Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ

Your Excellency, Minister of Gender and Family Promotion of the Republic of Rwanda, Consol¨¦e Uwimana,

Your Excellency, Permanent Representative of Qatar, Ambassador Alya Al-Thani,
Excellencies,
Dear colleagues,

 

Once again, we can see today and this afternoon that these are no ordinary times.

It is even more important that we come together.

And so many ministers from governments are represented in this building at the moment, at different and parallel meetings.

Thank you very much for the invitation to this distinguished Group of Friends.

It is a pleasure to once again join the Group of Friends for Gender Parity, this time with ministers and representatives from capitals.

When I last met with the Group in October, we had just commemorated 30 years since Beijing.

We celebrated the extraordinary gains achieved through decades of determined effort ¡ª
the barriers broken,
the doors opened,
the norms rewritten.

And yet we also confronted stubborn realities.

That only 29 women currently serve as Head of State or Government worldwide.

And also, here in this building at the United Nations, only 40 women serve as Permanent Representatives.

Only one woman serves as Chair of the six main committees.

Progress ¡ª yes.

Parity ¡ª obviously no.

Since the meeting in October, we have officially launched the process to select the next Secretary-General of the United Nations.

So, this is a very unique opportunity in regard to gender parity.

Member States have been very clear from the beginning on, calling in consensus, so by all 193 Member States, for the nomination of women.

This call was reinforced just last week during the Thematic Debate on Revitalization, when Member States called for the nomination of female candidates.

To say that it is time for a woman to lead the United Nations would be, frankly speaking, an understatement.

That time was 30 years ago.

50 years ago.

75 years ago.

Or, as the Secretary-General said this morning:

¡°80 years too late by now.¡±

Therefore, this strong call for the nomination of women was ¡ª I think especially in this group, but also for many people around the world and also at the High-Level Meeting in September, where we heard it from Heads of State from many countries ¡ª a very positive step in progress.

Yet I am, frankly speaking, a bit surprised, to put it diplomatically, that since then we suddenly hear again:

Maybe we should speak less about gender, and more about competence.

As if there were a contradiction between women and competence.

But we all know competence has never been gendered.

Opportunity, however, often has been.

Of course, the final choice of the Secretary-General rests solely with the membership.

And of course we want to choose the most qualified person, the most competent person.

But to make this very clear, Member States did not only agree on saying it is time for a woman.

They also put criteria already in place with regard to competence and other qualifications, outlined in the joint letter issued together with the President of the Security Council.

And I would like to quote from this.

¡°The position of Secretary-General requires a high standard of efficiency, competence and integrity, and a firm commitment to the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations.

We invite candidates to be presented who have proven leadership and managerial abilities, extensive experience in international relations, and strong diplomatic, communication and multilingual skills.¡±

So, in this regard, we have a very clear job description.

We have many candidates around the world.

In total, actually almost 8 billion ¡ª of which half are women.

So, there should be no doubt that we should be succeeding in finding a competent next Secretary-General.

I would also like to welcome your active participation in the interactive dialogues.

And as I have members of governments here, I would also encourage you to get really engaged with your missions here on the ground.

Because these are interactive dialogues by Member States ¡ª by all of you ¡ª to ask questions and make clear what aspects you are especially looking at when we consider the next Secretary-General.

We have started with the dialogue process.

You can find all the nominations on the website of the Office of the President of the General Assembly.

The interactive dialogues are scheduled for the week of 20 April, to ensure a healthy debate with a broad set of candidates on issues pertinent to our membership:

human rights,
sustainable development,
and peace and security ¡ª

as these are the three equal pillars of our United Nations.

Of course, parity neither begins nor ends with one appointment and one office.

Gender parity must be visible in ministerial positions, in the General Assembly Hall, in negotiation rooms, and in co-facilitation processes.

Once again, I would like to be candid and use the chance of this exchange today.

This cannot be simply a top-down approach.

The Secretary-General and the Deputy Secretary-General are doing their part.

They have raised the number of women USGs and ASGs to 53 percent.

So, at the top Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ leadership level we have achieved gender parity.

Respectively, 47 percent of USGs.

And I, as President of the General Assembly, have done my part as well ¡ª with 70 percent of my office being women, including in diverse leadership positions.

As well as issuing a strong call for parity among co-facilitators.

Yet this call is all the more difficult to answer when only a quarter of Permanent Representatives are female.

So out of the 193, I sometimes have to ask all female PRs to take up a co-facilitation role.

And I am very thankful that women have a strong tendency to step up and take part in processes ¡ª especially very difficult processes.

But if only a quarter are female, it becomes very difficult.

Therefore, I would like to hand this call back to you in the different capitals.

Raise the issue back home.

When you next discuss the fact that there has never been a woman Secretary-General after 80-years, maybe it is also time to raise this question with your own ministry.

Ask: why has our country never had a female Permanent Representative in our mission in New York for 80-years.

Or ¡ª some are not as long in the house ¡ª

50 years.

Or the last 70 years.

Again, in 2026, it is not about a lack of qualified or competent women in missions and ministries worldwide.

Not only have I had the chance to meet many of them in person, but if you also look at the different setups ¡ª I have just been to Geneva, at the Human Rights Council.

There the representation of women is much higher.

If you look at the topics we deal with in Geneva, it is especially human rights and humanitarian assistance.

So, you can see a pattern.

Not only between Geneva and New York, but also between the different committees here.

While the so-called ¡°hard topics¡± of security often have more men represented, in other committees ¡ª like the Third Committee ¡ª you see many more women.

So, those of you who heard my speech this morning know:

This is always an active choice.

It is a political choice.

Who you send to which position.

In this regard, I really count on all of you.

This is a very big group ¡ª 140 Member States calling for gender parity ¨C to also address these issues within your own reform processes.

Which brings me to my third dimension.

At this moment, the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ reform process is one of our key tasks, besides selecting the next Secretary-General.

Because structural reform without consideration of who we serve and with whom we serve will never deliver.

Therefore, I would like to invite and encourage you not only to engage from capitals in the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ80 reform process, but also to look at this question with regard to gender parity in the new architecture of leadership for the future.

This applies especially to different agencies and boards ¡ª to ensure that we do not suddenly find out that through a merger or reform we have lost the parity we already achieved.

And as we saw again today, we must remain attentive to the finer details and word choices.

Because as we just saw a moment ago, language matters and every word matters.

At the beginning of this institution, in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, one of the first female role models of this institution ¡ª Dr. Hansa Mehta – insisted on changing one word.

From ¡°men¡± to ¡°human beings.¡±

With that single change, the meaning of the entire declaration changed.

Due to her persistence, and we celebrated it today – the Universal Declaration now recognizes that all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.

And imagine how difficult it must have been for her to stand almost alone in that fight.

Today, thankfully, we can see many countries joining hands, and I am honored to be invited to a panel hosted by one of the strongest female PRs here in New York ¡ª Qatar ¡ª together with the Minister from Rwanda, one of the examples I often use in my speeches, showing that those who say gender parity is difficult to achieve are mistaken.

So, the next time you face challenges in reaching parity, you can share your numbers, and perhaps call the Minister of Rwanda.

By this, I would like to thank you again for bringing us together here today.

And I would also like to thank those who are currently in other meetings across this building.

Women and girls around the world need all of us.

Every day.

Not only to stand up for gender parity, but also for gender rights.

Because, as we all know:

women¡¯s rights are human rights.

And standing for them means standing for all humanity.

Thank you very much.