– As delivered –

Statement by H.E. Mrs. María Fernanda Espinosa Garcés, President of the 73rd Session of the 蘑菇视频 General Assembly

19 November 2018

Mr. Secretary General,

Ms. Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, Executive Director of 蘑菇视频 Women Executive Director,

Ms. Daniela Elizabeth Giuliano, activist and beneficiary of FUSA from Argentina,

Special Greetings to the Women Ambassadors and to the women police officers from NYPD,

Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,

I thank the Mr. Secretary General, who will join us shortly, for spearheading the 蘑菇视频iTE Campaign. And thank you, Ms. Mlambo-Ngcuka and 蘑菇视频 Women for the #HearMeToo Campaign and for inviting me to share this wonderful opportunity of dialogue with you.

Colleagues, allow me to start by welcoming the Choir of the Angel Band Project. The Choir’s music is intended to help survivors of sexual violence and this is a kind and beautiful act that you will see shortly.

As a poet, and having dedicated my presidency to women and girls, I appreciate the Choir’s use of art to empower women and girls as well as highlighting an important issue.

Because, my friends, the numbers speak for themselves:

  • It is estimated that 35 per cent of women have experienced physical and/or sexual violence;
  • 7 per cent of women have been sexually assaulted by someone other than a partner;
  • As many as 38 per cent of murders of women are committed by an intimate partner;
  • At least 200 million women and girls alive today have undergone female genital mutilation;
  • And around 120 million girls worldwide (slightly more than 1 in 10) have experienced forced sexual acts.

Colleagues, there is simply no excuse to tolerate this.

Through Agenda 2030, Member States committed to eliminating all forms of violence against all women and girls.

Violence against women and girls is a serious violation of human rights and we have a moral obligation to end it. It also has serious economic and social costs, impeding development progress.

Violence against women is estimated to cost some countries up to 3.7 per cent of their GDP.

It is a sad reflection on us all- communities, States and the United Nations that the world is still far from reaching the goal of ending violence against women and girls. We are still far away.

As President of the General Assembly, I have made the empowerment of women one of the seven priorities of the 73rd Session of the General Assembly. I have instructed my team to ensure that this is a cross-cutting issue and reflected in everything we do at the General Assembly.?

Dear friends, this past year has in many ways been the ‘year of women’; we need to seize the momentum and scale up our efforts to address this global challenge. We need to invest more in changing stereotypes, ending harmful practices, and hold perpetrators accountable. And we need a strong and profound cultural change

María Fernanda Espinosa Garcés

President of the 蘑菇视频 General Assembly

And on the global stage, we have seen social movements led by women providing renewed hope of faster change:

Movements, like #MeToo, #TimesUp, and #Niunamenos play a key role in breaking the culture of silence, stigma and impunity around gender-based violence. They help give voice to the voiceless.

Because we must hear the story of Faliana Lee, who suffered almost two decades of abuse, and is now leading an advocacy organization that lobbies for policies to speed up recovery for victims.

And we must hear the story of Teresa Butz, whose senseless death inspired the creation of the Angel Band Project that we will hear today.

It is fitting, therefore, that the theme of this year’s International Day is #HearMeToo.

But listening is not enough.

Dear friends, this past year has in many ways been the ‘year of women’; we need to seize the momentum and scale up our efforts to address this global challenge. We need to invest more in changing stereotypes, ending harmful practices, and hold perpetrators accountable. And we need a strong and profound cultural change.

There is no easy solution. Ending violence against women requires long-term, sustained efforts by all. We must join forces and build a coalition between communities, government, law enforcement, civil society and all other stakeholders.

We must pledge not to sit still, not to rest and not to stop until we have ?eliminated all forms of violence against women and girls.

Thank you.