16th Meeting - 62nd Session of Human Rights Council

Excellency, distinguished participants.
I hereby declare open the 16th meeting of the 62nd session of the Human Rights Council.
Before we start, I would like to remind you that the deadline for tabling draft resolutions is tomorrow, Thursday, 25th of June at 1:00 P.M.
Any requests for extension should be made before 12:00 P.M.
Tomorrow and would be approved by the council only once and for 24 hours only.
In this regard, I have been informed that the presidency has been approached by the sponsors of the draft resolution Protection of Healthcare in armed conflict under item three, with a view to extending the deadline of submission until Friday 26th of June at 1:00 P.M.
Explanations have been provided.
With your approval, an extension of the table and deadline for this draft resolution will be granted until Friday, 26th of June at 1:00 P.M.
I take that this is agreeable to all of you.
We will now continue the interactive dialogue with the working group on discrimination against women and girls, and we will continue with the list of speakers.
I first have the honor to give the floor to Kenya on behalf of a group of African states.
You have the floor.
Madam Vice President, I have the honor to deliver this statement on behalf of the African states.
Despite the welcome advance brought about by AI and related technologies, particularly in scientific and economic spheres, the Africa group is particularly concerned about the risks that AI poses to gender equality in Africa, particularly in light of the digital and technological divide.
From another perspective, the group also remains concerned about the risks of exploitation, harassment, invasion of privacy, and other forms of abuse faced by women and girls in the context of work related to AI and other digital platforms.
It is for this reason, moreover, that the Africa Group reaffirms its support for the new International Convention on decent work in digital platforms recently adopted by the International Labor Organization at its 114th session.
Madam Vice President, to strengthen this dynamic, the Africa Group calls for more cooperation to find the necessary compromise to define specific fair and equitable standards within the view to better regulations of AI.
Sufficiently takes into account the protection of the rights of women and girls.
In this process, we insist on the need to ensure the effective participation of women and girls with a view to more inclusive and non discriminatory digital governance.
Thank you.
Hi.
Thank you.
Next, I give the floor to Randa on behalf of a group of countries.
Thank you, Madam Vice President.
I have the honor to deliver this statement on behalf of seven beneficiary countries of the trust fund for the least developed countries and small island developing countries participating in the presentation.
As artificial intelligence and related digital technologies become increasingly integrated into our societies and economies, it is important that their benefits are accessible to all For many LDCs and CDs, however, significant gaps in connectivity, digital infrastructure, and technical capacity continue to limit the ability of women and girls to benefit from these technologies.
Ensuring their full and equal participation in technological innovation remains essential to advancing gender equality and women's empowerment.
We therefore underscore the importance of international cooperation, including technology transfer and capacity building to help bridge digital divides and strengthen digital skills, particularly for women and girls in line with sustainable development goals and the Global Digital compact.
In this regard, we would like to ask the working group, what measures can the international community take to strengthen technology transfer and capacity building for LDCs and seeds to ensure that women and girls can participate meaningfully in the development and governance of artificial intelligence.
I thank you.
Thank you.
Next, I give the floor to Nigeria on behalf of a group of countries.
Thank you, Madam Vice President.
I have the honor to deliver the statement on behalf of the group of friends of the family.
The full text is available on the extranet.
We reaffirm our commitment to eliminating all forms of discrimination against women and girls, while also reaffirming the important role of the family as a natural and fundamental group units of society.
We would like to comment on the guidance document issued by the working group on discrimination against women and girls concerning family life.
We noted concern that certain interpretations and concepts contained in the document, particularly regarding the concepts and forms of the family could be interpreted as redefining agreed international language despite the absence of intergovernmental consensus on such interpretations and terminology.
We further believe that broad normative interpretations of these concepts exceed the mandate entrusted to the working group by this council and do not sufficiently reflect diversity of legal systems, cultural and religious values, and social context.
We also know that the document does not sufficiently recognize the family's role as a source of protection, solidarity, care, and support.
Finally, we stress that supporting women and girls and supporting the family are complementary and mutually reinforcing objectives.
We therefore encourage all mandate orders to remain guided by internationally agreed language.
I thank you, Madam Vice President.
Thank you.
Next, I give the floor to Council of Europe.
Thank you, Madam Vice President.
We thank the working group for its valuable report and work.
The Council of Europe has played a leading role in combating discrimination against women and girls, both through its standard setting work and the European Court of Human Rights case law.
A cornerstone of this effort is the organization's commitment to substantive gender equality and the implementation of our Istanbul Convention, which recognizes violence against women as both a human rights violation and a form of discrimination.
The European Court of Human Rights demonstrates increasingly robust approach on this matter.
It has continued to strengthen safeguards against gender based violence, trafficking, and discriminatory treatment of women.
Underscoring that states must not only prohibit discrimination in law, but also ensure equality in practice.
We also addressed emerging challenges in the digital sphere through two new recommendations on equality and artificial intelligence and on accountability for technology facilitated violence against women and girls.
These new standards aim to end impunity for the harm caused by tech facilitated violence and to build responsible AI.
These developments reaffirm that achieving real equality for women and girls requires effective laws, gender sensitive institutions, and a society free from stereotypes and prejudice.
I thank you.
All right.
Thank you.
Next, I give the floor to Lichtenstein.
Thank you, Madam Vice President.
Lichtenstein welcomes the working group's report and its conclusions.
AI is being developed and used in a context already shaped by transgender inequality and different intersecting forms of discrimination.
Where that context goes unaddressed, AI does not only reflect discrimination, but it compounds and accelerates it.
Women and girls are already experiencing this, for instance, through technology facilitated gender based violence, such as steep fakes and non consensual intimate image abuse.
States must work better to prevent online gender based violence, while also ensuring the equal participation of women and girls in digital spaces.
We recognize the genuine potential of AI to advance gender equality and begin redressing historical inequalities, but this can only be realized through deliberate and human rights based regulation.
Madam Vice President, we are concerned that private sector devotes minimal attention to gender responsive design or expertise, while states too often dilute their human rights obligations through voluntary and market driven approaches.
The design and deployment of all digital technologies, including AI, must be grounded in feminist and gender responsive approaches and in full compliance with international human rights law.
I thank you.
Thank you.
Next, I give the floor to Belgium.
Madam La President.
President Belgium is grateful to the working group for its report, and we have undying support for this mandate.
Artificial intelligence represents a significant challenge for gender equality, nonetheless, as your report highlights we are not exempt from risk in AI.
AI can reproduce and accentuate existing inequalities as well as patriarchal structures.
We must ensure that technological development supports human rights of women and girls rather than compromising them.
It's essential that states adopt a governance framework around AI that's founded on human rights and is gender transformative.
Furthermore, Belgium welcomes your choice to address technology facilitated gender based violence.
While this is not a new phenomenon, this has escalated rapidly in recent years, posing growing threats to the safety and well being of women and girls, but also to democracy more generally.
As you note in your report, this has become a serious human rights violation in particular for women and girls facing multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination.
In that connection, we look forward to the publication in September of a new study from the HRC Advisory Committee, which will further contribute to our understanding of this issue.
Dear members of the working group.
Could you please share best practices concerning the gender transformative design of AI regulation frameworks.
Thank you.
Merci, next, I give the floor to UN woman.
Thank you, Madam Vice President.
UN Women welcomes the working group, one of our key partners report on artificial intelligence and related digital technologies.
While there is potential to harness artificial intelligence for human rights, UN Women has documented how technology can exacerbate inequalities, further compounding and persisting gender digital divide with women and girls having less access to computers and Internet, let alone artificial intelligence.
Left unregulated, AI mirrors the gender bias and discrimination in our society.
This is evident in the alarming rate at which artificial intelligence amplifies or creates new forms of technology facilitated gender based violence.
All AI tools can target women, enabling black male stalking, threats and harassment with serious physical, psychological, professional, and financial consequences.
Yet, less than half of the countries have laws to prosecute online abuse and enforcement remains weak.
Access to justice and accountability must be strengthened as a priority, including consideration for the responsibility of tech platforms.
Who develops AI and what kind of data is trained on has gender implications.
Women's meaningful participation and leadership in digital governance remain essential preconditions for rights based technological transformation.
UN Women looks forward to working with the working group and other partners to advance gender responsive, rights based and inclusive AI governance with a strong focus on women's and girls' rights safety, leadership, and participation.
I thank you.
Thank you.
Next, I give the floor to Austria.
Thank you, Madam Vice President.
Austria aligns with the EU statement.
AI and digital technologies are reshaping the conditions under which we exercise human rights.
While AI holds the potential to contribute significantly to advancing gender equality for these benefits to be realized, we need rights based on gender responsive regulation and governance.
As for women and girls, these opportunities can also lead to amplification of existing power, symmetries, discrimination, and exclusion.
Enabling women and girls to use digital technology involves removing systemic, economic and social barriers by promoting digital literacy, expanding affordable access to devices and the Internet, and fostering safe online environments.
We can empower women and girls to participate fully in the global digital economy and to benefit from it.
Austria funds national projects aiming at the strengthening of digital resilience and digital media skills for women and girls in cooperation with universities and associations, Austria is trying to break down traditional roles, promote digitization and open new access to stem medication.
This also includes prevention of cyber violence.
In addition, we need to enact and enforce legislation protecting privacy and personal data, as well as strengthen national legislation and mechanisms to effectively address and curb technology facilitated gender based violence to the members of the working group in preparing this report, which challenges to women's women and girls rights particularly stood out for you and why.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Next, I give the floor to Organization of Islamic Cooperation.
Vice President, the OIC Independent Permanent Human Rights Commission, the IPHRC reiterates its commitment to combating discrimination against women and girls in all its forms.
The commission affirms that equality in human dignity and rights is a fundamental principle under Islamic teachings and international human rights law.
Discrimination that deprives women and girls of education, healthcare, employment, participation and justice undermines sustainable development and social progress.
The IPHRC remains concerned over persistent structural barriers, poverty, conflict, occupation, harmful stereotypes and digital inequalities that disproportionately affect women and girls, particularly in vulnerable communities.
The commission stresses the importance of adopting balanced and culturally respectful approaches promote women's empowerment while preserving family cohesion and social stability.
The IPHRC further emphasizes the need to expand women's access to quality education, economic opportunities, technology and leadership positions as essential components of inclusive development.
The commission calls for enhanced international cooperation, dialogue, and exchange of best practices to eliminate discrimination and ensure the full realization of the rights and dignity of women and girls worldwide.
I thank you very much.
Thank you.
Next, I give the floor to Poland.
Thank you, Madam President.
I am honored to address you today as the United Nations Youth Delegate of Poland.
As a representative of a younger generation, I would like to focus on one concern that emerged repeatedly in consultations with young people across Poland, the future of work in the age of artificial intelligence.
As young people enter an increasingly competitive and uncertain labor market, AI is rapidly transforming the skills employers demand.
While these technologies hold great potential for innovation and economic growth, they also risk reinforcing existing inequalities.
As the report highlights, women and girls remain disproportionately vulnerable to job displacement, particularly in female dominated sectors such as health and care, business administration, and clerical support.
Equal participation in the future of work requires equal access to the digital world.
Yet many women and girls, particularly in rural and disadvantaged communities, continue to face barriers to Internet access, digital tools, and digital literacy.
Without targeted action, they risk being excluded not only from the future employment opportunities, but also from shaping the technologies that will define them.
In this regard, what concrete measures have proven most effective in ensuring that AI driven transformations of the labor market advance rather than undermine substantive gender equality, particularly for young women entering the workforce? Thank you.
All right.
Thank you.
Next, I give the floor to Republic of Korea.
Thank you, Madam Vice President.
The Republic of Korea welcomes the timely reports of the working group focusing on digital technologies.
AI has potential to foster innovation in addressing inequalities.
At the same time, it can amplify existing discrimination through algorithmic bias and widen gender gaps.
In this regard, we have emphasized the human rights based approach to the development of new technologies tailoring the relevant resolution in this council.
We are also committed to establishing an AI universal society dedicated to AI for all.
In response to technology facilitated gender based violence, our government has been actively tackling sexual crimes in the digital space, strengthening investigations, providing support for victims, and promoting prevention through education.
For example, the recently amended Comfort Women Victims Act prohibits the dissemination of false information concerning the Comfort Women victims both online and offline.
The Korean government will continue to strive to restore the honor and dignity of the victims and to heal their psychological wounds.
Finally, we remain committed to sharing our expertise with other countries and enhancing regional and global cooperation, including by supporting the UN Women Knowledge and Partnership Center in Seoul.
I thank you.
Thank you.
Next, I give the floor to Mexico.
Thank you very much, Vice President.
Mexico is grateful to the working group for this rigorous, timely and relevant report.
We agree that emerging technologies are not neutral.
Rather, they amplify existing gender inequalities, including through algorithmic bias, digital exclusion, and multiple forms of violence facilitated by technology.
Nationally speaking, we highlight the adoption of our Olympia law.
This is legislation that recognizes digital violence as a form of gender based violence and punishes the non consensual dissemination of intimate content ensuring justice for victims.
