Women’s voices rising without fear: our goal and challenge for peace and security
Source: UN Women
Today, we commemorate the United Nations Day. We are reminded of the UN's noble mission to promote peace, human rights and development for all. We are reminded of the continued need for diplomacy, dialogue and negotiation to prevent and resolve conflicts - and to ensure dignity, equality, and justice for all women and men. I am honoured to join you on this UN day, in this Annual Open Debate on Women and Peace and Security.
During the high-level week of the recent General Assembly, a Nigerian poet speaking at an event on dismantling patriarchy asked: “What is peace if not a world where power is shared, where voices rise without fear?”.
The idea of voices rising without fear crystalizes both our goal and our challenge.
We recall the fear of millions of Afghan women and girls robbed of an education, a future, and a voice, how they suffocate in silence - prisoners in their own homes.
We recall the fear of the women in Gaza, displaced many times over, waiting for death, whether by bombs, fire, disease, or starvation. How they know neither what to feed their children or how to feed them, what to tell them of their futures after a year of relentless destruction with no end in sight.
We recall the hostages held in Gaza and their anxious families and mothers who are still waiting for their release.
Read here the full article published by UN Women on 24 October 2024.
Image by UN Women
Today, we commemorate the United Nations Day. We are reminded of the UN's noble mission to promote peace, human rights and development for all. We are reminded of the continued need for diplomacy, dialogue and negotiation to prevent and resolve conflicts - and to ensure dignity, equality, and justice for all women and men. I am honoured to join you on this UN day, in this Annual Open Debate on Women and Peace and Security.
During the high-level week of the recent General Assembly, a Nigerian poet speaking at an event on dismantling patriarchy asked: “What is peace if not a world where power is shared, where voices rise without fear?”.
The idea of voices rising without fear crystalizes both our goal and our challenge.
We recall the fear of millions of Afghan women and girls robbed of an education, a future, and a voice, how they suffocate in silence - prisoners in their own homes.
We recall the fear of the women in Gaza, displaced many times over, waiting for death, whether by bombs, fire, disease, or starvation. How they know neither what to feed their children or how to feed them, what to tell them of their futures after a year of relentless destruction with no end in sight.
We recall the hostages held in Gaza and their anxious families and mothers who are still waiting for their release.
Read here the full article published by UN Women on 24 October 2024.
Image by UN Women