UN chief: Gender equality could take decades to achieve

According to United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, women’s rights continue to be mistreated and violated on a global scale.

Speaking in advance of March 8’s International Women’s Day, UN Women, a group devoted to gender equality and female empowerment, estimated that genuine gender equality was “300 years away.” Guterres used this figure to declare that the day would mark the beginning of the end of the gender gap.

The fact that some regions of the world still force young women into early marriages and threaten them with kidnapping or assault for continuing their education, along with the high rates of maternal mortality, illustrates how far away gender equality is from becoming a reality, according to Guterres.

Women’s rights are being mistreated, threatened, and violated all around the world, according to Guterres, who also noted that “progress made over decades is fading before our eyes.”

The head of the UN called particular attention to the dreadful circumstances in Afghanistan, where “women and girls have been eliminated from public life,” according to him.

That’s because the Taliban, who retook control of Afghanistan in 2021, restricted female education beyond the sixth grade as well as several occupations and access to public spaces like parks and gyms.

Also, the secretary-general made note of how women were falling behind in technology and innovation, noting that only 19% of women in the least developed nations have internet access.

On social media platforms, he claimed, “misogynistic disinformation and misinformation abound,” adding that alleged “gender-trolling” is “particularly intended to silence women and force them out of public life.”

Guterres underlined that “collective” and “urgent” action is required to achieve gender equality, including raising the rates of education, income, and employment for women, particularly those in developing countries in the Global South.

The UN president noted that women make up only 3% of Nobel prize winners in science and technology, saying that centuries of oppression, prejudice, and damaging stereotypes have contributed to a significant gender imbalance in those sectors.

He urged governments around the world, as well as civil society and the corporate sector, to invest in “bridging the digital gender divide” by promoting gender-responsive education and improving skill training.