This is added to with actions to strengthen complaints mechanisms as well as victim support.
And the timely submission of content that violates rights by digital platforms.
We reiterate that digital technology must focus on substantive equality, dignity, and privacy for women, incorporating a gender perspective in the design development and technological governance around it and connected to transparency, standards, and accountability.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Next, I give the floor to Japan.
Thank you, Madam Vice President.
Japan thanks the working group for the presentation of its report.
We share the concern that women and girls continue to be disproportionately impacted by digital divide, facing barriers to accessing and benefiting from the new and emerging digital technologies, including technology facilitated gender based violence as well as the bias and discrimination in artificial intelligence system.
We recognize the importance of ensuring that AI governance is consistent with international human rights law and contribute to substantive gender equality.
At the same time, Japan believes that such technology can serve as powerful tool for advancing the women peace and security agenda.
We emphasize the importance of integrating digital inclusion into the RPS effort, leveraging digital tool to support women's participation and leadership, and promoting gender responsive capacity building in AI and cybersecurity.
We will continue to continue promoting safe, secure, and trustworthy AI while advancing women's and go participation leadership in digital and technological field.
In light of the opportunity and listing identified in the report, could the working group elaborate on the good practice for promoting women's meaningful participation and leadership in the development, governance, and use of AI with a view to promoting and protecting human rights of women and girls.
I think you.
Thank you.
Next, I give the floor to Slovenia.
Thank you, Madam Vice President.
Madam Chair, as you have mentioned in your presentation, the AI and related digital technologies are developing with unprecedented pace.
It is up to us to ensure the design and deployment of technology is grounded in human rights.
Only through inclusive and responsible governance can we ensure that AI serves as a tool for empowerment rather than a source of new inequalities.
These include safeguarding women's and girls' rights in the digital age and ensuring that technological innovation does not reinforce existing patterns of discrimination, exclusion, or violence.
We have read with interest the report section on the environmental costs of AI, including growing pressure on water resources.
The governance of emerging technologies cannot be separated from broader discussions on sustainable development, climate action, and the protection of vulnerable populations, particularly women and girls who often bear the heaviest burden of environmental degradation.
We would appreciate it, Madam Chair, if you could share examples of good practices that have emerged in regulating AI to prevent increasing inequalities, especially those positively affecting women and girls.
I thank you.
I thank you.
Next I give the floor to UN FPA.
Thank you, Madam Chair.
UN FPA welcomes the report of the working group and its content calling for AI systems and their governance based on the principles of human rights and equality.
Data shows that 58% of women and girls have been victims of harassment via the Internet.
Less than 40% of the countries have appropriate legal framework to counter this phenomenon.
The report mentions the capacities of using AI in a responsible manner.
UNFPA in partnership with national government works on promoting a social AI that is inclusive and centered around human beings.
This approach aims at raising awareness in the digital field algorithms and to support digital innovation such as the platform Ask Marua which provides question to adolescent girls about menstrual hygiene, sexual and reproductive health and rights, et cetera We work so that the digital age becomes an age of equality, not of exclusion and marginalization.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Next, I give the floor to Romania.
Thank you, Madam Vice President.
Romania aligns itself with the EU and welcomes the report of the working group.
AI and digital technologies are reshaping the exercise of human rights.
Digital technologies have significant potential to advance gender equality.
Yet today more than a third of women worldwide still lacks access to the online space and continue to face barriers to digital access.
Digital spaces have also become arenas for harassment and violence, including intimate partner violence and sexual exploitation.
Surveys show that almost 40% of women have experienced harassment online while impunity for technology facilitated gender based violence remains widespread.
Without adequate safeguards, AIA risks reinforcing and amplifying existing patterns of discrimination and inequality.
Romania believes gender equality must be fully integrated into digital transformation.
We continue to strengthen policies to combat violence against women and girls, including technology facilitated abuse while promoting safer and more inclusive digital environments.
Welcome the report's call for substantive equality in the digital space and for stronger multilateral cooperation on AI governance.
We also support digital literacy and equal access for women and girls to digital education, skills, and career development, particularly in STEM fields.
Members of the working group, this forum has noted often that gender equality remains a century away.
Do you believe AI and digital technologies will help shorten that timeline, or do they risk extending it further for women and girls? Thank you.
Next, I give the floor to Benin.
Benin is absent.
Next, I give the floor to European Public Law Organization.
Thank you, Madam Vice President.
The European Public Law Organization thanks the working group for its timely and thought provoking report on women's and girls' rights in the age of artificial intelligence and related digital technologies.
We agree that AI systems can reproduce existing biases and create new forms of discrimination if developed or deployed without appropriate safeguards.
At the same time, we believe it is equally important to recognize the enormous opportunities that these technologies offer women and girls.
As states consider regulatory responses, care should be taken to avoid overly restrictive frameworks that may unintentionally limit innovation, reduce access to beneficial technologies or create barriers to participation for women and girls themselves.
Effective government governance should seek not only to prevent harm, but also to promote inclusion, opportunity, and empowerment.
In our view, the challenge is to strike the right balance, protecting women and girls from discrimination and abuses while ensuring that they can fully benefit from the transformative potential of AI and related technologies.
Could the working group elaborate on how states can design regulatory frameworks to safeguard and preserve innovation? Thank you.
Thank you.
Next, I give the floor to Switzerland.
Madam Vice President, Switzerland's grateful to the working group for its report.
We share the finding that artificial intelligence and digital technologies can represent new opportunities, but they also strengthen existing discrimination against women and girls.
Switzerland's particularly concerned by algorithmic bias, threats to human rights of women and girls, in particular in the sphere of the private life and forms of sexual and gender based violence, which is facilitated by technology.
Switzerland also highlights the importance of conserving an open, free and safe digital environment.
Grounded on the respect for human rights, including freedom of expression and the protection of a private life.
Switzerland believes that AI governance must be based on human rights, non discrimination, transparency, and responsibility.
It must be rooted in legal and institutional frameworks which are able to prevent these threats and ensure equitable access to technology justice and effective appeals as well as to promote digital spaces which are inclusive and safe.
These efforts must go hand in hand with full, equal and effective participation of women and girls.
Members of the working group, what priority measures do you recommend to states to prevent gender based violence facilitated by technology and ensure effective appeals as well as full equal and safe participation of women and girls in the digital environment and AI governance.
Thank you.
Merci.
Next, I have the honor to give the floor to Her Excellency Ana Maria Alonzo Gianto, ambassador at large for Feminist Foreign Policy of Spain.
You have the floor.
Thank you very much, Madam Vice President.
Spain would like to thank the working group on discrimination against women and Girls for their timely report.
We agree with your analysis and we take note of your recommendations.
Artificial intelligence is transforming our societies at an unprecedented speed.
However, as the chair of the working group pointed out, If it is not developed and used with a human rights based approach and gender equality at its basis, then it can reproduce and amplify existing discrimination against girls and women.
Spain reckons that it is essential to respond to these new risks through effective regulatory frameworks and protection mechanisms that are centered on the victims.
Therefore, we defend feminist governance of AI based on transparency, accountability, human oversight, and the effective protection of human rights.
In this context, Spain applies the EU regulation on AI and has spearheaded pioneering instruments such as the Spanish Agency for Oversight of artificial intelligence and a regulatory environment of tests in order to promote responsible innovation.
Similarly, we are working to ensure that Technology has human rights at its basis.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Next, I give the floor to Uruguay.
Thank you, Madam Vice President.
We share the concerns expressed in the thematic report of the working group about the risks posed by AI and digital technologies when these are not developed or used from the perspective of human rights and gender equality.
At the same time, we acknowledge its potential for promoting rights and bridging gaps, including through great access to education, health care, information, justice, and public participation as long as it is guided by substantive equality, transparency, privacy, accountability, and effective participation.
At the national level, Uruguay has developed a national strategy on AI, which is based on human rights principles, equity, non discrimination, privacy, transparency and accountability.
This is complemented by data protection legislation as well for digital citizenry and measures aimed at bridging the gender divide in terms of engineering, sciences, and other fields.
We would like to ask the working group, what measures should states take as a priority to ensure that the regulation of AI and of digital technologies contributes to preventing discrimination and online gender based violence as well as algorithmic bias, guaranteeing the full safe and meaningful participation of women and girls in the digital environment.
I thank you.
Thank you.
Next, I give the floor to the Netherlands.
Thank you, Madam Vice President.
The Kingdom of the Netherlands aligns itself with the statement by the EU and is a staunch supporter of the working group on discrimination of women and girls.
The Netherlands welcomes the report and shares the concerns outlined therein.
AI can help drive progress, but it can also reinforce existing inequalities when bias is embedded in its design or data.
AI driven tools such as deep fakes and disinformation disproportionately affect women, LGBTQ plus people, and minority groups.
It contributes to exclusion and limits their participation in public life.
The Netherlands, therefore stresses the importance of ensuring that AI and other technologies are developed in a gender transformative way so as to address the root causes of inequalities.
This requires investing in the appropriate regulations and measures to address the risks as well as the full equal and meaningful inclusion of women in all aspects of development and addressing gender gaps in the fields of STEM education and work.
Only then can these technologies help achieve gender equality.
Like others, we'd like to ask the working group, what measures should governments develop to ensure that AI and digital technologies do not reinforce inequalities, but rather advance women's rights and gender equality.
I thank you.
Hi.
Thank you.
Next, I give the floor to Republic of Moldova.
Thank you, Madam Vice President.
We thank the working group for its timely and insightful report.
Digital transformation and artificial intelligence present both opportunities and challenges for the promotion and protection of human rights of women and girls.
We agree that efforts are needed to ensure that AI contributes to eliminating discrimination against women and girls, including by bridging the digital divide, promoting AI literacy, and ensuring full, equal and meaningful participation of women in AI governance and decision making.
The Republic of Moldova is committed to promoting a human rights based approach to emerging digital technologies.
In this regard, Moldova has completed UNESCO's AI readiness assessment methodology.
Furthermore, Moldova is in the ratification process of the Council of Europe Framework Convention on Artificial Intelligence.
The National AI program for 2026 2030 currently under development aims to ensure the ethical, transparent, and safe development and use of AI systems while strengthening AI literacy through education.
At the same time, my country is addressing emerging digital risks.
The digital dimension of violence has been incorporated into the Criminal Code, thereby criminalizing digital violence.
The Republic of Moldova remains committed to ensuring that digital technologies and AI are developed and deployed in full respect of human rights and fundamental freedoms.
I thank you.
Thank you.
Next, I give the floor to Luxembourg.
Mercy, thank you.
Madam Vice President, Luxembourg would like to thank the working group for its report.
We share the observation that AI is deeply transforming societies, but it is also strengthening existing discrimination against girls and women by reproducing gender bias that already exist.
We need to bridge the digital gap, which is limiting access for women and girls to Internet and education and economic opportunities still.
Ensuring equal access to technologies is an essential condition for achieving true equality.
Luxembourg also underscores the importance of having AI governance that is human rights based and that fully incorporates the gender dimension and ensures women's participation in design and decision making.
We are particularly concerned by the adverse impact of AI on human rights in particular in terms of violence online against women and girls and surveillance and the risk of data privacy.
These issues affect girls and women in a disproportionate way.
Distinguish members of the working group Have you been able to enter into a dialogue with the major AI companies regarding their obligations on gender equality and human rights protection? Thank you.
B give the floor to Ireland.
Thank you, Vice President.
Ireland aligns with the EU statement and thanks the working group for their report.
Ireland echoes the working group's call to ensure that gender equality perspectives are integrated into discussions surrounding AI governance and development.
We are concerned by the report's findings that when designed and deployed without a gender responsive approach, AI tools can significantly hinder the full participation of women and girls in public life.
Particular, we note the threat that AI amplified smear campaigns and disinformation composed to the participation of women activists, civil society actors, journalists, and human rights defenders.
It is clear that while AI has the potential to advance the realization of women's and girls' rights, the current lack of meaningful implementation of AI regulations has exacerbated gender based harm.
Gender equality and promoting the participation of women and girls as part of a diverse, independent, and pluralistic civil society have been consistent priorities for Ireland.
We will continue to engage on this matter in relevant fora for the development of global standards for AI governance.
We are committed to working towards a future where the human rights and fundamental freedoms of all women and girls are upheld both online and offline.
Members of the working group, how can state support the private sector in ensuring that AI and digital technologies are designed and deployed in a manner that respects the rights of women and girls.
I thank you.
Thank you.
Next, I get the floor to Unicef.
Thank you, Madam Vice President.
Unicef welcomes the report of the working group.
Digital technologies are compounding entrenched patterns of discrimination with disproportionate impact on women and girls, particularly those facing intersecting forms of marginalization.
Unicef is deeply concerned by the rise in technology facilitated gender based violence, which significantly affects adolescent girls and risks limiting their participation, learning, and expression online.
New risks linked to generative AI are especially alarming, including the proliferation of AI generated child sexual abuse material and the so called deep fake sexual content.
