The argument that a woman should head the UN is based on values of justice and equality, and informed by research. Peace agreements are more enduring when signed by women; wars are resolved more economically and justly if women occupy seats on either side of the bargaining table; and human-rights activists, and women’s rights activists among them, have been extremely effective.
Having a female UN secretary-general, in addition to being a role model, would ensure that the special situation of women, including being disproportionately impacted by climate change and having enduring impacts from war, is included in decision-making at the highest possible level.
That decision-makers must be reminded that women are disproportionately impacted is one sign that progress itself is still a work in progress. In fact, for the first time in decades, some things appear to be moving backwards; in the United States and beyond, reproductive rights are being rolled back.
Restoring the right of Afghan women and girls to be educated and to work appears not to be a priority for the international community. Digital technology introduces new types of violence against women and girls, and “anti-rights actors are actively undermining long-standing consensus on key women’s rights issues”, the UN Women report states. Since 2022, conflict-related sexual violence cases have increased by 50%, with women and girls accounting for 95% of the offenses.
Nearly one-quarter of national representatives to UN Women also indicated that a backlash against gender equality is hindering the application of the Beijing Declaration. At the UN Commission on the Status of Women annual session in New York City last month, governments reaffirmed and renewed the Beijing commitments, including that countries view societal and economic issues through a gender perspective.
Yet, the United States and Russia were among those raising objections — a significant departure from their widely constructive contributions in 1995. US delegate Jonathan Shrier criticized the declaration for not including explicit language regarding gender, contending that “women are biologically female and men are biologically male”. He also took the opportunity to decry the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
There are reports that UN Women is one of the entities being pushed by the US administration to stay away from terms related to diversity, equity and inclusion. The agency has previously stated that it is dedicated to the “rights and equality of all people, including women in all their diversity, and all people with diverse sexual orientations, gender identities, gender expressions and sex characteristics.”
It is complicated to appoint a secretary-general. The UN Security Council (controlled by its permanent members, the United States, Russia, China, France and the United Kingdom) needs to reach consensus on a candidate, who is then submitted for a vote to the UN General Assembly. The crisis will be compounded by the fact that the Security Council these days is more bitterly split. To that extent, surely no nation of today can claim no woman is suitable for the job.
Supporters are not calling for the appointment of a person based on gender alone. Instead, they are making this appeal to call on UN member states to move beyond the biases that too often result in the best person being passed over. The appointment of a woman would be a powerful signal that, 30 years after the Beijing Declaration, the world’s commitment to gender equality is not evaporating — and that it benefits all people everywhere.
