Gender Equality Vital For World To Fulfill Potential: UN Chief Ban Ki-moon

NEW YORK: UN chief Ban Ki-moon has said the progress in achieving gender equality has been “slow and uneven” as he called on the international community to make concerted efforts to ensure total equality in the next 15 years. “When you hold back half of our population, we cannot realise 100 per cent of our potential,” Ban said at a march held here yesterday from the UN headquarters to Times Square in commemoration of International Women’s Day.

“We have to fully respect and use the potential of all of our women,” the UN Secretary General said. Thousands of people gathered for the march aimed at demanding greater efforts by governments to achieve gender equality worldwide. Ban praised the commitment of those present to gender equality, saying women had to be “front and centre” in the world, especially on issues like peace and development.

He recalled that it was 20 years since the Beijing Declaration and sounded a rallying cry for the “step it up” campaign to reach Planet 50:50 by 2030. “That’s our target. We must make it happen,” he said. “Let’s work to make it happen!” said UN Women Director-General Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka stressing on how rational equality is and the many benefits that stem from boosting the status of women.
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