Each year, International Women’s Day (IWD) provides an occasion for taking stock of progress and reflecting on the challenges that remain in the pursuit of gender equality.

IWD 2009 is my tenth and last as Director-General of UNESCO and it is a matter of regret that although gender equality was enshrined in the United Nations Charter in 1945, and targeted as specific Millennium Development Goal (MDG 3) in 2000, it still remains an aspiration rather than the reality in too many areas of public and private life.

It is therefore apt that as the world marks IWD 2009, the 53rd session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) will be considering “The equal sharing of responsibilities between women and men, including care-giving in the context of HIV/AIDS”. It will also review progress on the implementation of the agreed conclusions of its 50th session on “Equal participation of women and men in decision-making processes at all levels”. There is a clear link between the two themes and collective efforts to identify enduring solutions to the world’s most challenging social, economic and political problems. Quite simply, it will be impossible to construct – let alone implement - appropriate responses without the full involvement of women as well as men.

More ... [PDF]


This message is also available in:
Français | Español | العربية | 中文 | Русский [PDF]