AI chat bots represent a growing frontier of harm, frequently reproducing gender stereotypes and reinforcing unequal norms at a critical stage of children's development.
In this context and ahead of the global dialogue on AI governance, Unicef calls for a rights based approach that recognizes children as right holders in law, policy, and practice with explicit attention to gender equality and the risks affecting girls.
UNIC urges states and other stakeholders to center children's rights across design, deployment, and governance of AI, including participation and accountability.
This necessitates robust safeguards of children's data and clear prohibitions on AI systems that create sexual abuse material or deep fake sexual content, as well as targeted investment in digital literacy, particularly for girls and those at most at risk of exclusion.
UNICEF remains fully committed to supporting states and other partners in these efforts.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Next, I give the floor to Chile.
Thank you, Vice President.
Chile, thanks the working group for the report which looks at the impact of AI and new technologies on discrimination against women and girls.
The topic tackled is of particular significance, especially in a context where technological progress cannot ignore protection or exercise of human rights.
We would like to highlight the potential of new technologies for promoting women and girls rights.
Similarly, though, we agree about the benefits of expanding access to reliable and quality digital infrastructure.
This goal is consistent with Chile's efforts to foster the development and expansion of AI and digital technologies.
Chile shares the concern regarding the use of these technologies for acts of aggression, violence, or discrimination.
In this regard, we do acknowledge the importance of responsible design and deployment of these tools.
This requires joint action by all relevant stakeholders, both public and private.
In a context marked by an accelerated digital transformation, the development of public policies which in line with human rights and fostering access to new technologies bring safety and contribute to combating violence against women and girls in the digital realm.
Finally, Chile would like to reaffirm its full commitment to women and girls rights by promoting measures and actions aimed at promoting their autonomy and economic participation and ensuring their safety in the face of violence.
Mina thanks to the working group for its important work.
The report addresses one of the most consequential human rights questions arising from today's digital transformation.
As emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence become increasingly integrated into many aspects of our societies, their implications for the rights of women and girls require sustained attention from the human rights system.
Many of the issues highlighted in the report also resonate at the national level.
While women account for approximately one third of Armenia's ICT workforce exceeding the global average, we recognize that further efforts are needed to ensure their full and equal representation across the sector.
Our delegation further notes that the rights of women and girls in the context of digital technologies have been gaining increasing prominence within the council.
Last year, the first ever joint statement on this topic marked an important milestone in advancing this conversation.
Several multi step stakeholder discussions that Armenia together with the core group initiated also testified to the growing attention to these issues.
This reflects the recognition that the implications of digital technologies for women and girls go far beyond questions of access and participation and merits sustained consideration within the council's work.
That in mind, we look forward to advancing discussions at the 63rd session of the council through resolution on strengthening international cooperation for the promotion and Protection of the rights of women and girls in the context of digital technologies.
Armenia rems committed to advancing cs regional dialect cooperation on promotion and protection of the rights of women and girls in the context of digital technologies, and we believe the council is well placed to further deepen its engagement on this issue.
Thank you, Madam Vice President.
Hi, thank you.
Next, I give the floor to Malta.
Thank you, Madam Vice President.
Malta aligns itself with the statement by the EU and thanks to the working group for the report.
As we navigate this rapid technological transformation, we must ensure that emerging technologies create opportunities rather than deepen existing inequalities.
Given the global nature of AI development and deployment, collective action is essential to ensure effective regulation and oversight.
Any response should be firmly grounded in international human rights law and informed by gender responsive approaches.
Equal and meaningful access to digital technologies, along with investment in digital skills remains a prerequisite for ensuring that women and girls can fully benefit from technological innovation.
Artificial intelligence and emerging technologies must be inclusive by design, and women must have an equal role in developing the solutions that will shape tomorrow's world.
Malta expresses its concern on the rise of technology facilitated gender based violence and highlights the urgent need for strengthened legal frameworks.
Adré these harms is essential to safeguard women's participation in public and political life, including in digital spaces.
In this regard, Malta would like to ask the working group, what are the most urgent measures states should prioritize to address technology facilitated gender based violence.
I thank you.
Thank you.
Next, I give the floor to Aman.
Madam Vice President, we would like to thank the working group on the combating discrimination against women and girls for their attention to the AI impact on the rights of women and girls.
Access to education and public services are facilitated by modern technology, but this has to come with a necessary and meaningful safeguards to combat the stereotypes against women and girls in this respect, the sultnate of a man gives priority to comprehensive and inclusive digital technology and the participation of women and girls, particularly in the area of digital economy and in light of the Omai Vision 2030.
Programs to develop the digital skills for both sexes are also available in order to enable women and girls to make the best use of the opportunities offered by modern technologies.
We also underscore that responsible and ethical use of AI must be respected in line with human rights in order not to violate the privacy and dignity of humans.
In conclusion, we support the international efforts towards the global governance of AI that ensures the human rights of women and girls on equal footing.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Next, I give the floor to Dominican Republic.
Thank you very much, Vice President.
The Dominican Republic thanks the working group for this very valuable report.
We agree that the accelerated development of AI offers great opportunities for promoting gender equality, but it also raises challenges that require human rights based responses.
Therefore, we agree with the importance of bridging the digital divides that still limit access for many girls and women to technology.
We also need to strengthen their digital skills and promote their participation in science and technology and also in the design and development of AI systems.
Similarly, we believe it is essential that AI governance incorporate principles of transparency, accountability, and non discrimination.
We need to prevent algorithmic bias that can reproduce inequalities or restrict access for women and girls to employment, education, health care, and other fundamental rights.
In the Dominican Republic, these principles underpin our digital Agenda 2030.
We are convinced that technological innovation only makes sense when it broadens rights and generates opportunities for all.
Finally, we would affirm that international cooperation will be essential for shaping an ethical, inclusive and human centered artificial intelligence which will contribute to women and girls' empowerment and to sustainable development.
Many thanks.
Thank you.
Next, I give the floor to Kenya.
Madam Vice President, Kenya aligns itself with the statement delivered by the African group and thanks the working group for its report.
As artificial intelligence and related digital technologies become increasingly integrated into everyday life, it is essential that their development, deployment, and governance remain firmly grounded in human rights principles, including equality, non discrimination, and the protection of women and girls from all forms of violence.
Kenya notes with concern the growing use of artificial intelligence and digital technologies in ways that facilitate online abuse, harassment, and other forms of violence against women and girls.
This underscores the importance of ensuring that technology advancement is accompanied by appropriate safeguards, accountability, and effective protection mechanisms.
At the national level, Kenya continues to strengthen measures aimed at preventing and responding to gender based violence, including efforts to address emerging forms of online abuse and technology facilitated violence against women and girls.
Kenya therefore emphasizes the importance of strengthening cooperation safeguards and accountability to ensure that artificial intelligence contributes to equality, inclusion, and the empowerment of women and girls rather than reinforcing discrimination and violence.
I thank you.
Thank you.
Next, I give the floor to Slovakia.
Madam Vice President, Slovakia aligns itself with the statement delivered by the EU.
We welcome the report and thank the working group for its timely analysis of the impact of AI and related technologies on the rights of women and girls.
AI offers important opportunities in areas such as education, health care, and access to economic opportunities.
At the same time, these technologies can reinforce existing inequalities if not developed and used responsibly and inclusively.
We agree that efforts should focus on ensuring equal access to digital technologies, strengthening digital literacy, and supporting the meaningful participation of women and girls in digital sphere.
Attention should be paid to preventing technology facilitating gender based violence and addressing barriers that may limit the full enjoyment of women and girls.
Human rights online.
Slovakia supports approaches to AI governance that are consistent with international human rights obligations and that promotes transparency, accountability, and non discrimination.
We also undermine the importance of international cooperation and the exchange of good practices in addressing both the opportunities and challenges associated with emerging technologies.
In conclusion, let me reaffirm Slovakia's commitment to support gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls, including in the context of ongoing digital transformation.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Next, I give the floor to check you.
Madam Chair, distinguished members of the working group.
As the UN youth delegate of the Czech Republic, I particularly welcome the focus of your report.
AI holds real potential to advance gender equality across many areas, such as healthcare, education, economic empowerment, and civic participation.
However, that potential is not equally distributed.
Women and girls continue to face significant barriers to digital access, such as infrastructure gaps, high costs, limited digital literacy, and restrictive social norms.
According to the ITU, as of 2025, there were 280 million more men than women using the Internet globally.
In the least developed countries, the gender gap is actually still widening.
Women and girls cannot fully enjoy their human rights in a digital environment that systematically excludes them.
The decisions made today about how AI is regulated, who designs it, and whose values it reflects will have lasting consequences.
Yet women hold only 22% of AI specific positions globally, and just 12% of AI researchers are women according to UNSCO.
When those who build and regulate AI do not reflect the diversity of those affected by it, discrimination may become structurally embedded.
Without deliberate effort, AI risks becoming yet another axis along which inequalities and gender stereotypes deepen.
Distinguished members, how can the working groups recommendations help mobilize resources and political commitment to bridge the digital gender gap and to ensure women's meaningful participation in AI governance? Thank you.
Thank you.
Next, I give the floor to Guatemala.
Thank you very much, Madam Vice President, Guatemala, I would like to welcome the report by the working group and we support their efforts for seeking solutions in order to address artificial intelligence and discrimination against women and girls, which continues to be a very widespread and persistent form of behavior.
The technological transformation affecting our societies has no precedent.
AI is constantly redefining the ways in which we learn, communicate, work, and evolve within society.
It provides tools and benefits, but also challenges in terms of human rights.
As the working group pointed out, AI has the potential to promote gender equality and to contribute to overcoming historic inequalities.
However, it can also reproduce and magnify existing discrimination if it is developed without a human rights based approach.
Therefore, we are concerned that the use of AI in armed conflict and mass surveillance systems could have extremely adverse consequences for girls and women who tend to face differentiated risks in context of violence and discrimination.
We believe it is essential to take steps in order to strengthen AI regulation and guarantee accountability of businesses and technological stakeholders, as well as promoting the direct involvement of women in the design, development, and oversight of these technologies.
Vice President, we do regret that this year the working group will not carry out a country visit.
We hope very much that the visit will take place as soon as possible and we'd like to reiterate Guatemala's government's full readiness to continue operating.
Thank you.
Thank you very much.
This was the last speaker we could accommodate for this meeting.
The interactive dialogue with the working group on discrimination against women and girls will continue tomorrow morning.
We will now take a short break before holding the annual full day discussion on the human rights of women.
Let us use this short break to mark the International Day of women in Diplomacy by taking a group photo.
I ask everybody to come forward towards the podium to take a common picture.
I Could I kindly request and ask you kindly to join your seats and take a seat, please.
So that we could start with a second panel of the annual full day discussion on the Human Rights on women, which has mandated in Human Rights Council resolutions six slash 30 and 55 slash 15.
The theme of this afternoon's panel will be commemoration of the International Day of Women and Diplomacy, focusing on women's rights to work and representation in decision making.
This debate is accessible to persons with disabilities through the provision of International sign interpretation and real time captioning, together with other accessibility measures.
I encourage those who may need reasonable accommodation to inform the Secretariat if they haven't done so already.
It is my absolute honor to welcome miss Peggy Hicks, Director of thematic and Special Procedures Divisions, at the High Commissioner for Human Rights, who will deliver the opening statement.
I have also the honor to welcome Sophia Calthor Director of H and Women Geneva and the Chief of Humanitarian Action, who will deliver an opening statement.
Let me also welcome our distinguished panelists.
Miss y King, Chief of the Gender Equality Diversity and Inclusion Branch at International Labor Organization.
Miss Wafa Azri, Secretary-General at the Ministry of Employment of Morocco, and Her Excellency, miss Caroline Ziadeh, permanent representative of Lebanon to the United Nations Office at Geneva and Gender focal point appointed by the president of the Human Rights Council.
Excellency, dear participants.
The list of speakers for this debate will close in 15 minutes and I encourage all speakers to intervene in an interactive way, present comments, and ask questions that reflect the panelists interactions and the discussion.
The speaking time limit is 1 minute and 30 seconds for all and a maximum of 40 speakers will be accommodated.
Delegates inscribed on the list of speakers who cannot take the floor because of time constraints can upload their statements to the online system to be posted on the extranet.
And without further ado, I will now give the floor to miss Peggy Hicks.
Thank you very much, Ambassador.
Excellencies, colleagues, friends, women in red.
Today on the International Day of Women and Diplomacy, we do more than celebrate the role of women in diplomacy.
We ask a harder question.
Why are so many women still missing from the spaces where decisions are made? Diplomacy shapes the world from peace and security to development, climate action, technology, migration, and justice.
When women are absent or underrepresented in policy making and diplomacy, the world is negotiating with only half of its talent and half of its vision.
The numbers are stark.
Only 15% of the countries have women serving as heads of state or government.
Women make up 22% of cabinet ministers globally, 22% of ambassadors, and just 18% of foreign ministers.
