parliament. They are Heads of State and Government in only 22 countries. Globally, although women make up 70% of healthcare workers, they are just 24.7% of the world’s Health Ministers. These figures show us that we have created a world where women are squeezed into just one quarter of the space in the rooms where critical decisions are made.
Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka
is United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of UN Women since August 2013. She served as Deputy President of South Africa from 2005-2008, before which she held Ministerial positions and was a Member of Parliament. Focusing on human rights, equality and social justice, she began as a teacher, gaining international experience at the World YWCA. She founded the nonprofit Umlambo Foundation.
The Parliamentarian | 2020: Issue Three | 100 years of publishing 1920-2020 | 243
