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Message from Mr Koichiro Matsuura, Director-General of UNESCO, on the occasion of International Women’s Day, 8 March 2008.
5 March 2008, Worldwide, Headquarters.
On International Women’s Day 2008, the United Nations calls on national governments and development partners to “invest in women and girls” by stepping up their financial contributions and commitments to promote gender equality at all levels – globally, regionally and nationally.
 This call is both urgent and of critical importance. Over past decades, the promotion of gender equality in developing countries has attracted only a very small proportion of Official Development Assistance (ODA). This is the case despite evidence that the global fight against poverty cannot be won without gender equality.
Even after the inclusion of gender equality and women’s empowerment as one of the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDG3), funding has remained inadequate, and even declined in recent years. Indeed, according to a UN report, “to realize MDG3 by 2015 would require external resources… in the range of US$25-28 billion annually in the low-income countries.”
The first step to increase investment is to ensure that traditional funding sources such as ODA commit regular and identifiable resources to the promotion of gender equality. But this alone is not enough. National governments and international organizations also need to adopt gender-responsive budget initiatives. National government budget allocations and public sector expenditures must systematically address gender equality concerns and channel resources where they can achieve the most effective results. International organizations must likewise review their own financial commitments to ensure that gender equality receives the priority it deserves. Together, we must also look towards new and innovative sources of funding, such as private sector partnerships and foundations. Gender equality must become everyone’s business – that is, a common priority among all partners in the development field.
UNESCO’s commitment is firm. Gender equality has been designated as one of the Organization’s two global priorities in the Medium-Term Strategy for 2008-2013, and this priority is already being translated into action under the Programme and Budget for 2008-2009. UNESCO has moved forward in this direction because we are convinced that gender equality is “smart economics, smart management, and smart partnership”.
Gender equality is smart and just economics for many compelling reasons. It can act as a force for economic development and for improving the quality of life of society as a whole. However, we should also recognize that economic decisions impact women and men differently. Cut-backs on social expenditures hit women, especially poor women, harder than men: girls are taken out of schools, young women are exposed to higher risks of HIV infection, and women of all ages are subject to extreme forms of violence. Investing in women’s educational, social, economic and professional opportunities in the pursuit of gender equality is not an “extra” handout. It is a matter of justice and human rights, and a development imperative of the highest order.
Gender equality is also smart management. At UNESCO, the introduction of mandatory capacity-building and training in gender mainstreaming has enhanced the impact of our action across all our fields of competence. This is because integrating gender equality considerations into programming means taking a different perspective – or, “putting on ‘gender lenses’” – and thinking critically about the results and beneficiaries of programmes and activities, which leads to better planning and more effective development initiatives.
Gender equality is likewise smart management on an internal level. UNESCO is proud to be one of the few UN agencies to have already achieved gender parity among professional staff. At the senior decision-making level, we have set the ambitious target of increasing the representation of women to 50% by 2015. I am confident that this new policy objective can be attained and will lead to a stronger and more diverse human resource base.
Finally, gender equality is an especially smart foundation for partnerships – be it with national governments, bilateral or multilateral institutions, NGOs or the private sector. Gender equality lends itself particularly well to partnership because it is an issue of concern to everybody. It is best approached from a holistic point of view and necessitates multi-sectoral responses. In addition, partnerships provide an excellent opportunity to pool our resources for greater impact and efficiency.
UNESCO’s unique global partnership with the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour is built on this basis. It seeks to promote women’s leadership and gender equality through the engagement of top female tennis stars, and will soon begin funding projects globally, starting with activities in Liberia, Cameroon, the Dominican Republic and China. Similarly, the L’OREAL-UNESCO partnership “For Women in Science” awards outstanding female scientists around the world with fellowships and prize money to pursue their careers and thus recognizes their critical and often ground-breaking role and accomplishments.
Achieving gender equality requires more and better targeted financial resources. This investment is essential, not only to ensuring the rights of women, but also to achieving internationally agreed development objectives, including the MDGs. Let us not forget that progress for women is progress for all. The costs of working towards gender equality are far outweighed by the tremendous human, social and economic rewards.
Russian version
Message from Mr Koichiro Matsuura, Director-General of UNESCO, on the occasion of World Philosophy Day, 16 November 2006
(8 November 2006)World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development (21 May 2006)Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development World Day (21 May 2005)UNESCO Selebrate International Women’s Day (3 March 2004)
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ALMATY
Cluster Office for Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan
