World Is "300 Years Away" From Gender Equity, UN Chief Warns

The world is "300 years away" from gender equity, and women's rights are "vanishing before our eyes," said UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres on Monday, drawing attention to the precarious situation of women around the globe.

"Gender equality is growing more distant. On the current track, UN Women puts it 300 years away," the United Nations secretary-general said in a General Assembly speech ahead of International Women's Day on March 8, as he launched two weeks of discussions led by the Commission on the Status of Women.

"Women's rights are being abused, threatened, and violated around the world," he added, as he ticked off a litany of crises: maternal mortality, girls being ousted from school, carers being denied work, and children being forced into early marriage.

"Maternal mortality is increasing." "One woman dies every two minutes during pregnancy or childbirth; most of those deaths are preventable," he said.

"Progress won over decades is vanishing before our eyes," Guterres said.

He highlighted the particularly dire conditions in Taliban-ruled Afghanistan, where "women and girls have been erased from public life."

In an emotional speech, Guterres demanded "urgent action to equalise power" by expanding educational and job possibilities for women and girls, "especially in the global south," promoting women's participation in science and technology, and creating a "safe digital environment for women and girls."

"The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic continues for millions of girls forced out of school, mothers and carers forced out of paid employment, and children forced into early marriage. From Ukraine to the Sahel, crisis and conflict affect women and girls first and worst," he added.

"And at the international level, some countries now even oppose the inclusion of a gender perspective in multilateral negotiations."