Ban Ki Moon: female gender friendly

Mr Ban Ki-Moon, Secretary-General, United Nations (UN), has flaunted his friendly female gender credential, saying he has appointed more senior women officials in the history of the organisation.

Ban spoke at the “He For She’’, a Solidarity Movement for Gender Equality organised by the UN Women in New York on Saturday.

“With this record, I feel qualified to say: I am He for She,’’ he said at the event co-hosted by the British actor and UN Women Goodwill Ambassador Emma Watson.

Ban said “He For She’’ campaign intends to mobilise one billion men and boys around the world to end persisting inequalities faced by women and girls.

“Over the years, men have not supported the women’s movement; gender equality is the responsibility of all people,’’ he said.

According to Ban, states had an obligation to address violence against women, noting that one in three women is a victim of violence.

“Men are responsible for most of the threats and violence against women. Often, these men are close to the victims-fathers, husbands, boyfriends or supervisors.

“We need to say to men and boys: Do not raise your hands in violence, raise your voices to stop it and to support human rights for all,’’ Ban told the participants.

He commended the UN Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka for inaugurating the campaign and welcomed Watson as new UN Women Goodwill Ambassador.

Participants at the event rated the campaign as one of the largest solidarity movements for gender equality inaugurated by the UN agency for gender equality. (NAN)