NEW YORK, NEW YORK – SEPTEMBER 24: Mia Amor Mottley, Prime Minister, Minister for National Security … [+] and the Civil Service speaks during the 76th Session of the U.N. General Assembly at U.N. headquarters on September 24, 2021 in New York City.
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As global instability mounts, the stakes are high for the 79th United Nations General Assembly high-level debate, which begins Tuesday in New York City.
While tensions in Europe and the Middle East continue to dominate the diplomatic agenda and shake up the global order, all eyes will be on the Big Apple for leaders to set the diplomatic agenda for the coming year. This year, once again, the U.N. General Assembly high-level debate will be dominated by men speaking at the rostrum.
A provisional list of speakers published earlier in September – which is likely to change until the very last moment – revealed that less than 10 of the leaders set to speak at the high-level week are women, showing the hill remains steep for women in politics, especially in the top job. There were only 27 countries where 28 women served as Heads of State and/or Government globally as of June, and gender equality in the highest positions of power will not be reached for another 130 years, according to UN Women.
While, so far, only around ten women prime ministers or presidents are set to travel to New York for the event, there is a bright side: the first woman to speak comes earlier than usual.
Switzerland’s rotating president, Viola Amherd, will not only address the General Assembly for the first time as president but will also be the first woman to do at the event, the fifth speaker to appear at the rostrum. “Her presence demonstrates the importance Switzerland grants to the United Nations and the relevance of effective multilateralism in today’s fragmented world,” Switzerland’s mission to the U.N. said, confirming Amherd’s attendance.
Viola Amherd, President of the Swiss Confederation, addresses the Summit of the Future.
UN Photo/Loey Felipe
Anita Bhatia, the founder of ImpactCommons and Deputy Executive Director of UN Women between 2019 and 2023, attended many high-level debates at the General Assembly and remembers thinking at the time, “It would be men after men after men, a sea of men in black,” she said, “so it’s a mixed feeling of conflicting happiness, frustration at the lack of women and then optimism and hope when you get good results.”
The U.N. General Assembly offers an opportunity to paint a picture of the state of women in politics and leadership in international organizations. While the number of women leaders in international organizations steadily increases, a report by GWLvoices, an advocacy group for multilateralism and gender equality revealed in February that only 13% of all elected leaders in international organizations have been women since 1945. The number of women in national assemblies has also increased globally, but significant strides remain to achieve full gender parity, according to UN Women.
However, not everything is gloomy for women in power. A few countries elected for the first time a woman in the top job since last year’s General Assembly, including Mexico, North Macedonia and Dominica.
Alicia Barcena, foreign minister of Mexico
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“In the case of Mexico, we have to wait until October 1 to be the president-elect to take the full powers in her country,” Maria Fernanda Espinosa, President of the 73rd General Assembly and minister of foreign affairs of Ecuador between 2017-2018, said. “but we will have a female foreign minister of Mexico take the stage at the U.N. so I think that the region is increasingly improving its gender balance.”
Mexico is currently still led by lame-duck president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and as such should be represented by its influential foreign affairs minister, Alicia Barcena.
The leader of Dominica, Sylvanie Burton is listed as a speaker and as such could make her first appearance as leader of the Caribbean Island. However, Dominica’s presidential office could not confirm her attendance.
Peruvian President Dina Boluarte addresses the 78th United Nations General Assembly at UN … [+] headquarters in New York City on September 19, 2023. (Photo by Leonardo Munoz / AFP) (Photo by LEONARDO MUNOZ/AFP via Getty Images)
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On top of Burton and Barcena, Latin American women shine on the provisional list as the region sending the most women leaders . Peru’s president, Dina Boluarte, who took over from Pedro Castillo in 2022 after waves of protests appears on the list, as well as Honduras’ president Xiomara Castro, a leftist.
“We are far from being where we need to be, and it’s more the exception,” Espinosa said. “It’s exceptional to have four or five heads of state and government in Latin America, but out of the 29 heads of state and government, it’s not bad in terms of ratio, in terms of number of countries.”
Other women attendees from the region include high-profile Caribbean leader Mia Mottley of Barbados. “Barbados is a very important country, a strong voice from that country is Prime Minister Mottley.” Espinosa added. Mottley is rumored to be a potential candidate to be the next U.N. Secretary-General, and is an influential figure for international financial institutions reforms and climate change.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – SEPTEMBER 20: Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni speaks during the United … [+] Nations General Assembly (UNGA) at the United Nations headquarters on September 20, 2023 in New York City.
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Other women presidents of prime ministers listed on the provisional list include Italy’s prime minister Georgia Meloni, a political rising star on the right who will also receive a “Global Citizen” award from the Atlantic Council on Sept. 23, where she will be introduced by tech tycoon Elon Musk at the event.
Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova casts her ballot at a polling station in Skopje on May 8, 2024
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Gordana Siljanovska, North Macedonia’s first woman president, is scheduled to speak on Thursday. She already made some waves on in first day in office, after she reignited a longstanding spat with North Macedonia’s neighbor, Greece, over her country’s name, calling it Macedonia. As such, Siljanovska’s presence at the world’s highest diplomatic event will be an opportunity for her to present herself for the world and potentially set the tone on the name controversy.
NEW YORK, NY – SEPTEMBER 23: President of the Marshall Islands Dr. Hilda C. Heine speaks at the … [+] Climate Action Summit at the United Nations on September 23, 2019 in New York City.
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President Hilda Heine of the Marshall Islands, who recently got reelected as president after serving a first term in 2016-2020. Heine was not only the first woman president of the island country but also the first woman to earn a doctoral degree. As a representative from an island nation, she has been a voice for climate resilience globally.
WASHINGTON, DC – SEPTEMBER 25: Prime Minister of Samoa Fiamē Naomi Mataʻafa arrives for the Pacific … [+] Islands Forum (PIF) as part of the U.S.-Pacific Islands Forum Summit at the White House on September 25, 2023 in Washington, DC.
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Another small island leader, Fiamē Naomi Mataʻafa, prime minister of Samoa, is also in New York for the debate and could also highlight the challenges her country faces on climate and other files.
Ugandan Prime Minister Robinah Nabbanja speaks at the 10th Africa Regional Forum on Sustainable … [+] Development in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on April 23, 2024. T
Xinhua News Agency via Getty Images
Uganda’s prime minister, Robinah Nabbanja, attended the Summit of the Future on Sunday and is on the schedule to represent her country later on this week. Nabbanja is one of a few women from Africa scheduled to speak from the rostrum this year. “Like everywhere else, we need to do better,” Amina Mohamed, a former high-level UN official and a minister in Kenya between 2013-2022, said. “I think it’s something that we are all very engaged with, we’re all very conscious of, we’re seized with, and we want to make sure that as we speak about women representation globally, we do not forget that in the globe starts at your doorstep.”
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Publish date : 2024-09-23 05:04:00
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