Of course, in our own UN Security Council, I understand the total now is four women versus 11 men.
Women's political leadership in executive positions is not merely stagning, it is in some areas regressing.
But exclusion, of course, starts much earlier.
Only 48% of women participate in the formal labor market compared with 73% of men.
Women still earn about 23% less and carry over three quarters of unpaid care and support work globally.
Care responsibilities alone keep 708 million women out of the formal labor force and the informal sector work fails to deliver not only pay, but pension and other benefits.
The pathway to leadership and decision making is shaped and constrained by systemic barriers, unequal access to decent work, unpaid care and support responsibilities as noted, discrimination, glass ceilings and occupational segregation.
Informal and precarious work without social protection, stereotypes, and harassment and violence in the workplace.
That last barrier is especially corrosive, violence and harassment at work.
Women are almost twice as likely as men to experience sexual violence and harassment at work with heightened risks for young and migrant women.
This abuse does more than harm individuals.
It drives women out, it silences voices, and it narrows debates and weakens institutions.
We must also ask which women are missing the most.
Women are not all positioned equally in relation to power.
Some have access to resources, mobility, education, networks, and security.
Many, indeed, most women face multiple intersecting obstacles to engaging in the workforce and in decision making.
These include numerous categories comprised of millions of women, women living in poverty, racialized and indigenous women, women with disabilities, migrant and refugee women, rural women, older women, LGBTQ plus women, women in informal work, and of course, many women fall into multiple of those categories.
And these barriers do not affect all women in the same way.
Privilege can soften them and discrimination can multiply them.
For some women, the staircase to leadership is difficult.
For others, it's broken, and for many, it's not there at all.
OHCHR is working to address these obstacles.
In Tanzania, for example, together with the ILO and the Tanzanian Labor College, we are supporting domestic workers to exercise their rights, including strengthening their participation and peer leadership and enhancing labor officials capacity to respond.
The result is powerful, women workers with the knowledge and ability to lead and make their voices heard.
This example carries a simple message.
Diplomacy does not begin at the negotiating table.
It begins in the workplace.
It begins with decent and safe work, care and support systems, social protection, equal pay, justice, and institutions that value women's leadership long before a title is attached to it.
As CETA General recommendation number 40 makes clear, gender parity must be a permanent feature of governance, not a temporary aspiration, and it must be intersectional.
If diplomacy is to serve all people, it cannot be shaped only by those who have already had access to power.
It must reflect the realities, knowledge, and leadership of women in all their diversity.
Advancing women and diplomacy requires transforming the whole pathway to leadership.
Recruitment, retention, promotion, care and support, protection from violence, access to justice, and temporary special measures where needed.
Part of the reason women remain underrepresented in positions of power is not a lack of competence or commitment, but persistent bias and a gap of trust.
Research shows that even today, a significant share of people still believe men simply make better leaders and that deeply rooted stereotypes continue to shape how leadership is judged and valued.
We must be honest with ourselves.
Dismantling legal barriers while essential is not enough.
The most elusive challenge lies in confronting the ingrained attitudes and biases that quietly but powerfully influence choices at the ballot box and beyond.
Gender bias, often implicit, often unspoken, continues to define expectations of what a leader should look like, not properly dressed in red, and how a leader should act.
Changing laws can be achieved through policy.
Changing mindsets requires sustained effort, education and collective reflection.
This transformation will not happen by default.
It demands deliberate action to shift perceptions, to challenge stereotypes, and to ensure that women are not only allowed to lead but trusted to lead and to deliver for the benefit of all.
Today, we honor the women who have negotiated, mediated, represented, and led, often against the odds, but honoring them is not enough.
Our call today should be direct.
Do not open the door at the top while leaving the staircase broken and do not celebrate the few who enter while ignoring the many still kept outside.
We must go further by changing the systems and attitudes that stacked the deck against women.
When women can lead and work in equality, dignity, and safety, they can lead.
When women lead, diplomacy becomes more representative, more credible, and more effective.
And when diplomacy will finally reflect the whole of society, it will be better equipped to serve the whole of humanity.
Thank you.
Thank you very much for his words.
I now give the floor to miss Sophia Kalthorp.
Thank you very much, Madam Chair, Excellencies.
It is a true pleasure to join you here today in commemorating the International Day of Women in Diplomacy.
We meet amid deepening interconnected crises, strain multilateralism, escalating conflicts, and the coordinated backlash against gender equality that seeks to silence women, restrict their participation, and deter their leadership.
For too long, women's leadership has been reduced to numbers, to a seat at the table or a metric to report.
Transformative leadership requires more.
It requires reshaping institutions, dismantling discriminatory laws, and placing gender equality at the center of diplomacy.
This depends on whether women can enter and advance through diplomatic pipeline on work free from discrimination, violence, and harassment, on access to social protection, and to balance paid work with care responsibilities, conditions that shape their economic security, leadership, and influence in public life.
As we heard, we have a clear legal imperative for action.
Article 8 of the CEO Convention requires state parties to ensure that women have the opportunity on equal terms with men and without discrimination to represent the governments at the international level and to participate in the work of international organizations.
While progress is being made in some areas, UN Women's recent policy paper on women in the Diplomatic Corps shows persistent gaps.
Our research shows patriarchal norms still shape diplomacy.
Women continue to fall out before reaching senior ranks and weak data limits our ability to track change.
For example, less than 24% of state parties reports include data on women in foreign services, often without the data needed to assess inequalities and career progression.
Among 93 countries with public sector gender quotas, operational guidelines is often absent for foreign services.
Even where entry level quotas reached 66%, women's representation declines at senior ranks.
Today, I look very much forward to hearing about your national efforts to close existing gaps, how you map where women fall out of the diplomatic pipeline, how you advance parity as a condition for legitimacy in global governance, and how you protect civic space to ensure women's rights organizations meaningfully engage in multilateral diplomacy.
And having started my own career as a very junior mission here in Geneva some 25 years ago, I know from personal experience how much those efforts count to make sure that women are not only at the table, but that they truly shape our joint multilateral efforts.
I would like to thank all of you for being here and for all the efforts that you do.
Together, we can do more.
They are great examples out there on how we can advance this agenda.
A UN women, we remain committed to support you in every step of the way.
Thank you very much.
Thank you very much for your remarks.
I will now give the floor to the panelists for their initial presentations.
First, I have the honor to give the floor to miss Shia King.
Thank you very much, Madam Chair.
Your Excellency's distinguished delegates, dear colleagues.
Happy International Day of Women and Diplomacy.
The International Labor Organization is delighted to partner in celebrating this important day and warmly welcomes the theme of this year's commemoration.
It really does underscore the fundamental role that women's access to decent work, safe and healthy working environments, and equal opportunities for career choice and advancement play in enabling their full, equal and meaningful participation in public life, in leadership, and in decision making at all levels, including at the highest levels.
Today is indeed a day to celebrate the contributions that women make to diplomacy.
We know from solid evidence that when women are involved, economic and social development agendas are more inclusive and sustainable and that feminist foreign policies champion gender equality, human rights, and solutions for and systemic investments in peace.
But today is also a time to reflect on the challenges, on the work still to be done.
Despite all the positive evidence, there remains a mismatch between the number of women in the diplomatic corps and women senior diplomats, as you've just heard.
Some 80% of ambassadorships are indeed still held by men.
Beyond that, persistent gaps remain across fields of employment, including in remuneration and access to leadership and decision making positions.
So let me add to the statistics that you've already heard.
In many countries, up to 85% of women are in the informal economy or otherwise in insecure employment without adequate labor or social protection.
We know that women remain overrepresented among the working poor and those living in extreme poverty.
Alarmingly, for our futures, more than 27% of young women are not in employment, education or training.
This compares to 7.9% for young men.
But despite the seemingly dire challenges, there are reasons for optimism.
Women are not passive actors, but active agents in shaping their own stories.
Take the story of a group of indigenous women working in the male dominated constructive industry in Bolivia.
Many had low levels of education, they earned low incomes, and some 25% were single mothers.
They faced sexism, violence, and harassment, unequal pay.
Working with the ILO, the women formed their own association to demand equal opportunities, fair treatment, and to advocate for new legislation.
They did this with success.
Through their own leadership and collective voice, they saw improvements in their working conditions, in their pay, in their health and safety at work, and in their dignity at work.
The adoption of ILO Convention 190 on violence and harassment is itself a story of women's leadership.
In trade unions, grassroot organizations, and across movements, women came together to demand an end to violence and harassment in the world of work, for workers in the informal economy, in factories, in agriculture, in offices, in boardrooms, in parliaments, for interns, for apprentices, for job seekers, for all workers everywhere.
That convention is now ratified by 56 countries and the number is growing.
International labor standards do play a critical role in advancing gender equality in the world of work.
They provide an essential foundation for removing structural barriers to women's opportunities to earn a decent living and to exercise autonomy and independence.
And the necessary political will to advance gender equality can also be found as we witnessed at the ILO just a few weeks ago.
The resolution concerning the ILO Transformative Agenda for gender equality in the world of work, which was adopted at the 114th session of the International Labor Conference reflects a renewed triparte commitment to advancing substantive equality in the world of work.
It presents a clear, forward looking and strategic roadmap for dismantling the structural barriers that continue to hold women back at work.
The resolution sends a very clear message achieving gender equality in the world of work is both a matter of rights and justice and a prerequisite for inclusive and sustainable development.
It confirms that achieving substantive equality requires coherent evidence based action across a broad range of policy areas, bringing together equality and nondiscrimination laws and frameworks, economic and labor market policies, social protection systems, coherent care policies and quality care services, skills and lifelong learning strategies, gender responsive occupational safety and health, alongside measures to strengthen institutional capacity and enforcement mechanism.
It calls for better recognition, measurement, and valuation of both paid and unpaid care work in formal employment and other often overlooked forms of economic activity to really help uncover the structural drivers of gender inequality and support more targeted and effective interventions.
It recognizes the essential role of social dialogue between governments, employers and workers as a tool for building consensus, preventing conflict, promoting social justice, and strengthening peace and stability.
Indeed, employers and workers organizations have stepped up their efforts to increase women's representation within their own organizations, acknowledging that when this happens, social dialogue generates transformative change for gender equality.
So as we commemorate the International Day of Women in Diplomacy, let's recognize that women's participation and leadership in diplomacy, public administration, and multilateral institutions do not emerge in isolation.
They're shaped by the opportunities, rights, and conditions that women experience throughout their education and their working lives.
Advancing gender equality in the world of work and advancing women's leadership and diplomacy are mutual goals.
Together, they're indispensable to building more inclusive, representative, and effective institutions capable of responding to global, regional, national and local challenges.
This is more so as we navigate present and emerging risks relating to climate, increasing conflicts, technology, and demography.
We need more women in diplomacy and we also pay tribute to those placing the trail.
Your leadership, perspectives, and influence are essential to a better future for all, and the IOO looks forward to working closely with all of you towards this goal.
Thank you very much.
Thank you very much.
I have the honor now to give the floor to miss Safa Asri Maxim Madam President.
Thank you, Madam President, Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, I'd like to begin by sincerely thanking the Office of High Commissioner of Human Rights for the invitation to take part in this panel on women's right to decent work and access to decision making.
This question, which is at the heart of human rights is also a major economic development issue and one of social cohesion and modernization of states.
I remain convinced that the level of development of a society translates into its ability to ensure that women can fully enjoy their rights.
Ensuring that access to decent work is therefore a key lever in order to promote inclusive growth and build more equitable, resilient, and prosperous societies.
In Morocco, the promotion of women's rights is a national priority that is incorporated into the project for the development and modernization of our country, spearheaded by His Majesty, King Mohammed.
For several years, ambitious reforms have been undertaken in order to strengthen equal opportunities and women's participation, economic, and public life.
The international level, Morocco has constantly reaffirmed its commitment for the promotion of women's rights by acceding to the main international instruments in this field, in particular, the Convention on the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women, and we are also committed to implementing Agenda 2030 and the sustainable development goals.
At the national level, the reform process has been structured around two complementary pillars.
First of all, legal and institutional one which seeks to adapt our legislative framework in order to bring it into line with treaty provisions and international commitments, and secondly, a societal pillar, which is more about building a long term dynamic in order to ensure ongoing mobilization of all stakeholders to bring about lasting and effective change.
Ladies and gentlemen, allow me to present some of our steps forward.
Among the main steps forward is the fact that equality between men and women has been enshrined at the constitutional level.
We have also strengthened our legislative framework, prohibiting gender based discrimination in several areas, including at the workplace and also developing monitoring and oversight mechanisms to ensure better implementation of women's rights.
Morocco has also deployed major public policies for equality built around our government plan CRAM.
This framework is built on three main axes.
First of all, economic empowerment for women, this fight against violence, culture, and equality.
In order to gauge progress, we have established a national committee and a women's Observatory.
We have taken specific measures which are already transforming the reality on the ground.
In terms of vocational training, we have developed a framework for values in terms of gender equality and self diagnosis tools for vocational training establishments.
