Messages on the occasion
of International Women's Day
President of the General Assembly
The economic turmoil and ominous social unrest that is rippling throughout the world today inevitably affects the poor and vulnerable the hardest. Unfortunately, we can expect the harsh impact on women and girls will also escalate disproportionately in the months ahead. For this reason, I welcome the focus on uniting both men and women to prevent violence against women as the theme of International Women’s Day. Sometimes it takes a crisis to raise awareness and mobilize new partnerships. We must seize every opportunity to ensure the advancement of women, in good times and bad.
Secretary-General
One year ago, I launched a campaign calling on people and governments the world over to unite to end violence against women and girls. The campaign will run through 2015, the target date for achieving the Millennium Development Goals. The link with the Goals is clear. We must stop the habitual and socially ingrained violence that mars lives, destroys health, perpetuates poverty and prevents us from achieving women’s equality and empowerment.
Executive Director, UNIFEM, Inés Alberdi
International Women’s Day is an occasion to reflect on where we are in our struggle for equality, peace and development, and a chance to unite and mobilize for meaningful change. This year there is much to celebrate. The vision women marched for over a century ago, of a life free of poverty and violence, has spread to countries around the globe. People everywhere believe that lives of men and women can be different, and governments have the fundamental obligation to respect, protect, and fulfill human rights.
Director-General, UNESCO, Koïchiro Matsuura
Each year, International Women’s Day (IWD) provides an occasion for taking stock of progress and reflecting on the challenges that remain in the pursuit of gender equality. IWD 2009 is my tenth and last as Director-General of UNESCO and it is a matter of regret that although gender equality was enshrined in the United Nations Charter in 1945, and targeted as specific Millennium Development Goal (MDG 3) in 2000, it still remains an aspiration rather than the reality in too many areas of public and private life.
Executive Director, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Antonio Maria Costa
Human trafficking is one of the worst kinds of violence against women, made even more repulsive by the fact that people make money from it. This is a crime that shames us all. Around the world women, girls and even men and boys are being coerced into sexual exploitation and forced labour. There is still a lot of ignorance and denial about this crime. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has just issued a Global Report on Trafficking in Persons that provides an overview of the problem.
UN High Commissioner, Human Rights, Navi Pillay
Deeply rooted discrimination against women in all spheres of society – political, economic, social and cultural – weakens society as a whole. The negative effects of discrimination and flawed social structures are inevitably magnified – often dramatically – by conflict, and natural or man-made disasters. The current global economic crisis, for example, is likely to have a disproportionate impact on millions of women who already formed the majority of the poor and the disenfranchised before the crisis developed."
UN Special Rapporteur, Violence against Women, Yakin Ertürk
The scale and impact of the current crisis is still largely unknown, but it is expected that women and girls in both developed and developing countries will be particularly affected by job cuts, lose of livelihoods, increased responsibilities in all spheres of their life, and an increased risk of societal and domestic violence. A systematic gender analysis of the current economic crisis is critical for developing viable solutions and upholding human rights standards”, recommends the Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women, its causes and consequences.
Director-General, UNOG, Sergei Ordzhonikidze
It gives me great pleasure to welcome you to the Palais des Nations to celebrate International Women's Day 2009. Allow me, first of all, to extend a warm welcome to our eminent speakers and panellists. They represent our Member States, many parts of the United Nations system and civil society partners. Their participation today shows that empowering women and advancing towards gender equality is very much a collective task that can only be realized through a firm partnership among all stakeholders.
Executive Director, UNAIDS, Mr Michel Sidibé
Gender equality must become part of our DNA – at the core of all of our actions. This will require a social revolution. Addressing gender inequality as a human right and development imperative constitutes a main plank of this social revolution. This is not only necessary for social justice but also for achieving universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support. The lives of girls and women are still simply not valued on a par with those of boys and men. Diminished opportunities for women and girls should not be acceptable. Violence, including rape and sexual abuse against women and girls, should not be tolerated in any circumstances, be it in conflict or war or at home in our own communities.
Executive Director, UNICEF, Ann M. Veneman
This year, International Women's Day addresses an issue which shames the world. Every day, around the world, women and girls face domestic violence, sexual exploitation, sexual abuse and trafficking. Too often, these crimes go unpunished. Rape and sexual violence are increasingly used as a weapon of war in conflict situations. In places like the Democratic Republic of Congo, where five million people have died in the conflict, sexual violence leaves many survivors with horrific injuries, emotional wounds, HIV and AIDS and unwanted pregnancies. It can inflict devastating long-term consequences on the lives of the affected women and girls, and on entire societies.
Director-General, UNIDO, Kandeh K. Yumkella
UNIDO Director-General, Kandeh K. Yumkella, said today that empowering women through entrepreneurship development and gender mainstreaming were key factors for effective industrial development. "Gender equality and the empowerment of women in the countries of the 'bottom billion', where people live on less than a dollar a day, are not only crucial components in the fight against poverty, hunger and disease but also key for effective and sustainable industrialized development," said Yumkella.