Excellencies,
Ladies and gentlemen,
It is an honor for me to participate in the second edition of the Dr. Hansa Mehta Memorial Dialogue.
Dr. Hansa was a pioneer in human rights and a champion of gender equality.
One of India’s beloved daughters, Dr. Mehta is widely recognized for changing the phrase “All men are born free and equal” to “All human beings are born free and equal” in Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
On the surface, a small semantical change…. Underneath, a profound and seismic shift that broadened the scope of that Declaration to encompass all of the billions of souls on this planet.
Powerful indeed.
Without a doubt, Dr. Hansa Mehta’s contributions demonstrate the power and necessity of having women at the table. Her change to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights underlines the argument that, without women policymakers at every meeting, at every discussion, at every negotiation, women will be omitted.
With the Covid-19 pandemic exposing structural and social inequalities – with women falling through social safety nets and once again being omitted – it is critical, now more than ever, to amplify the power of women and to include them in the recovery process, to hand them the reigns to the recovery process.
The power of women to lead and innovate must be tapped into if we are to emerge from this pandemic stronger than we were before.
We need a sustainable, gender-sensitive COVID-19 recovery plan, one that recognizes those who were marginalized and works to raise them up.
As Dr. Mehta demonstrated, this can start with a change in wording, and speeches, but this needs to be followed up with a change in budgets and in actions.
Ladies and gentlemen,
During the COVID-19 pandemic, more women lost their jobs than men. And many women who lost their jobs have not returned to work.
UNESCO estimates that 11 million girls may not return to school.
Globally, over 240 million women and girls, aged 15 to 49, have been subjected to sexual and/or physical violence in the last year.
The World Economic Forum concluded in March that the pandemic has added 36 years to the estimated time it will take to close the global gender gap.
This means, it will now take an average of 135.6 years to reach parity between women and men.
This is unacceptable. We should all be discouraged by these facts and figures. We are moving in the wrong direction!
The world must make every effort to ensure that the specific needs of women and girls are recognized and addressed; and that their expertise and potential contributions are harnessed.
Whether in international forums or at local platforms, we need to raise awareness that human rights, gender equality, and the empowerment of women and girls must be priority issues.
Seventy-five years ago, Dr. Hansa Mehta showed us a glimpse of the possibilities of a gender-equal world: healthier, more peaceful, and more prosperous.
With greater political will and collaborative action, a more inclusive and sustainable world is no longer utopian or imagined.
That world is a real possibility.
As nations united, the decision is ours to make.
I wish you a productive dialogue.
I thank you.
