Women Numbers In Leadership Positions Must Increase, Says UN Chief

UNITED NATIONS, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 9th Mar, 2024) UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres Friday launched a plan to boost empowerment of women and girls around the world, unveiling details at a meeting commemorating International Women’s Day.

“Equality is overdue; to achieve it, we must match rhetoric with resources,” said the UN chief marking the day on the theme of investing in women and girls.

“We must invest in women and girls, turbocharge progress and build a better world for us all.”

The secretary-general's new UN System-Wide Gender Equality Acceleration Plan “commits to placing women and girls at the centre of our work across the board”.

“We will support governments around the world to design and implement policies, budgets and investments that respond to the needs of women and girls," he said.

"We need to increase the number of women in leadership positions. Women in positions of power can help to drive investment in policies and programmes that meet the needs of women and girls."

The new plan comes against a global backlash against women’s rights that is threatening and sometimes reversing progress in developing and developed countries alike, he said, pointing to such egregious examples as Afghanistan’s gender-based restrictions on school and work outside the home and The Gambia’s consideration of legalizing the harmful practice of female genital mutilation.

“The global crises we face are hitting women and girls hardest, from poverty and hunger to climate disasters, war and terror,” he said.

Over the past year, horrific reports on the impact of conflict which effects women and girls around the world have emerged, from testimonies of rape and trafficking in Sudan to recent reports on sexual violence during the ongoing Israel's war against Gaza.

Amid displacement and bombardment, more deliveries of care for women and girls is urgently needed, according to UNRWA, which provides hygiene kits at

However, targeted programmes and quotas may be required to tackle “baked-in bias” and dismantle obstacles to equality, Mr. Guterres said, urging Member States at the forthcoming Summit of the Future in September to support proposals for metrics that go beyond gross domestic product (GDP).

GDP disregards domestic labour carried out by billions of women while complementary metrics provide a more comprehensive and balanced picture, he explained.

In addition, resolving gender bias in poverty is critical, he added.

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