In terms of employment, we have a 2025 roadmap which lifts any restrictions on women's activities while developing a childcare and rural mobility measures.
At the social level, we have a dynamic social dialogue underway which has allowed for specific progress on working conditions, in particular in areas where there is a lot of women's labor, the textile and healthcare and education sectors.
Also thanks to the generalization of social protection, which is a true safety or security net for the most vulnerable women.
Finally, we have also revised the family code.
This is a new era for equity and the rights of the child.
Today, these offits are um yielding the fruit.
Women are breaking through glass ceilings in politics, diplomacy, justice, university, administration, territorial collectivities, and businesses.
Ladies and gentlemen, the growing presence of women in decision making spheres cannot be boiled down to mere statistics.
It a reflects a profound revolution in mindsets and practices.
It is a recognition of women's leadership and their skills for the benefit of a more competitive and better governed Morocco.
However, challenges do remain the effectiveness of rights implementation as well as women's exposure to moral or professional harassment, the persistence of certain social and cultural stereotypes, and reconciling work and private life.
Many figures are very telling.
Women occupy only 15.7% of executive positions, 13% of Secretary-General positions, and less than 19% of general inspector roles.
Another worrying statistic is their employment rate, which remains abnormally low compared to that of men and unemployment affects women more than men.
In the face of this, our priorities are clear.
We need to implement laws with zero tolerance against discrimination.
We also need to ensure that there is a work life balance.
We need to promote women's leadership through mentorship and access to responsibilities.
Ladies and gentlemen, women's full participation in economic life and decision making is both a requirement of justice and an essential tool for development, competitiveness, and social cohesion.
Promotion of occupational equality is not just a feminine matter or a matter of responsibility that befalls to the state alone.
It is a matter of collective and shared responsibility that requires all stakeholders in society to be engaged.
In an ever more interconnected world, this goal would benefit from greater cooperation between states and international organizations.
Sharing of experiences and best practices and innovative mechanisms are valuable measures for speeding up progress, rising to challenges and promoting at the global level effective gender equality.
I thank you.
Thank you very much.
I have now the honor to give the floor to Her Excellency, miss Caroline Ziadeh, please, you have the floor.
Thank you, Madam Vice President and thank you for including me in this panel.
I was entrusted with the possibility of sharing a personal journey.
Bear with me because it's a very humbling experience.
Three decades ago, when women entered the diplomatic service, they were fully aware that they entering a man's world.
Women were the only female voice in the room and our mere presence there challenged deeply rooted assumptions about who could represent the country, lead negotiations, or shape international policy.
In my case, we were only two women joining the ministry.
The journey was rarely easy.
Like many women diplomat and, I see many in the room, Here and around the world, I often found myself having to prove my competence again and again, overcoming doubts, stereotype, and expectations that had little to do with merit.
As my career progressed, however, I realized that these experiences were not unique to Lebanon or the Arab world.
Whether in Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, or the Arab countries, I heard remarkably similar stories.
Different languages, different cultures, but the same questions whispered in corridors and meeting rooms.
Can she lead? Does she belong here? Can she balance family and responsibilities, different contexts, yet the same barriers, and yet the same determination to continue moving forward.
Throughout my career, privilege and the responsibility of being the first woman to hold several positions.
I became the first woman to lead Lebanon's mission in New York and later the first woman to lead a UN mission abroad.
Being the first is an honor, but it is also a responsibility.
You know that your success may open doors for others while your failure may be unfairly generalized to all women.
Every achievement becomes larger than yourself.
My hope has always been very simple because after the first woman, there's always a second and the third.
Then we move from a rarity to normalcy.
My diplomatic journey, like that of many women, has been marked by moments of hope and moments of crisis.
One of the most memorable was witnessing the adoption of Security Council resolution 1701 in 2006.
That resolution brought an end to the Israeli attacks against Lebanon.
The session was presided over by a woman Minister of Foreign Affairs.
I still remember the pride, confidence, and sense of possibility that filled the room at that moment when she spoke.
It was a powerful reminder that leadership is not defined by gender, but that the presence of women in leadership changes what others believe is possible.
I have also witnessed reconstruction, economic collapse, political turmoil, and war.
Through every challenge, one lesson has remained constant.
When women are included in decision making, institutions are stronger, societies are more resilient, and peace is more sustainable.
Today, we can and should celebrate progress.
You heard the figures by the colleagues, but yet the progress is not a victory.
Too many women still face invisible barriers to advancement.
Too many leadership tables remain unbalanced.
Too many talented young women still question whether their aspirations will be limited by expectation that has nothing to do with their abilities.
Believe it or not, too many successful women are subjected to online bullying and harassment.
This is why our responsibility is not only to recognize progress, but to accelerate it.
We must build institutions where talent is recognized regardless of gender.
We must create mentorship networks so that no young woman feels she must navigate her journey alone.
We must ensure women's full and meaningful participation in diplomacy, peace building, and decision making, and we must create places where both women and men can reconcile professional responsibilities with family life without penalty or prejudice.
Most importantly, we should never underestimate the power of representation.
When women lead, it project perspective and hope and new horizon for young people.
As someone who has spent more than 30 years in diplomacy, I am encouraged by how far we have come, but I'm even more motivated by how far we still have to go.
Let us ensure that the next generation of woman diplomat does not have to spend its energy proving that it belongs because you do.
Let us ensure that their energy is devoted instead to solving conflicts, building peace, strengthening cooperation, and addressing the profound challenges facing our world.
The story of women in diplomacy is not simply a story of women.
It is a story of stronger institutions, better decision, and more inclusive societies.
Equality is not achieved in a single moment or by a single generation.
It is built day by day through policies, opportunities, and the determination of women and men working together for change.
Inspired by the World Cup.
We have a goal to score.
Our goal is not merely to increase the number of women in diplomacy.
Our goal is to ensure that every woman who entered this profession can contribute fully, lead confidently, and be judged solely on her ability.
Our goal is dignity and representation, excellence in service, and sustainability in building our future.
If we will manage to do that, this will be our golden goal.
I thank you, Madam Vice President.
Thank you very much for these powerful remarks.
Excellency participants, we will now proceed with the first segment of the list of speakers.
All interventions from the floor are limited to 1 minute and 30 seconds.
The list of speakers is also closed.
I give the floor first to Her Excellency miss Vilma Premti, Deputy Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs of Albania for a video statement.
Madam President, excellences, distinguished panelists.
Albania is proud to commemorate the International Day of women in diplomacy.
For us, this day is a crucial reminder that the right to work is the foundation of women's empowerment.
When women are denied decent work and safe environments, their participation in decision making is systematically limited.
Albania welcomes this panel's focus on the barriers, including gender based violence and unpaid care work, which we must dismantle to achieve through equality.
In Albania.
Women play a key role in advancing our foreign policy interests.
I'm proud to note that 54.9% of the staff of the Ministry of Europe and foreign affairs are women.
We have also seen encouraging progress in leadership with women representing 35 of leadership roles and the increasing number of female ambassadors serving around the world.
Their contribution goes beyond representation.
Through their dedication and expertise, they have helped Albania further enhance its position on the international stage of advancing gender equality and the protection of the rights of women and girls.
Investing in the humans leadership.
It's not just about fairness.
It's a strategic necessity for more effective decision making.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Next, I have the honor to give the floor to Her Excellency, miss Ana Alonso Giganto, ambassador at large for Feminist Foreign Policy of Spain.
Thank you, Madam Vice President.
On this International Day of women in Diplomacy, I would like to start by recalling the contribution of women who are diplomats, mediators, peace builders, human rights defenders and representatives of civil society around the world.
Their work reminds us that the participation of women in diplomacy is not just a matter of equality or representation.
It is also a matter of efficiency and effectiveness.
I would like, therefore to send a message from this room to women who are candidates for the Secretary-General position of the United Nations.
The time has come after 80 years for a women to lead the multilateral organization Par Excellence.
In a global context marked by conflicts, polarization, uncertainty, and alarming setbacks in women's rights and gender equality, we need more than ever before, to strengthen the values and institutions that sustain our societies.
For Spain, promoting gender equality is not something that can be separated from peace, democracy or sustainable development.
It is an indispensable condition for achieving those goals.
It is this spirit which fueled the holding of the fifth Ministerial Conference of our feminist foreign policy, which was recently held in Madrid.
We would like to renew our commitment to women's full and effective participation in all decision making fora.
Thank you very much.
Thank you.
Next, I give the floor to the European Union.
Vice President, the right to work is a human right and a prerequisite for women's full equal and meaningful participation in decision making.
In this regard, the EU supports women's full equal participation in all of their diversity in all spheres of public and political life.
But women continue to face persistent barriers in assessing decent work and advancing into leadership positions in public administration, especially when faced with multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination.
The EU is committed to addressing these barriers.
Through the Commission's gender equality Strategy and gender action plan.
We also are conscious of the structural inequalities in the world of work, including through measures to strengthen pay, transparency, improve work life balance, and promote gender balanced leadership.
We remain committed to advancing gender parity within the EU institutions.
Let me say that literally, um, a few minutes ago, we have our new Secretary-General Kasia Ogren, who actually is our ESR for Human Rights appointed as Secretary-General, and she follows, of course, from our High Representative Kaks.
But progress requires addressing the root causes of inequality, including the unequal distribution of unpaid care work, discriminatory social norms, and gender stereotypes, which continue to limit opportunities for many women and girls.
Vice President, could you share the most effective measures to increase women representation in leadership and decision making, particularly in diplomacy and international organizations.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Next, I give the floor to Sweden on behalf of a group of countries.
Thank you, Vice President.
I delivered this statement on behalf of the Nordic Baltic countries.
The International Day of Women and Diplomacy underscores that sustainable peace requires women's full, equal and meaningful participation at all levels of decision making.
Despite existing frameworks, progress remains uneven and systemic barriers continue to constrain women's leadership in peace and security processes.
Our international human rights commitments provide a solid foundation for inclusive governance based on equality, accountability, and participation.
They reinforce the implementation of the women peace and security agenda by affirming that durable, long lasting peace depends on women's substantive involvement.
We must keep up our efforts to ensure women's and girls full enjoyment of human rights.
Unfortunately, we are witnessing unacceptable attempts to undermine gender equality, as well as shrinking civic space with an alarming increase of threats, both online and offline against women, human rights defenders and peace builders.
Addressing these challenges requires strengthened protection and ensured participation of women with real influence and decision making power across all stages of conflict resolution and peace building.
Esteemed panelists, what good practices have proven effective in increasing women's representation and influence in diplomatic services and negotiations? I thank you.
Thank you.
Next, I give the floor to Philippines on behalf of Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
Thank you, Chair.
Gender Equality and women's empowerment is at the heart of Asean community building.
Over five decades, we have expanded women's opportunities for full and equal participation in our region's life.
Yet, significant gaps remain, and closing them is our priority.
Through the Asean Community Vision 2045, we have set a new course towards an inclusive community where women lead, contribute to, and benefit from Asean community building.
We aspire for a caring community where women and girls are protected from discrimination and violence and where unpaid care work is recognized, valued, and equitably shared.
Asean is redoubling efforts to promote inclusive, participatory, and representative decision making at all levels.
We are fostering an enabling environment for women and girls to exercise leadership in all spheres, including in peace and security.
We are developing gender responsive and sustainable care systems that support women's economic empowerment, promote shared responsibilities, enable women to fully participate and equally in the economy.
We hope to adopt this year the Asean Declaration on the transformative implementation of the Asean Committee Vision 2045 and a strategic plan towards gender equality.
This will help us translate commitment into transformative actions to advance substantive equality and the empowerment of all women and girls across the Asean region.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Next, I give the floor to Bahrain on behalf of Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf.
State of the East.
Madam Vice President, the GCC countries welcomes this panel discussion on the occasion of the International Day of Women and Diplomacy, highlighting the close link between the right right to women to work and the effective participation in decision making and leadership.
We reaffirm that the empowerment of women is an important pillar for sustainable development must be pivotal elements in the national strategies and visions aimed at realizing competitive economies and flourishing societies based on investment in persons.
In the GCC countries have seen qualitative developments in the area of women's education and women's economic and professional empowerment.
This has translated into rising rates of women's participation in the labor market and a rise in their accession to decision making positions.
In this respect, we believe that creating safe and supportive work environment for women and building their capacity, the international efforts to promote the role of women in all spheres.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Next, I give the floor to Sudan on behalf of Group of Arab states.
Thank you, Madam Vice President.
It gives me a pleasure to deliver this statement on behalf of the Arab group.
As we celebrate the International Day of women in the diplomacy this year, we would like to express our deepest concern over the challenges faced by women, particularly in the context of armed conflicts.
Women and girls pay the highest price in terms of the loss of lives because of the weak protection systems the Arab groups are in peace building and realizing development.
The, the Arab states have made remarkable progress in increasing the presence of women in political life, which was translated in the rise of women's participation in decision making and leadership positions.
They have also had a larger share in legislative councils in this respect.
