write a speech about equality

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Gender Equality Speech - 10 Lines, Short and Long Speech

Speech on Gender Equality -

Every individual human in this world is equal no matter what color they are, where they come from, or what gender they are. In almost every nation around the world, people suffer because of gender inequality. All sorts of people irrespective of age, background, and financial status, suffer from gender inequality. For a long period selected gender is considered superior and others inferior. Gender equality is a basic human right and helps for a peaceful and sustainable world.

10 Lines On Gender Equality

Short speech on gender equality, long speech on gender equality, my experience.

Gender Equality Speech - 10 Lines, Short and Long Speech

Gender equality starts from home. In many households, boy children and girl children are treated differently. This practice makes people think that treating people differently is normal.

A boy child is given greater care than a girl child. Education is denied for girls in many houses just because they are girls.

Many girl children are married at a younger age, as they are considered a burden to the family. This practice still exists in many parts of India.

Crimes towards girl children are high in rate when compared to boy children.

When such insecurities start in childhood, people believe these things are normal.

Not only girls, but even transgender people also go through a lot of injustice because of their gender.

These inequalities affect the social health and development of any nation.

It is high time to move towards an equal society. Every individual irrespective of their gender is equal.

There are many steps taken by the government and society to rectify this blunder of inequality.

Gender equality can be easily attained by giving equal rights to every individual to decide, participate, develop, and aspire.

Gender equality (or) equality of sexes is nothing but the access to opportunities and resources equally to every individual irrespective of their gender. To achieve a bigger goal of gender equality it is important to practice gender neutrality. For a very long period masculinity is considered superior and powerful. Meanwhile, the feminine is considered inferior and weak. Society is very much comfortable with such patriarchal practices. But, it is not the right thing for a specific gender to enjoy all the freedom and accessibility while the other gender suffers the pain of suppression.

These days the concept of gender equality is very much popular. People, especially women, are ready to fight for their position. For a prolonged period, countless women suffered societal injustice in a patriarchal society. In some cases, these inequalities became life-threatening. In many violence, girls are affected by victim blaming. Women are the primary victim of domestic violence. Yet, they are expected to endure and accept because that is what society taught them.

We, as a member of society, have the responsibility to take simple steps to improve equality among genders. Changes are a must for development. It is time to change the mindset of giving superiority to one particular gender and suppressing others. It doesn’t mean reversing the superiority cycle by giving power to women and transgender and suppressing males. It simply means giving equal rights to everyone no matter what gender they are. Give equal education, equal opportunities, equal career, equal financial stability, equal choices, equal rights, and most importantly equal respect. That is how the future society of a powerful country works.

Gender inequality begins at home. Even in these modern days, in many households, girl children are treated as unwanted guests. Education is not given equally to both of them. A boy gets better education, education of his interest and a girl gets an education only if the family is interested or in marriage.

Girl children are considered a burden to their families and are married off early to avoid responsibilities. Education for a man is focused on his future and education for a woman is focused on her marriage. This is an extremely wrong practice that should come to a complete end. Girl children undergo a lot of violence just because of their gender. This violence is of various kinds. Some of them are intolerable. In some parts of society, a woman still has to go through brutal torture, both physically and mentally. Domestic violence is still an issue for most women in various parts of society. Due to the lack of awareness of rights among women, they don’t even consider it wrong.

Another major problem is faced by every working woman. The payout for workers differs majorly depending upon their gender. In many fields of work, this culture is still being followed, especially in labour work. Women labourers are getting way less pay than male labourers. All these are injustices towards a particular gender. There are even poor medical care and legal protections due to this inequality. It is high time to take a step forward and stop these meaningless practices.

Even worse, some people undergo sufferings that cannot be described in words. There is another gender that is still fighting for social recognition. Trans-genders are people who are fighting to have at least a place in society. Violence and injustice against this gender remain unnoticed by many. There are ways through which gender equality can be achieved for the brighter future generation.

