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2 November 2022<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Excellencies,<\/p>\n Ladies and Gentlemen,<\/p>\n Colleagues,<\/p>\n I welcome you to the First Meeting of the Advisory Board on Gender Equality.<\/p>\n I am honoured to follow in my predecessors\u2019 footsteps in re-establishing this Advisory Board.<\/p>\n For joining this Board, I am very grateful to:<\/p>\n \u00b7 The Permanent Representatives of Bulgaria, El Salvador, the Maldives, Qatar, Rwanda, South Africa, and Switzerland,<\/p>\n \u00b7 The Executive Director of Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ Women,<\/p>\n \u00b7 The Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights,<\/p>\n \u00b7 The CEO and Executive Director of the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ Global Compact<\/p>\n \u00b7 The Chair of the NGO Committee on the Status of Women<\/p>\n \u00b7 And the USG for Management Strategy, Policy and Compliance for joining us as an observer<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Your diverse backgrounds and perspectives are critical to this Board\u2019s success.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Distinguished colleagues,<\/p>\n During the Second Week of my Presidency, I convened the first meeting of the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ General Assembly Women Leaders Platform together with Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ Women.<\/p>\n I wish to thank the Executive Director of Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ Women for her excellent partnership in organizing this event.<\/p>\n Seven female heads of state and government discussed women\u2019s important contributions to society and leadership, as well as the obstacles they face in their everyday lives and careers.<\/p>\n I left the meeting reminded of and impressed by women\u2019s critical role in crisis management and global governance.<\/p>\n Transforming our societies to be more equal and inclusive requires women\u2019s meaningful involvement in decision-making. Women must feel ownership over the decisions taken at the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ.<\/p>\n We are faced with serious emergencies:<\/p>\n Healing from the lingering impacts of Covid-19, building bridges over the trenches that divide us, and surviving the waves of climate change that are already crashing down on us.<\/p>\n All these crises have gender dimensions.<\/p>\n Now is therefore the time to take a leap in gender mainstreaming in the General Assembly.<\/p>\n Integrating the lens of gender into each of the issues we face.<\/p>\n The preparations for next year\u2019s SDG Summit and the Summit of Future in 2024 must account for the fundamental role women\u2019s empowerment plays in the achievement of a sustainable future.<\/p>\n I look forward to hearing your suggestions on how to ensure that gender equality remains a focus of these preparations.<\/p>\n The Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ has to lead by example. It has to walk the talk.<\/p>\n In the daily work of the GA, what are concrete solutions that we can implement to further gender equality?<\/p>\n Last year, my predecessor and this Board refurbished the lactation rooms at Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵHQ, creating a more inclusive workplace for women with infants.<\/p>\n This session, I offer two \u201cdeliverables\u201d to this Board:<\/p>\n Firstly, I suggest implementing training on gender equality and prevention of sexual harassment for the staff of Permanent Missions.<\/p>\n These courses are compulsory for Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ staff.<\/p>\n We have all heard of incidents of harassment and discrimination occurring in our workplaces. And sadly, most women can corroborate these experiences.<\/p>\n Encouraging Mission staff to complete these courses is a first step towards achieving respectful and inclusive workplace dynamics here at the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ.<\/p>\n Secondly, I suggest establishing \u201cfamily rooms\u201d in the Headquarters.<\/p>\n Between unaffordable childcare, school closures and the ongoing pandemic, my proposal would be a hybrid space consisting of workstations and a playroom under adult supervision to help parents juggle their responsibilities.<\/p>\n As we return to in-person work, this would be both a timely initiative, and the next logical step after the lactation rooms.<\/p>\n But I also hope that this decision reduces the pressure of the infamous \u201csecond shift\u201d \u2013 women working a full day in the office and heading straight into a second shift at home.<\/p>\n I believe taking these steps in our Headquarters first is critical to galvanising momentum for the achievement of SDGs globally.<\/p>\n I look forward to hearing your feedback on these proposals and am eager to hear your suggestions.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" 2 November 2022 Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, Colleagues, I welcome you to the First Meeting of the Advisory Board on Gender Equality. I am honoured to follow in my […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":361,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[111],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-248199","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-statements","et-doesnt-have-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"yoast_head":"\n