Efforts must be continued to eliminate the social and economic barriers faced by women so as to they can fully participate in political and economic lives.
The Arab Group is committed to realizing all efforts to improve women's participation in politics, peace building, development, and the United Nations Organizations and other multilateral fora.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Next, I give the floor to Luxembourg on behalf of a group of countries.
Thank you, Madam Vice President.
I have the honor to speak on behalf of the Benelux countries, Belgium, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, and my own country, Luxembourg.
Achieving gender equality and realizing the human rights of all women and girls is a national priority of our three countries.
The right to work is of paramount importance to attain that goal as it is closely linked to women's ability to enter, remain in and influence decision making processes at all levels.
Yet, despite numerous international commitments, women still participate significantly less than men in the global workforce and are disproportionately concentrated in informal, precarious, and low paid work.
We must do better.
This begins by acknowledging and dismantling the systemic patriarchal structures and gender stereotypes limiting women's access to the job market.
As we celebrate today, the International Day of Women in Diplomacy, we would like to emphasize that change must begin here within our own institutions.
We must lead by example.
As of now, less than one quarter of ambassadors and permanent representatives are women.
Let us all remember that women's full, equal and meaningful participation in decision making processes is not only a goal in its own right, it is essential to achieve sustainable outcomes.
I thank you.
Thank you.
Next, I give the floor to Guyana on behalf of Aga countries.
Thank you, Madam Vice President.
I have the honor to deliver this statement on behalf of the member states represented in this session by beneficiaries of the trust fund for least developed countries and small island developing states.
It is noteworthy that off of the eight beneficiaries, six are women.
For LDCs and CTs, women's participation in diplomacy is particularly important as inclusive representation strengthens our engagement in international decision making and multilateral processes.
Women now occupy many prominent roles in diplomatic missions and international organizations, and this is commendable.
Despite the progress made, UN women reported this year that women account for only 22.5% of ambassadorial roles globally.
Many women continue to face structural barriers at work, including unequal opportunities for advancement and insufficient support mechanisms.
We therefore call on all states to eliminate barriers to women's leadership and diplomacy.
It is necessary to ensure that women on equal terms with men can represent their governments at the international level and participate in the work of international organizations.
We commend women's involvement and leadership in diplomacy, which enhances negotiation processes, broadens perspectives, and influences creative and sustainable outcomes.
Women in diplomacy today are inspiring generations to think boldly, leverage their unique experiences, and to create solutions to global challenges.
We applaud states that have achieved gender parity and encourage the international community to intensify its efforts to support women in diplomacy.
Thank you.
Hi, thank you.
Next, I give the floor to Albania on behalf of Comb de Franco.
Madam Vice President.
The Francofne Ambassadors group is delighted to greet this annual discussion.
The rights of all women and girls are at the heart of the international agenda and represent priority cornerstones for action by the Francophone group, we reaffirm rigorously the universal principles of equality and non discrimination as key values.
In order to obtain this, the Francophone space is reading its actions in concrete experience and commitments which go back some time guided by the Luxembourg Declaration of 2000 and the strategy of the promotion of equality of women and men in 2018, as well as the Kaag Agreement, 2025.
At the international level, francophone countries are sparing no effort to remove systemic barriers to equality.
Independence of women in all of their diversity, for full participation on equal basis in public life and political and economic spheres as well as in peace process and multilateral diplomacy are key to our actions.
They are essential to the quality of institutional decisions as well as the stability of societies and sustainable development.
Nonetheless, we must ensure that all women have equal access to decent work as well as safe and productive employment.
We call for all states to transform their legal promises into concrete realities and to implement General Comment number 40 by CDO.
Thank you very much.
Next, I give the floor to Dominican Republic on behalf of a group of countries.
Thank you very much, Vice President.
This statement is being made on behalf of a group of states and the extended version is on the extranet.
We recognize that we have made significant progress in promoting women's rights.
Nonetheless, we still see inequality which are profoundly connected to the unequal distribution of care responsibilities, support tasks and care tasks as well as non remunerated domestic work.
Women continue to shoulder a disproportionate proportion of care work, which is unpaid or insufficiently paid, both directly and indirectly, including care for children, older people, those with disabilities, and dependent family members.
This distribution, which is unequal affects the ability of women to participate fully in economic, political, public, and social life as well as to enjoy their human rights and fundamental freedoms on an equal footing in that context, the promotion of shared responsibilities in the area of care and support between states, the private sector, communities and families, including pursuant to the promotion of shared parental responsibility and equitable distribution of responsibilities will significantly contribute to progress with gender equality and the elimination of discrimination against women.
We urge all to continue dialogue and international cooperation on policies which might strengthen care and support systems, promoting shared responsibility and tasks and contributing to progressing with gender equality to the benefit of all.
Thank you very much, Vice President.
Thank you.
Next, I give the floor to Kenya on behalf of Group of African states.
Madam Vice President, I have the honor to deliver this statement on behalf of the African group.
The group welcomes this discussion and thanks the panelists for the quality of their contributions.
This discussion comes at a time when African women are increasingly represented in diplomacy.
In this regard, we welcome the appointment of the Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights.
Despite these significant advances, The Africa group remains concerned about the persistent obstacles in Africa to women's access to decent work and their representation in decision making bodies.
Indeed, despite the progress achieved since the adoption of the Maputo protocol, the majority of women in most countries on the continent are unemployed and those who are employed are often underpaid and victims of stereotypes, prejudice, and harmful practices.
Strengthen its response to these obstacles, the African Union adopted the strategy for gender equality and women's empowerment 2018 to 2028 and the African Union Convention to the end violence against women and girls in February 2025.
This legal instruments specifically commit states to eliminate violence against women in the workplace by creating a safe and supportive work environment, to protect them in the formal and informal economies as well as in cyberspace and to promote their fair representation in leadership positions.
I thank you.
Hi, thank you.
Next, I give the floor to UN woman on behalf of a group of UN agencies.
Madam Vice President, ITU, UNA, UNDP, UNFPA, UREST and UN Women welcome the panel discussion and recall Article 8 of CETA, which through state obligations guarantees women equal opportunities to represent their governments internationally and participate in the affairs of international organizations.
Yet today, women remain underrepresented in global governance as structural barriers continue to deny multilateralism the expertise of half the world's population.
Women's participation in public life at all levels must be cultivated, funded, and protected.
Progress at the national level provides the foundation and legitimacy for attaining parity in global governance.
Where investments in the diplomatic pipeline are gender responsive, systemic change follows.
In this regard, we urge member states to fulfill their obligations under Article 8 of CETA and recommend the following.
Dismantle structural barriers to women's participation in diplomacy, including by addressing unequal care responsibilities.
Establish equal pathways for career progression in diplomacy, map where women disproportionately fall out of the pipeline and intervene, coherently apply agender lens to foreign and domestic policies and protect civic space for effective participation of women's rights organizations in multilateral diplomacy.
I thank you.
Thank you.
Next, I give the floor to United Arab Emigates.
Aedna Albath Vice President, diplomacy has always been a bridge of communication between nations and women have always been a reliable partner in fostering values of understanding and dialogue.
In a world where challenges are increasing, women are ever more a key agents in this regard.
Okay.
Women are key in participation in multilateralism and they must enjoy a professional environment, allowing them to access positions of high responsibility and participating actively and effectively in decision making processes at national, regional and international levels.
The UAE is committed to ensuring this is done and contributing to progress in this area in the sphere of diplomacy.
We foster women's independence, developing their leadership abilities in their capacity as a key partner in development.
And in the building of our futures.
His Highness Sheer a Badak is promoting significant initiatives to promote women's rights in a number of areas and the UA emphasizes the importance of overcoming the challenges which are preventing women's participation in particularly the labor market with a review to strengthening their presence in decision making procedures.
Thank you.
Thank you.
I will now turn to the list of speakers for national human rights institutions and non governmental organizations.
And I first give the floor to National du Marc.
Thank you very much, Vice President.
The Moroccan NHRI believes which fosters women's participation and their access to rights.
We recall that resolution 58 15 presented by Morocco represents significant progress towards full equal and safe participation of women in international diplomacy.
Their participation isn't only a legitimate right, but also a requirement to ensure global defensive human rights and contribute to more inclusive and sustainable peace processes in the context of the mandate in participating in developing international standards, the NHRI contributed in 2024 to general comment number 40 of CDO and called for a cross cutting approach against discrimination as well as the involvement of NHRAs and civil society.
Nationally, the NHRA is working to foster women's participation in political spheres and policy development and we greet the adoption of law in 1920, which calls for progressive representation in governmental bodies.
Finally, the NHRA calls for a continuation of efforts aimed at removing structural obstacles limiting women's access to decision making positions while ensuring their full equal and effective participation.
Thank you.
Mercy Boko, and I next give the floor to Sandra Thermod.
Very good afternoon presidents and panelists.
I'm honored to talk on behalf of the El Salvadorian peasants movement.
In El Salvador, we have significant commitments made in the context of CDR and other international human rights instruments.
In 2023, only 29.7% of rural women were members of the economically active population, while in rural areas, we saw the highest rate of illiteracy.
Stood at 14.5%.
Although there is a national rural women's policy aimed at ensuring access to productive resources and reducing inequality gaps, the implementation of this continues to be limited.
We continue to see traditional patterns of subordination which increases the vulnerability of rural workers when confronted by economic labor and sexual violence.
In order to access dignified labor, they must overcome a double or triple working day under a disproportionate burden of unpaid care work.
62% of women of working age are inactive economically because they are carrying out domestic work and they have larger pay gaps, less social coverage, smaller payments into retirements and pension policies, less pensions, and an unequal retirement age.
We call on the UN to initiate dialogue and explore stable channels of communication with El Salvador to improve the chair interrupts.
President President, the UN organization is facing a fundamental decision.
The election of the incoming Secretary-General would have huge consequences the world over.
We would like to express a legitimate concern.
The UN should not remain in the hands of leaders who are excessively radical and who have brought the organization far from the principles contained in the UN charter.
We're particularly concerned by the candidacy of Michelle Bachelet for years.
Michelle Bachelet has been one of the key promoters internationally of abortion.
And has generated an ideologically skewed vision of human rights not shared across many states.
The Secretary-General of the United Nations cannot.
The president is interrupting.
They're holding a panel discussion on the commemoration of International Day of Women in Diplomacy focusing on women's rights to work and representation in decision making.
It is thus expected that all participants interact with panelists.
For instance, by referring to the comments made earlier or asking questions.
This intervention is not in line with council practices in this regard.
In addition, also containing personal attacks, which is unacceptable in this council.
With this in mind, I will give the floor to the next speaker, which is make mothers matter.
The persistent underrepresentation of women in positions of leadership and influence demonstrates that inclusion alone is insufficient.
We must also address the institutional norms, workplace cultures, and leadership pathways that shape who is able to participate and exercise influence.
Too often, these structures are built around assumption of uninterrupted carriers, limited caregiving responsibility and constant availability.
As a result, many women, particularly mothers face systemic barriers to exercising their right to work and participating fully and equally in public life and decision making.
Globally, women, especially mothers continue to shoulder a disproportionate share of unpaid care and domestic work regardless of their employment status.
This is not only a private matter, it is a structural issue.
Achieving substantive equality requires strengthening gender responsive and care inclusive policies, including affordable childcare, adequate parental leave for both parents, flexible working arrangements, and workplace cultures that value results rather than constant availability.
Recognizing, supporting, and redistributing unpaid care work, we can remove a major barrier to women's equal participation.
In doing so, we advance gender equality and strengthen inclusive and effective decision making.
Thank you.
All right.
Thank you.
And the next give the floor to Frontline A.
Day esteemed colleagues.
As we commemorate the International Day of women and Diplomacy, we celebrate the progress made in advancing women's leadership while recognizing that many women remain excluded from decision making and economic opportunities.
An intersectional lens reminds us that women are not a homogeneous group.
Women living with HIV and other marginalized women continue to face multiple and overlapping forms of discrimination that limit their participation in economic, political, and public life.
For women living with HIV, these barriers include workplace discrimination, violation of confidentiality, loss of employment, criminalization because of the HIV status and gender based violence.
Women also continue to carry a disproportionate burden of unpaid and underrecognized care work, including as caregivers, community health workers, and advocates who sustain the HIV response, yet those most affected by inequality remain underrepresented in decision making spaces.
If we are serious about women's leadership, we must move beyond the representation towards meaningful power sharing, ensuring that affected women are not only consulted, but are resourced, represented, and able to shape the decisions that affect their lives.
The question before us is not whether women belong in decision making spaces.
The question is whether decision making spaces are prepared to share power with the women who have systematically been excluded from them.
Thank you.
Next, I give the floor to International Volunteerism Organization for Women Education and Development for a joint statement.
Welcome to this panel discussion on women's right to work and representation and decision making.
While progress has been made, women and girls continue to experience serious challenges that prevent them from accessing decent work and leadership opportunities.
Through our educational and empowerment programs, we witnessed these challenges firsthand.
In rural and indigenous communities, women and girls face barriers to education, employment, entrepreneurship, and economic independence.
