UN High Commissioner for Human Rights highlights the role of women in the world peace-building process

On the occasion of International Women's Day, March 8, United Nations (UN) High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk gave a speech emphasizing the role of women in the process of building peace in the world.

Cao ủy nhân quyền LHQ đề cao vai trò phụ nữ trong tiến trình xây dựng hòa bình trên thế giới

Women and girls make up nearly half of the global population but still lack equal opportunities in society and the economy. (Source: Population Matters)

The website of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights quoted Mr. Volker Turk's speech at the 55th session of the UN Human Rights Council saying that at the grassroots level, women have promoted social change, but in negotiations, their voices and those of girls remain modest.

On the same day, Ms. Rebeca Grynspan, Secretary-General of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), also spoke about the importance of investing in women.

In a new episode of the Weekly Tradecast published by UNCTAD, Ms. Grynspan notes that women and girls make up nearly half of the global population but still lack equal opportunities in society and the economy.

They have less access to education and health care, earn lower wages than men and face a higher likelihood of having to leave work to care for their families.

This week, the UN released a women’s perspective paper, “Putting Gender Equality at the Heart of the Global Digital Compact,” to help prepare for the Future Summit in September.

The report highlights progress towards gender equality in technology and innovation, but challenges remain that have led to gender disparities in these areas, as this continues to be a sub-theme in the UN’s ongoing digitalisation discussions, the UN Information Office said.

Last year, women made up just 20% of technical employees at major tech companies, 12% of artificial intelligence (AI) researchers and 6% of professional software developers, the report said.

In other related developments, the proportion of female parliamentarians globally now stands at 26.9%, up 0.4 percentage points from the same time last year, according to the latest Inter-Parliamentary Union report on women. The data is compiled from elections and appointments that took place in 2023.

However, this increase is slowing down compared to the 0.6 percentage point increase in the previous two years.

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