Written by Michelle Nichols
UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 26 (Reuters) – Over the previous week, 130 world leaders and greater than 50 ministers addressed the annual high-level assembly of the United Nations Normal Meeting in New York, however lower than 12% of them took the stage. They have been girls.
“We’ve to be brave sufficient… to summon individuals, delegation by delegation, after we meet them,” UN Deputy Secretary-Normal Amina Mohammed advised reporters on Tuesday after the latter nation addressed the 193-member Normal Meeting.
She added: “It is clear and clear within the room, once you sit on the rostrum and look down, it is true – I am looking for ladies and this has to get higher.”
Diplomats mentioned that solely 4 international locations didn’t communicate on the six-day assembly: Niger, Myanmar, Afghanistan and Madagascar.
Movses Abelian, a senior UN official, mentioned that among the many 189 member states who spoke, there have been 88 heads of state and 42 heads of presidency. The remaining audio system encompass deputy leaders and ministers, together with six ambassadors.
Abelian advised reporters that among the many audio system have been 21 girls – six heads of state, 4 heads of presidency, a vp, 9 ministers and a deputy minister.
In his speech, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa acquired applause on the primary day of the Normal Meeting when he mentioned that girls represent 50% of the South African authorities, and that he was accompanied by an all-female delegation to New York.
“It must be of concern to all of us that almost all of individuals sitting on this council are males,” he mentioned. “The query we should ask is: The place are the ladies of the world? The ladies of the world have a proper to be right here.”
Throughout the United Nations, there’s gender parity amongst senior ranges of Below-Secretaries-Normal, in keeping with UN information. Throughout your entire UN system, girls make up 44% of worldwide workers.
* The longest speech, lasting 38 minutes, was delivered by Burkina Faso’s Minister of State and Civil Service, Basulma Bazi, whereas the shortest speech, about 10 minutes, was by Rwandan President Paul Kagame, Abelian mentioned.
* Whereas 190 international locations spoke concerning the COVID-19 pandemic in the course of the Excessive-Degree Normal Meeting in 2021, solely about 40 international locations did so this 12 months.
(Reporting by Michelle Nichols, Enhancing by Howard Goller)