Therefore, we call upon states and relevant stakeholders to ensure equal access to quality education, vocational training, and digital skills for girls and women, eliminate barriers to decent work, equal pay, career advancement, and leadership positions, invest in programs that strengthen marginalized women's leadership, participation and decision making and inclusion.
And prevent and address gender based violence and discrimination in both public and private spheres.
Empowering women through education, decent work, and leadership opportunities is essential for building inclusive, representative, and effective institutions capable of advancing sustainable development and human rights for all.
Thank you.
Thank you.
We have exhausted the first segment of list of speakers, and we will proceed with a second segment of list of speakers.
I have the honor to give the floor to Guatemala.
Thank you very much, Vice President.
In the context of the International Day for women and Diplomacy, Guatemala reaffirms its commitment to this anniversary.
The state emphasizes its role as co sponsor of resolution 58 15.
This is an instrument that lodged this anniversary in the council's calendar.
My delegation believes that full equitable and significant participation by women in decision making spaces is not only a matter of representation, rather it is an essential precondition to strengthen the legitimacy of institutions, enrich the public policy drafting process, and promote societies that are more inclusive, democratic and resilient.
In Guatemala, we see significant progress in this area.
Currently, women are in some of the highest decision making roles in the state, including the Vice President's office and a number of directors positions within the public administration and the diplomatic service.
This reflects the contribution of women that's fundamental to building institutions that are more representative and nearer to the population.
Nonetheless, we believe and recognize that substantive equality requires we continue to remove obstacles which still limit many women's access to dignified labor, professional development, conciliating reconciling the personal, private and professional spheres and overcoming historic inequality.
We'd like to therefore ask the panelists what measures have been most effective in ensuring that there is growing access by women to leadership positions and that this becomes a tide of structural change, ensuring that women's participation in decision making spaces is consolidated.
Thank you.
Thank you.
I would like to remind the delegations that their speaking time is 1 minute and 30 seconds.
Next, I give the floor to Azerbijan.
Madam Vice President, Azerijan thanks the panelists and welcomes the commemoration of the International Day of Women and Diplomacy.
The right to work and the right to shape decisions are inseparable.
Where women are denied decent work, safe conditions, and the fair pasta advancements, they are equally denied the voice in the rooms where policy is made, including in diplomacy, where women remain unrepresented.
For Azerbijan women's place in public and diplomatic life is not a recent aspiration.
But a century old heritage.
In the 15th century, Sara Hatton recognized as the first woman diplomat of Azerbijan and of the East.
He did the embassies of Agon state and negotiated directly with the most powerful rulers of her age, securing peace through skill assert and the reason why Army had failed.
That heritage was carried forward by division of the philanthropist Zen Abd Taev who in 1901 founded the first secular school for girls in the Muslimist.
Wisler observing, if you are educate a boy, you educate one person.
If you educate a girl, you educate an entire family.
Commitment founded its fullest expression in Azerbaijan diplomatic Democratic Republic, which form it is funding in 1918 enshrined women's right to vote and to hold public office.
Azerijan remains committed to translating this legacy into practice, guaranteeing equality before the law, broadening women's representation across the public and foreign service, and confronting the structural barriers this final right land allies, including in its digital firms.
I thank you.
Thank you.
Next, I give the floor to Japan.
Thank you, Madam Vice President.
Japan, thanks to the distinguished panelists for their valuable contributions.
The right to work is vital to women's empowerment and leadership, yet women around the world continue to face structural barriers, including unequal care responsibilities, gender stereotypes, violence, harassment, and obstacles to career advancement.
The challenges not only undermine women's economic rights, but also limit the opportunities to participate in leadership and decision making.
While no country has yet achieved full gender equality, Japan remains committed to advancing women's empowerment and increasing women's participation in leadership across all the sectors of society, including through the implementation of the women peace security agenda.
In partnership with the UN women, Japan has been supporting efforts to strengthen the resilience and economic empowerment of women in vulnerable situations, including by promoting women's participation in the labor market and supporting women leaders in their communities.
We support a We support continued efforts to eliminate discrimination, promote equal opportunities and care, create workplaces where women can lead.
In closing, Japan would be interested in hearing from the panelists about the most effective measures for supporting women's advancement into senior leadership and diplomatic positions.
Thank you.
Hi, thank you.
Next, I give the floor to Bulgaria.
Madam Vice President, Bulgaria aligns itself with the EU statement.
We welcome the important discussion to commemorate the International Day of Women in Diplomacy.
Promoting equality between women and men as well as the active and influential role of women in all areas of life is one of the long term priorities of Bulgarian foreign policy.
Over the years, a solid legal, institutional and strategic framework for the policy of equality between women and men has been established in our country and management, coordination, and expert capacity has been formed.
Bulgaria is an example of the significant presence of women in the executive, legislative and judicial branches.
The president of the Republic of Bulgaria, the speaker and two deputy speakers of the current 52nd National Assembly, as well as five ministers are women, the acting prosecutor General and 54.1% of the management positions in the judiciary are held by women.
So far, Bulgaria has only nominated women as European Commissioners.
Bulgarian women have a visible presence in the field of foreign policy.
Since 1989, five women have been ministers of Foreign Affairs.
Currently the Minister of Foreign Affairs and one deputy ministers are women, 51.4% of those holding management positions and 55.8% of diplomatic staff in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs are women.
Bulgaria remains strongly committed to the equal participation and leadership of women in decision making process, high level governance, policy formulation, diplomacy and negotiations.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Next, I give the floor to Chile.
Vice President, Chile believes that the commemoration of the International Day for women and Diplomacy requires that we enter into profound reflection concerning the material basis that allow women's political participation.
We cannot call for equitable decision making participation if we don't first resolve the structural barriers confronted by women in their own homes, the disproportionate burden of unremunerated care work particularly.
This is fostered by inequalities at national levels, and as a result, we have been progressing firmly towards a public policy which ensures shared gender responsibility, and this on the basis of a national care system.
This seeks to comprehensively overhaul the care needs of Chile and bring to bear private and public efforts with societies and communities.
We have worked with the IO and other institutions to ensure that we overhaul our paradigms around labor and care work for women in the home.
Finally, we are convinced that care infrastructure is a strategic macroeconomic decision and ensure social inclusion, only liberating the potential of women in the local sphere will ensure that influential participation in diplomacy and the big decisions to be made in the future.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Next, I give the floor to Malta.
Thank you, Madam Vice President.
Malt aligns itself with the statement of the European Union.
We are pleased that the Human Rights Council is commemorating the International Day of Women and Diplomacy.
Malta proudly formed part of the core group in New York, which led to the adoption of Ungar Resolution 70 6269.
That resolution reaffirmed that the active participation of women on equal terms with men at all levels of decision making is essential to the of equality, sustainable development, peace, democracy, and diplomacy.
As member states, we have thus taken the initial step.
Now it is our responsibility to translate this initial step into national policies that ensure women do not face obstacles in achieving their full potential in every field and sector of society.
In 2002, Malta adopted its gender equality and mainstreaming strategy and action plan 2022, 2027, whose objective two deals specifically with guarantee equal access to employment in all sectors, combat segregation, and ensure equal pay for work of equal value, presenting aims and targets to further reduce the gender pay gap.
Women's full participation in all national and international processes of whatever kind only leads to more inclusive decision making, more resilient agreements, and ultimately stronger societies.
It is time to move beyond the gender stereotypes in all sectors of employment and to recognize the value of all.
I thank you.
Thank you.
Next, I give the floor to Egypt.
Thank you, Madam Vice Chair.
We welcome the commemoration of the International Day of Women and Diplomacy.
This is an important opportunity to reiterate that women's participation in diplomacy and decision making is not measured by the number of leadership position, but it is measured by their contribution and participation in public life.
Empowering women should be achieved through equal opportunities in work, education, and career advancement.
We have a achieved a lot in this field, and we are deeply convinced that promoting women's sport participation should be achieved in various sectors, namely the diplomatic service, which opened its doors to women many decades I ago.
In one of the latest batches of newly enrolled diplomats, women constituted more than 50%.
Our Ministry of Foreign Affairs supports the care promotion and advancement of women and we support their leadership roles in many regional and international organizations.
This has also been reflected by many high level leadership positions in the United Nations and international organizations and treaty bodies and others.
We reiterate that investing in capacity building and lifting work related obstacles is essential so that women can fulfill their full participation and decision making.
Thank you.
Next, I give the floor to India.
President, women's economic empowerment lies at the heart of India's vision of women development, enabling women's equal participation and leadership in decision making.
India has adopted a robust legislative and policy framework to promote equal opportunity, safe workplaces, and social protection.
The Code on Wages 2019 guarantees non discrimination and remuneration.
The Maternity Benefit Act provides 26 weeks of paid maternity leave.
The sexual harassment of Women at Work Force Act 2013 safeguards women's dignity and safety at work, and the Code on Social Security 2020 extends social protection, including to women in the informal sector.
These efforts are delivering results.
India's female labor force participation rate has risen from 23.3% in 2017, 2018 to 41.7% in 2023, 2024.
More than 89 million women are mobilized through 8.9 million self help groups, strengthening livelihood, entrepreneurship, and financial inclusion at scale.
India has also enacted the Nari Shakti Wandan Admium 2023, reserving one third of seats in the national and state legislatures for women, reaffirming our commitment to women's leadership in public life and decision making.
For India, women's economic empowerment is not only a matter of rights, but the foundation of inclusive growth and representative governance.
We remain committed to advancing women development and ensuring that every women can contribute influence and lead.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Next, I'll give the floor to Montenegro.
Montenegro welcome to the discussion marking the International Day of women and diplomacy and thanks Dependents for their contributions.
Persistent barriers continue to prevent women from achieving equal representation and decision making at all levels, including diplomacy, multilateral institutions and public administration.
Structural inequalities, discriminatory social norms, gender stereotypes, and the unequal distribution of unpaid care responsibilities continue to limit women's opportunities to participate fully and equally in political, economic, and public life.
Advancing women's leadership is not only a matter of equality and human rights.
It is also essential for building more inclusive, representative, effective, and democratic institutions.
The right to work is a universal human right and a cornerstone women's autonomy, dignity, and the equal enjoyment of all other human rights.
Yet, many women continue to face barriers to accessing decent work and advancing into leadership positions.
Adré these challenges is essential to strengthening women's economic empowerment and ensuring their equal voice in shaping policies and institutions.
Advancing gender equality and ensuring women's full equal and meaningful participation in leadership and decision making remain priorities from Montenegro.
Following the increase of the electoral quota for women to 40%, we have further strengthened the legislative framework by introducing a requirement that at least 40% of government members are women.
These measures reflect our steadfast commitment to advancing substantive gender parity and strengthening women's representation across public and political life.
Distinguished panelists, which structural reforms have proven most effective in accelerating women's representation in decision making.
Thank you, Madam Vice President.
Thank you.
Next, I give the floor to Denmark.
I'm a Danish youth delegate and I'm here to represent the voices of the youth.
Female leadership is crucial to achieve gender equality, but we cannot get female leadership without understanding the realities preventing women to become leaders.
Women may have a job, yet she faces cultures, expectations, and structures that make advancement disproportionately difficult.
She has the right to seek leadership, yet she finds the standards for credibility, authority, and success were defined without her experiences in mind.
She goes to work every day, but she's still expected to carry everything at home.
Of course, she's always exhausted and has a hard time competing with her male counterparts.
She has high ambitions, but she lays them to rest.
Because somebody has to take care of the kids.
We must redesign systems where gender equality is built in, not patched on, where women can work full time jobs with a proper work life balance because the father of their children takes as much of the family care and home duties, where women get the same chances to succeed, lead, and become integral parts of diplomacy and decision making no matter where they're born.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
I apologize for this small problem.
Next, I have the honor to give the floor to Slovenia.
Thank you, Madam Vice President.
Women can fix everything.
Slovenia welcomes the commemoration of the International Day of Women in Diplomacy and its focus team.
The effective realization of right to work for women is closely linked to their ability to participate fully, equally, meaningfully, and safely in decision making at all levels and across all sectors, including in diplomacy.
Economic independence, access to decent work, and equal opportunities are essential enablers of women's leadership and representation.
Yet, despite progress, structural barriers remain.
Gender pay gaps, discrimination in recruitment and promotion, and the unequal distribution of unpaid care responsibilities remain among the most significant obstacles to women's economic empowerment and participation in decision making.
Slovenia remains committed to gender equality and supports policies that promote work life balance and equal sharing of responsibilities.
Among our good practices are wider availability of early childhood education and care, maternity, paternity, and parental leave arrangements, and social protection measures that support parents in balancing family responsibilities with professional life, like school meals for children.
These policies contribute to economic independence of women in Slovenia and expand our opportunities for leadership roles.
They have also supported progress in our diplomatic service, where women currently represent 42% of the heads of Slovenia's representations abroad.
I thank you.
Hi.
Thank you.
Next, I give the floor to Brazil.