Gender equality should begin in our homes. When both male and female children are treated equally, no one thinks he/she is inferior/superior. Giving open opportunities, recognizing talent, encouraging women's education, and giving them financial independence are major key points to be achieved. As a society, we must keep our minds open to welcome a major change for the future generation. As a very great step, the New Zealand cricket board decided to ratify an equal pay agreement in July 2022. Many such initiatives must be encouraged. The power and privilege enjoyed by a particular gender because they belong to ‘that’ gender should never be given to them anymore. All of us, as a society, shall now walk towards gender equal society.

When I was in school, I knew a girl who sold vegetables every morning in our area. My mother used to buy from her. She was always pleasant and happy. One day, I saw her talking to a boy in a school uniform. When I asked her who he was she said it was her brother. I asked immediately "don't you go to school" . Her answer shocked me. “What am I going to do by attending school? I am just a girl. My brother is a boy who will support our family in the future”. What shocked me more was not that she is deprived of education but, she is not at all aware of the injustice imposed upon her. Many such kids have no idea they are a victim of social injustice. It is important to create awareness and spread gender equality across the world.

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11 superb speeches to inspire us to keep fighting for gender equality, even when we're exhausted

It's been a particularly distressing year full of chaos, heartbreak, and loss. And though circumstances are tough and constantly striving for a better world can be exhausting, it's crucial that women (and men, too) continue in the fight for gender equality.

Gender discrimination and the gender pay gap are still realities that women face on a daily basis. And in 2020, women's rights to abortion and more may be at risk if a conservative winds up filling Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's Supreme Court seat.

Thankfully, a whole lot of strong women role models are out there to help lift us up and lead the way. Here are 11 speeches to inspire you to keep fighting for equality, no matter how challenging or hopeless things may feel.

1. Hillary Clinton's "Women's Rights are Human Rights" speech

You may recall Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential concession speech as one of her most memorable, but another truly remarkable address took place in September 1995.

During an impassioned speech at the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, China, Clinton memorably declared, "Human rights are women's rights, and women's rights are human rights."

The then first lady of the United States went on to passionately argue for the rights and freedom of women around the world. She highlighted the need for women to be protected and respected. She called for an end to violence against women and demanded that women be treated equally. She asked that women be given the same access to education, the same freedom of speech, and the same societal and political rights as men. And she lifted women up, as she's done so many times during her career.

2. Leymah Gbowee's 2012 Ted Talk

Leymah Gbowee, a Liberian peace activist, was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize in 2011 for the role she played in ending the Second Liberian Civil War in 2003. Gbowee's nonviolent organizing efforts were historic, and the social worker and women's rights advocate went on to deliver a powerful TED Talk in March 2012 called, "Unlock the intelligence, passion, greatness of girls."

Gbowee shared several formative personal experiences she's had while traveling around the world to speak. She talked about girls she's met and shared bits of their stories. She spoke about her work and the issues she fights for. And she spoke about hope.

"I don't have much to ask of you. I've also been to places in this U.S. and I know that girls in this country also have wishes — wishes for a better life," Gbowee said. "Somewhere in the Bronx... wish for a better life. Somewhere in downtown LA... wish for a better life. Somewhere in Texas... wish for a better life... Somewhere in New Jersey... wish for a better life. Will you journey with me to help that girl?… All they are asking us to do is create that space to unlock the intelligence, unlock the passion, unlock all of the great things that they hold within themselves. Let's journey together."

3. Julia Gillard's famous misogyny speech

In October 2012, Julia Gillard, a former Australian politician who served as Australia's 27th prime minister from 2010 to 2013, delivered a powerful parliamentary speech on misogyny.

In response to opposition leader Tony Abbott's request to have Peter Slipper removed as Speaker over texts sent to an aide, Gillard took the mic and called Abbott out for his own sexist, misogynistic behavior.

"The Leader of the Opposition says that people who hold sexist views and who are misogynists are not appropriate for high office. Well, I hope the Leader of the Opposition has got a piece of paper and he is writing out his resignation. Because if he wants to know what misogyny looks like in modern Australia, he doesn't need a motion in the House of Representatives, he needs a mirror. That's what he needs," Gillard began.

Over the course of the nearly 15-minute address, she proceeded to call out Abbott's "repulsive double standards" on misogyny and sexism.

