Tirsdag var det 100 år siden, at kvindernes internationale kampdag første gang løb af stabelen. 100 års demonstationer og aktioner til trods advarer FN mod optimisme.
Der er stadig lang vej til ligestilling, sagde generalsekretær Ban Ki-moon i sin 8. marts tale.
NEW YORK, 8 March 2011: One hundred years after more than a million women poured out onto the streets around the world on the first International Women’s Day, the United Nations used the anniversary today to warn that despite the gains made much remains to be done to eliminate gender discrimination.
“In too many countries and societies, women remain second-class citizens,” Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in a message. “Although the gender gap in education is closing, there are wide differences within and across countries, and far too many girls are still denied schooling, leave prematurely or complete school with few skills and fewer opportunities.
“Women and girls also continue to endure unacceptable discrimination and violence, often at the hand of intimate partners or relatives. In the home and at school, in the workplace and in the community, being female too often means being vulnerable. And in many conflict zones, sexual violence is deliberately and systematically used to intimidate women and whole communities.”
Ban cited the urgent need for significant progress in women’s and children’s health. He also noted that while in the realm of decision-making more women in more countries are taking their rightful seat in parliament, fewer than 10 per cent of countries have female heads of State or government.
Even where women are prominent in politics, they are often severely underrepresented in other areas of decision-making, including at the highest levels of business and industry, he added. This year’s observance focuses on equal access to education, training, and science and technology.
“Only through women’s full and equal participation in all areas of public and private life can we hope to achieve the sustainable, peaceful and just society promised in the United Nations Charter,” Mr. Ban concluded.
Michelle Bachelet, Executive Director of UN Women, the new entity grouping together the work of four previous UN bodies, highlighted the gains made since those marches of 100 years ago, when only two countries allowed women to vote, compared with virtually universal suffrage today, with women elected to lead governments in every continent.
But, she said: “I suspect those courageous pioneers would look at our world today with a mixture of pride and disappointment. There has been remarkable progress as the last century has seen an unprecedented expansion of women’s legal rights and entitlements. Indeed, the advancement of women’s rights can lay claim to be one of the most profound social revolutions the world has seen.
