In last year’s opening address of the general debate, Secretary-General António Guterres observed that only ten per cent of all speakers during the 79th session’s general debate were women: "[D]espite years of talk, gender inequality is on full display in this very hall.”

How did these numbers look in the past? How has gender representation changed over time?

To answer these questions, the Dag Hammarskjöld Library enhanced the metadata of the records for 4,393 speakers and 11,190 speeches given at the general debates from the 1st to the 78th sessions.

This optimized metadata now contains gender and state information, facilitates research on individual speakers, and provides insights into gender representation over 78 sessions.

An analysis of the dataset uncovered the hugely disproportionate gender representation among general debate speakers over the years. Only 5.5 per cent of addresses (620 out of 11,190) were delivered by women.

There also appears to be a correlation between countries with women in political executive positions (see: Women Political Leaders 2024 by UN Women) and countries with the highest ratio of speeches by women.

SDG 5.5 calls for action to “ensure women’s full and effective participation and equal opportunities for leadership at all levels of decision-making in political, economic and public life”. Data can play a crucial role in demonstrating how much has been achieved and identifying areas that need improvement.

The in-depth analysis of historical and current trends in the general debate underscores the continued urgency of advancing gender equality in global governance.

Useful resources for general debate research: