Statement by H.E. Mr. Masud Bin Momen, Ambassador and Permanent Representative, Permanent Mission of Bangladesh to the United Nations at the First Regular Session 2019 of the Executive Board of UN-WOMEN
New York, 12 February, 2019
Madam President
-
Congratulations for being elected as the President of the Executive Board and your thought-provoking opening statement we also congratulate other members of the bureau and the new member of the Executive Board. Bangladesh delegation highly appreciates the role of the Executive Board in guiding the UN-Women and successfully placing it as the most effective and important entity to represent the core issues facing the women and girl population across the world.
-
Executive Director Madam Phumzile provided us a comprehensive overview of the UN-Women’s strategies & plans on the major issues towards strengthening the role of women in development and peace building and also protecting their rights and privileges. Creation of gender disparity took generations but we need to expedite our actions and processes to reverse the trend through integrated approaches that addresses root causes of poverty, ensures rule of law and mainstreams women’s participation in development and peace building across the world. We are happy to know that UN-Women is planning national and regional reviews on the Beijing+25 process and holding Gender Equality Forum in 2020 which we believe would help to set next course of action in a more integrated and effective manner. We also appreciate the steps taken in establishing Gender parity at the UN, improving workplace relations and eliminating sexual harassment. We strongly believe that UN-Women will be benefitted the most through the UNDS reform by realigning its partnership strategies with UN agencies and other organizations as it is a relatively new organization. Thank you, Madam Phumzile for your commitment.
Madam President
-
Realization of women’s human rights has been held back by the persistence of historical and structural unequal power relations between women and men. The 2018 World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report reveals that the most challenging gender gaps to close is the economic dimension, which will take 202 years. Women’s limited access to ownership and control over resources, growing gaps in equal opportunity, limited access to universal health-care and education, gender-based violence, discriminatory laws and policies, negative social norms and the unequal sharing of unpaid care and domestic work are prevalent. It stresses the urgency of eliminating those structural barriers in order to realize gender equality and empower rural women and girls in true sense.
-
Bangladesh as an active participant at the CSW and is committed to work closely with UN-Women and all member states towards effectively implementing strategies for securing the desired place for women globally. Owing to gender inequalities, rural women and girls, especially in developing countries, are often disproportionately affected by the adverse impact of climate change, extreme weather events and natural disasters. Women and girls’ agenda will not be addressed properly if commitments made in the Paris Agreement are not fully realized. Vulnerabilities to women and children caused by war, conflicts, forced displacements increased manifolds where in many cases basic human rights are being violated in humanitarian situations. We need to reverse these trends.
Madam President
-
While support of the international community is critical, role of national policies and leadership remains as the most important factor. Bangladesh incorporated women issues in all the major development related policies and strategies. Increased women’s participation in politics, economic empowerment of women, eliminating violence against women are the some of the actions towards establishing gender equality in the country. Bangladesh is leading in women empowerment, gender equality and gender mainstreaming by example. The Global Gender Gap Report 2018 shows that Bangladesh stands at 48th Position among 149 countries in overall Global Gender Index while stand 5th in Political empowerment of women Index. Role of leadership, national commitment and appropriate strategies are the major determinants of our success in women empowerment. “Planet 50-50 Champion award” by the UN-Women, “Agent of Change Award” by the Global Partnership Forum, Forbes “9th most powerful women in politics and “Global Women Leadership Award” in 2018 by Global Summit of Women for Successful Women Leadership are the recognitions to our Prime Minister who led the country from the front towards these impressive performances.
Madam President
-
We highly appreciate UN Women’s effort to end discrimination towards empowerment of women and girls, to integrate gender equality concerns into national priorities, building a climate resilient women and girl friendly adaptation framework. We consider the UN Women as a trusted partner in our endeavors. UN-Women’s partnership with Bangladesh has been reinforced by its role along with other UN agencies in tackling catastrophic situation created by the sudden influx of over 1.1 million forcibly displaced Rohingya population from Miyanmar of which majority are women and girls. Risks of discrimination, exploitation, trafficking, child marriage are grave. Sincere thanks to UN-Women for joining hands with the Government, the people of Bangladesh and other UN entities on the ground in reassuring support to traumatized and vulnerable women and girls in the camps of Cox’s bazar for over a year now. Before concluding let me assure you our support in taking forward the women’s agenda globally.