|
I am happy to be here today.
I take it that addressing the limitations in
women’s lives and human rights embodied in the concept of the
so-called glass ceiling, really applies to all women facing barriers
that are not acknowledged, observed and systematically addressed to
promote necessary change.
In Beijing, five years ago, I expressed the truth
of the matter: there isn’t a single country or institution in the
world where men and women enjoy equal opportunities.
Even though we had been struggling for decades to
achieve fundamental change, we still had to admit there is a long way
to go. Even in ILO, or in WHO, Juan and I have a challenge. All of us,
on this panel and in the audience, have jobs to do, before we can say
we are there.
Five years ago, I said that changes must take place
in the board rooms as well as in the shantytowns. I said they
must take place from the suburbia of Europe and North America to the
poor farmlands in Africa and everywhere in between. Today, that energy
for change is still needed.
So, as a new century stretches before us, our main
priority should be to eradicate the poverty and discrimination faced
by women found in many parts of the globe. The 20th century
has shown they are crippling, debilitating and choice-limiting forces.
Furthermore, we have learned that, although poverty and discrimination
burden the lives of both women and men, there is little doubt that, by
most measures and in most places, women are more often and more
seriously affected.
What is the evidence? Poverty has a woman’s face.
More than 70% of the poorest 1.3 billion people of the world are
women. Gender-based discrimination, combined with poverty, prevents
women from leaving situations of abuse and exploitation. They interact
to allow a small power elite - be they extreme traditionalist male
governments or village elders and traditional healers - to maintain
damaging and discriminatory practices under the guise of cultural or
religious tradition. Poverty leads to ill health, which puts
additional strain on already over-stretched households. Women suffer -
much more than they should. That is why we must strive for real
change.
And, finally, to a personal reflection - from one
who has been privileged, and in the end has not been stopped by a
glass ceiling, I recall my own experience, in the midst of personal
and political struggle, as a forty-one year-old first woman Prime
Minister. What helped me cope with attitudes of hostility and
discrimination, even in my own, reasonably enlightened society? It was
the conviction that change could be achieved.
As I encountered personal, sexist attacks by
political opponents, I said to myself "this is a first. If you
prevail, the next woman to be leader in Norway will not need to face
the same forces of discrimination". It was a consolation to know:
stay put, keep going, you are breaking ground for the future of women,
and for a better society.
I believe I am not alone in this type of
reflection. I am sure others on the panel have faced similar
situations in their lives, within the corporate, media, or labour
movement world.
I believe that the conditions for change are
stimulated through example and inspiration. It leads to a wider
recognition of the real potential that results from women being able
to access and use power to improve societies and the human condition.
Thank you. |
