A solemn event dedicated to the International Day of Women in Diplomacy was held at the UN Headquarters on June 19.
The event was co-organized by the countries that initiated the resolution “International Day of Women in Diplomacy”, which was adopted by the UN General Assembly in 2022.
President of the 77th session of the General Assembly Csaba Korösi delivered opening remarks at the event.
Women have played a central role in the history of the United Nations since the signing of the UN Charter, he noted. In particular, ensuring gender equality in diplomacy is necessary to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.
“The latest Women in Diplomacy Index shows that only a fifth of all ambassadors in the world in 2023 are women. Of the 78 people elected to my post of the President of the General Assembly, only four were women. As a starting point, I strongly encourage you to explore the underlying causes of this inequality,” Csaba Korösi said.
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Mongolia Battsetseg Batmunkh and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Education and Sports of Liechtenstein Dominique Hasler attended the event online.
Minister Battsetseg briefly introduced the upcoming Meeting of Women Foreign Ministers to be held in Ulaanbaatar on June 29-30. She emphasized the importance of the International Day of Women in Diplomacy.
“If we just look at the numbers, women in parliament today still make up no more than 26%. In addition, we know that only 25 women are ministers of foreign affairs and only 28 countries have women heads of state or government. It shows where we are and how much work we still have to do,” Executive Director of UN Women Sima Sami Bahous stated, adding that the next UN Secretary General should be a woman.
Representatives attending the event stressed the need to work closely with academics, youth and political leaders to increase the participation of women in diplomacy.
Source: Central Asian News Services