In a September 2013 appearance on Australian's Kitchen Cabinet interview show, Abbott spoke about Gillard's speech. "Look, politics is about theater and at the time I didn't think it was very effective theater at all," he said. "But plainly it did strike a chord in a lot of people who had not followed the immediate problem that had brought on that particular parliamentary debate."

Strike a chord it did. Though Gillard's speech was seen as controversial by some, it resonated with so many women who had experienced similar behavior, and her words remain unforgettable.

4. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's "We should all be feminists" TEDx talk

Some of you may be familiar with We Should All Be Feminists , the personal essay by Nigerian writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie that was published as a book in 2014. But did you know the New York Times bestseller is an adapted version of a TEDx talk that the writer delivered in December 2012?

"We teach girls that they can have ambition, but not too much... to be successful, but not too successful, or they'll threaten men," the writer says to the audience. You may recognize bits of audio from the song "Flawless" off of Beyoncé's 2016 album, Lemonade , but Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's full 30-minute discussion of feminism, the role gender plays in today's society, the double standards among men and women, and her own personal experiences is required listening of its own.

5. Malala Yousafzai's 16th birthday address to the United Nations

When Nobel Prize-winning activist Malala Yousafzai turned 16 years old in July 2013, she delivered a profoundly inspiring address at the United Nations. Yousafzai spoke about how she had been shot by the Taliban in 2012, talked of her recovery and how grateful she was to be alive, and laid out an impassioned plea for equality.

"We call upon all communities to be tolerant — to reject prejudice based on cast, creed, sect, religion, or gender. To ensure freedom and equality for women so that they can flourish. We cannot all succeed when half of us are held back," Yousafzai said.

"Dear brothers and sisters, we want schools and education for every child's bright future. We will continue our journey to our destination of peace and education for everyone," she continued. "No one can stop us. We will speak for our rights and we will bring change through our voice. We must believe in the power and the strength of our words. Our words can change the world."

6. Emma Watson's gender equality speech at the United Nations

In September 2014, Emma Watson — British actor, activist, and United Nations Women Goodwill Ambassador — delivered a powerful address on gender equality at a UN Women's HeForShe campaign event.

"Why has the word [feminism] become such an uncomfortable one? I am from Britain, and I think it is right I am paid the same as my male counterparts. I think it is right that I should be able to make decisions about my own body. I think it is right that women be involved on my behalf in the policies and decisions that will affect my life. I think it is right that socially, I am afforded the same respect as men," Watson said. "But sadly, I can say that there is no one country in the world where all women can expect to see these rights. No country in the world can yet say that they achieved gender equality."

Watson went on to explain how she came to understand the word "feminism." She shared personal experiences, discussed how harmful gender stereotypes are, and directly addressed men to remind them, "Gender equality is your issue, too."

7. Lupita Nyong'o speaking at a Black Women in Hollywood event

At Essence 's 2014 Black Women in Hollywood event, actor Lupita Nyong'o was honored for her role in 12 Years a Slave. Nyong'o received the award for "Best Breakthrough Performance" and proceeded to give a truly moving speech about what it means to be a Black woman in Hollywood.

Nyong'o began by sharing a passage from a fan letter she received. A young girl wrote to the actor to say, "I think you're really lucky to be this Black but yet this successful in Hollywood overnight. I was just about to buy Dencia's Whitenicious cream to lighten my skin when you appeared on the world map and saved me."

"My heart bled a little when I read those words," Nyong'o said. "I remember a time when I too felt unbeautiful. I put on the TV and only saw pale skin, I got teased and taunted about my night-shaded skin. And my one prayer to God, the miracle worker, was that I would wake up lighter-skinned."

Nyong'o shared her own struggles with self-image and self-acceptance growing up, expressing why diversity and on-screen representations are so important in the world.

8. Ruth Bader Ginsburg's comments about women on the Supreme Court

The world continues to mourn the loss of the great Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who died on Sept. 18, 2020. But her legacy as a Supreme Court justice and fierce advocate for women's rights and equality will never be forgotten.