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I'm told by the Secretariat that we need a technical break of 5 minutes due to this problem with microphones.
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Excellencies, dear colleagues.
It seems that the technical problem was solved and we can finalize the panel debate still tonight and thank you very much for your patience.
So we will continue with the list of speakers and I give the floor to Brazil.
Thank you.
Thank you, Madam Vice President.
Brazil thanks the panel and reaffirms that the realization of women's rights work is indispensable to their full equal and meaningful participation in decision making in public administration, diplomacy, and multilateral contexts.
Brazil's national policies such as the Scholar de Tbalado Workers School 4.0 and the program is Mu thousand women aim to expand women's access to training and lifelong learning, including in information technology.
Brazil is also engaged in the ILO's Equal Pay International Coalition with the goal to promote the elimination of gender pay gaps.
This time of rapid changes, responses to technological, environmental, and demographic transitions must be intentionally conceived to advance gender equality and to enable women to fully harness their benefits.
Women's participation in the world of work and in society more broadly is also closely linked to the protection and promotion of their freedom of expression, bridging rights that underpins participation in public life.
This is not merely about the right to speak or to work.
It is about the right to influence decisions, denounce violations, generate knowledge, challenge narratives, and occupy positions of power on an equal footing.
Thank you very much.
Thank you.
Next, I give the floor to North Macedonia.
Thank you, Madam Vice President.
We thank the panelists for highlighting the critical link between women's right to work and their participation in decision making.
It is discouraging that women's participation in the global labor market remains below 50%.
W women hold less than one third of senior leadership positions worldwide.
Persistent stereotypes, discriminatory norms, and unequal care responsibilities continue to limit women's opportunities and advancement.
Too often, women are still viewed primarily as caregivers rather than leaders.
North Macedonia has made equal opportunities a priority.
Our responsibility is clear, strengthen women's inclusion and representation at every level of public life.
Our MFA launched the Women in Foreign Policy Conference in 2021 to promote the role of women in diplomacy and amplify voices for gender equality.
We remain committed to further advance a feminist and gender responsive foreign policy.
Distinguished panelists, empowering women is indeed not only a matter of equality, but a matter of effectiveness and resilience.
Looking ahead to the selection of the new Secretary-General, The world needs a bridge builder in a time of divisions.
As the first ever woman president of North Macedonia stated recently, after eight years, it is time for a woman to serve as Secretary-General of the UN armed with wisdom, empathy, and courage to this highest office.
I thank you.
Thank you.
Next, I give the floor to Mauritania.
Thank you, Madam Vice President, Mauritania.
Welcomes this panel discussion that is a stark reminder that the presence of women in diplomacy and decision making positions is not a matter of chance, rather It is a cumulative phased process that starts with equal access to education, decent work, and protection against violence and harassment.
Madam Vice President, the Constitution of Mauritania consecrates gender equality and access to elected posts.
The government of Mauritania translates this principle through a number of integrated strategies and policies, including the National program for Gender and women's Promotion, as well as the national fund to guarantee alimony for divorced women and their children in addition to the sectoral units in charge of mainstreaming gender in public policies in the same context, the national Observatory for the Rights of Women and Girls is an institutional step forward, which is an independent national mechanism that undertakes multiple roles to protect and promote the rights of women and girls through advocacy and research.
Mauritania is also promoting the rights of women in order to occupy public and diplomatic posts and exercise leadership roles.
Thank you.
Thank you.
I will now turn to the list of speakers for national Human Rights institutions and non governmental organizations, and I will give the floor to Human Rights Research League.
Rights Research League would like to bring the situation of women in the Islamic Republic of Iran to the attention of this council.
During the recent waves of protests in 2022 and 2026, the women of Iran have brought the issue of equality to the forefront of the political agenda, spearheading political and social transformation.
The security apparatus of the Islamic Republic is leveling a machinery of political suppression against women who are considered symbols of resistance within their own communities.
Political prisoner kro like to remind participants once more that we are currently holding a panel discussion on the commemoration of the International Day of women in Diplomacy, focusing on women's rights to work and representation in decision making.
With this in mind, I will give the floor to next speaker, Plan International.
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We would like to thank the panel for a their focus.
We also wish to express our appreciation to the United Nations decision makers and all stakeholders that promote the leadership of women, despite the fact that despite the global commitments, women remain underped in diplomacy and see decision making worldwide.
This persists even where legal equality exists, showing that structural and social barriers go beyond formal policy.
Women's access to work and leadership is constrained by gender stereotypes, harassment, unequal pay, In many countries, the progress made in education and workforce participation has not translated in equal representation in senior leadership and diplomacy.
Therefore, we call upon the member states to enforce laws, guaranteeing equal access to employment and diplomatic areas, ensure equal pay and transparent recruitment and promotion systems, increase women's representation and diplomacy and decision making, including investing in education, mentorship and leadership programs for girls and young women.
Together, we can make equality a reality.
Thank you.
Thank you.
I will next give the floor to ACT Alliance action by churches together for a joint statement.
Vice President, civil society is not just shrinking as a space, but in some context, it is being systematically dismantled through legal and financial pressure without any coordinated narratives.
This is having a direct impact on women's right to work and their ability to participate in public administration, diplomacy, and multilateral processes.
The female actors of gender policy tend to be the first hit as they We are seeing societies mobilizing around the family and authority and we are seeing architectures of control that are ever more integrated in which finance and government operate together to try and allow for the silencing of women and limit their participation.
We are also seeing forms of resistance though in various contexts.
Civil society, including some organizations are building solidarity and accountability.
These efforts show that right and faith are not necessarily opposed, rather, they can work together in order to ensure human dignity.
We call for collective action urgently so that we can defend civil society in the face of the work done by terrorist organizations and foreign entities and those who support such attacks and establish financial rapid response mechanisms as well as mechanisms for defending LGBTIQ plus communities and rights and fostering greater psychosocial resilience.
The defense of civic space, I will next give the floor to Santra du Commerce National Dement Madam President Madam Vice President, Ceced would like to thank this panel on the women's right to work and their representation within decision making fora.
Our organization is committed to inclusive governance and citizens empowerment and we welcome the consideration of these key issues which are key for social justice.
We would highlight though with concern that access to decent work remains hampered by systemic obstacles.
Women's participation at the global level, which is limited to 48% means they are confined to informal and precarious economy for the most part.
They only hold 31.7% of executive positions unless than a Quarter of ambassador positions.
Structural barriers, in particular, the unequal distribution of unpaid care and glass ceilings limit their leadership.
We are also concerned by the persistence of harassment and violence, including digital forms of which is limiting their participation in diplomacy.
We would like to recall that professional equality is the foundation of equal participation in public life and our organization supports calls in favor of the implementation of general recommendation number 40 of CEA and ratification of ILO Convention number 156.
We also encourage the adoption of legislative measures against professional segregation and ensuring equal access to education in order to reduce school dropout rates of girls.
Finally, we urge states to step up protection of female workers against all forms of discrimination and to ensure public governance that is truly representative.
Thank you.
Next, we'll give the floor to legal analysis and research public union.
Distinguished Chair.
As we discuss women rights today, I would like to place special emphasis on their role in post conflict societies.
For more than three decades, large areas of Azerbijan have been heavily contaminated by mines and unexploded ordinance deliberate planted by Armenia.
Since the end of the conflict, more than 400 civilians and miners have been killed or seriously injured.
Families eager to return to their homes in the liberated territories face daily fear.
Under these challenging circumstances, the dedication and resilience of Azerbijan women deserve special recognition.
Today specialized teams I would like to remind once more that we are currently holding a panel discussion on the commemoration of the International Day of Women in Diplomacy, focusing on women's right to work and representation in decision making.
With this in mind, I will give the floor to the next speaker, which is Sambi Trust.
Madam Vice President, women's leadership begins long before a woman enters a formal office.
It begins when she is allowed to study, earn travel safely, speak in, in her own home, join a group, make decisions about her own body and participate in community life.
For many women in rural Rajasthan, India, these first steps are still difficult.
Sambali Trust works with women and adolescent girls through empowerment centers, scholarships, sulfa groups, counseling, legal awareness, and livelihood training.
Our work shows that economic independence and legal literacy are closely connected to leadership.
A woman who learns and understands her rights is more likely to resist violence, send her daughters to school, and participate in local decision making.
India has taken long and important steps to expand women's participation through education, legal protection, self help groups, financial inclusion, and local governance structures.
But grassroots organizations help ensure that these opportunities reach women who face barriers such as caste, poverty, widowhood, migration, disability, domestic violence, or lack of mobility.
Madam Vice President, we respectfully urge the council to view women's rights to work and representation as community rights, not elite rights.
When ordinary women become decision makers in their own lives, the foundation for women's leadership in public life becomes stronger.
Dana Val.
Thank you.
We have exhausted the second segment of list of speakers.
Excellent, distinguished participants.
This was the last speaker we could accommodate today.
I wish to remind you that delegates inscribed on the list of speakers who could not take the floor due to time constraints can upload their statement to be posted on the extranet.
I will now give the floor back to panelists for their concluding remarks.
You have 2 minutes each, and the first turn to miss Shia King.
Thank you so much, Madam Vice President and allow me to use part of those 2 minutes to thank all the distinguished delegates here today to the speakers and my fellow panelists for such a rich discussion and conversation.
I will only say a few things in concluding, which is, I think the discussion, what the comments, what the statements clearly show today is there is no and pardon the expression, silver bullet or one size fits all for solving this issue and moving forward, both in terms of really securing women's right to work and women's right to decent work.
We would say from the idle perspective.
And women's participation in leadership at all levels, including in diplomacy.
It requires a combination of efforts around several dimensions, including, as we heard today, tackling the unequal share of care responsibilities that still falls to women to perform.
Looking at how violence and harassment affects the ability of women to participate in public life, to access decent work, to remain in decent work, looking at how stereotypes feed into the perceptions of what a woman's role not only in society, but in the world of work should be, the types of job, the types of work that women should be able to access.
Requires making sure that also the policies we adopt are fit for the future because the world of work is changing rapidly and if women are not to be left even further behind, we need to make sure that the structural barriers that so many of you mentioned today are tackled with renewed vigor and intensity and that we are looking at how we do not repeat and reinforce the obstacles in the future, now and in the future.
I see I'm running out of time.
I'll take the last few seconds again, Madam Vice President, just to thank everybody and again, to thank you for inviting the ILO to be part of such a wonderful conversation.
Thank you.
Thank you so much.
I will now turn to miss Wafa Ari.
Merci.
Thank you.
I too wish to thank the various speakers and thank them for sharing their views and experiences, which have been very diverse and which proved that there is no one size fits all solution, but rather we need to consolidate these solutions and highlight them and share experiences because that sharing of experiences between states and stakeholders can only enrich our discussion and our response.
We have seen that despite headway made, major obstacles remain in terms of women's access to decent work and also to decision making positions.
If I were to come back briefly to my experience over the years, I have seen many women who refuse positions of responsibility because they can't strike the right work life balance because they have additional responsibilities to deal with.
This situation has an impact not only on their own well being and their own health, but it also means they are underrepresented in intermediate level and senior level positions, thereby penalizing women who could otherwise access positions of responsibility or decision making roles sometimes they can't do it due to their family situation.
They are deprived of networking opportunities which would help them overcome the barriers.
I would like to echo what others have said.
Parity is not just an issue of women and states, it is a matter for society as a whole.
We need to deal with it together in order to rise to this challenge.
Barriers appear from a very early age within homes, within educational systems, within the workplace, but also in the public space and the media.
We need universal action here.
Everybody needs to put their shoulder to the wheel together in order to rise to this challenge.
This challenge is also such that we need concrete action that is impactful on the ground with priority actions, priority actions which encompass all stakeholders within society, as I said, the state, social forces, as well as civil society so as to work hand in glove.
I think that international law offers a robust framework for promoting equal participation by women and strengthening cooperation is therefore important at that level too.
We are facing additional challenges today, AI, digital challenges, which stem from the fact that the world is very interconnected, to the challenges I've described, you have to additional challenges from each country.
Thank you.
Last but certainly not least, Her Excellency, miss Caroline Ziadeh.
Thank you, Madam Vice Chair.
I am going to be as short as possible, based on the extensive contribution we need to act.
There's an urgency for all of us to act.
The A is to take actions at legal and societal level to change.
The C is a commitment to change a culture in our societies.
The T, it's to transcend through an intergenerational societies and international discussion to celebrate women day in day out.
With that, happy International Day for women and diplomacy.
Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you so much.
This brings us to the end of this panel discussion.
I wish to thank all distinguished panelists for your contributions today and also I wish to thank our interpreters for their flexibility.
Excellencies, distinguished participants.
This brings us to the end of today's meeting.
We will reconvene tomorrow morning at 10:00 A.M.
Am.
To continue the interactive dialogue with the working group on discrimination against women and girls, followed by the interactive dialogue with a special rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers and the interactive dialogue with a special rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights.
I hereby close the 16th meeting of the 62nd session of the Human Rights Council.