United Nations, .- The UN demanded on Friday “rapid and radical changes” to promote gender equality and respond to movements that try to stop the advancement of women’s rights.
“Our culture dominated by men has ignored, silenced and oppressed women for centuries and even millennia,” recalled the Secretary General of the United Nations, António Guterres.
Guterres, who took part in the opening of the event with which the organization commemorates International Women’s Day, insisted that the world “can not wait” to achieve equality.
Therefore, he called for immediate progress in many areas, from the representation of women in politics to wage differentials, a gap that will take two centuries to close if progress is made at the current rate, he said.
“I do not accept a world that tells my granddaughters that economic equality can wait for the granddaughters of their granddaughters, our world can not wait,” said the Portuguese diplomat.
Guterres also warned that, in view of the progress of recent decades, a reaction that seeks to limit women’s rights is gaining momentum.
He said that this response is materialized in many ways, from the increase in violence against activists and political leaders to harassment on the Internet, through femicides or legislative setbacks in the area of ​​domestic violence.
“Nationalist, populist and austerity agendas increase inequality with policies that limit women’s rights and reduce social services, we can not give up land that has been earned for decades,” he insisted.
The UN celebrates International Women’s Day with a major event at its headquarters in New York under the slogan “Think Equality, Build Smart, Innovate for Change,” in an attempt to highlight the importance of innovation to move towards Gender equality.
Along with Guterres, the main leaders of the United Nations participate, including the Deputy Secretary General, Amina Mohammed, and the President of the General Assembly, MarÃa Fernanda Espinosa, who referred to the Portuguese as “the first feminist” of the organization.
The secretary general has set equality as one of the priorities of his program and has achieved parity for the first time among senior UN officials.