Justice Ginsburg gave her fair share of powerful speeches on gender equality over the course of her remarkable career, but several beloved RBG quotes were made when she visited Georgetown University in February 2015 and spoke about the many challenges women in her profession face.

"People ask me sometimes when do you think it will be enough? When will there be enough women on the court? And my answer is, 'When there are nine,'" Justice Ginsburg said. You can watch the full conversation here .

9. Michelle Obama's International Women's Day remarks

Like Justice Ginsburg, Michelle Obama has given a number of touching speeches over the course of her career. But on International Women's Day in 2016, the first lady gave an especially moving one at a Washington, D.C., event for Let Girls Learn , the White House initiative she launched to help fight for girls' education around the world.

"The more I traveled and met with girls and learned from experts about this issue, the more I realized that the barriers to girls' education isn't just resources. It's not just about access to scholarships or transportation or school bathrooms. It's also about attitudes and beliefs — the belief that girls simply aren't worthy of an education; that women should have no role outside the home; that their bodies aren't their own, their minds don't really matter, and their voices simply shouldn't be heard," she said.

After touching on additional issues of inequality, such as discrimination and violence against women, Obama went on to remind people there are still so many rights and freedoms to fight for.

"These issues aren't settled. These freedoms that we take for granted aren't guaranteed in stone. And they certainly didn't just come down to us as a gift from the heavens. No, these rights were secured through long, hard battles waged by women and men who marched, and protested, and made their voices heard in courtrooms and boardrooms and voting booths and the halls of Congress."

10. Raquel Willis calling to protect Black trans lives

Raquel Willis , writer and Black transgender activist, gave an extremely empowering speech to a crowd of 15,000 people at a Brooklyn rally for Black trans lives in June 2020.

"I am gonna talk to my Black trans folks first and model what it looks like to put us first," Willis said into the mic. "We have been told to be silent for too long. We have been told that we are not enough to parents, to family, to lovers, to Johns, to organizations, to schools, to our government, to the world. And the truth is that we're more than enough."

Willis went on to remind Black trans folk to never doubt their power, to never fall silent, and to keep fighting for equality in workplaces, organizations, and every aspect of life. And she called on others to be active allies to the Black trans community.

"Don't ever doubt the faith that you should have for yourself and your people, cause we are the ones changing shit, and we are the lifeblood of everything they've built and tried to lock us out of," Willis said.

"I want you to all also remember, whether you are Black or trans or not, you have a duty and responsibility to elevate Black trans power," she added.

11. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's response to Congressman Ted Yoho

In the two years since Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez won the Democratic primary election for New York's 14th congressional district, she's made her fair share of striking, inspirational speeches. After Justice Ginsburg died, the Congresswoman delivered raw, deeply emotional comments on Instagram Live that inspired many continue to fight for issues, like gender equality, that were so close to Ginsburg's heart.

One of AOC's most memorable speeches of 2020 took place in July when she spoke on the House floor to address the hateful comments that Republican Rep. Ted Yoho made toward her. After Yoho reportedly confronted AOC on the steps of Capitol Hill and called her "disgusting" and a "fucking bitch," the Congresswoman spoke out on behalf of herself and all women.

"When you do that to any woman, what Mr. Yoho did was give permission to other men to do that to his daughters," she said. "In using that language in front of the press he gave permission to use that language against his wife, his daughters, women in his community. And I am here to stand up to say that is not acceptable."

"I do not care what your views are. It does not matter how much I disagree, or how much it incenses me, or how much I feel that people are dehumanizing others. I will not do that myself," Ocasio-Cortez continued, noting that she would never use such disrespectful language toward Yoho or anyone else. "I will not allow people to change and create hatred in our hearts."

"Treating someone with dignity and respect makes a decent man, and when a decent man messes up, as we all are bound to do, he tries his best and does apologize," the Congresswoman said. "Not to save face. Not to win a vote. He apologizes genuinely to repair and acknowledge the harm he has done so that we can all move on."

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New york city, 27 february 2020, secretary-general antónio guterres' remarks at the new school: "women and power", antónio guterres.

[Scroll down for French version]

Dear students, dear friends,

It is a great pleasure to be here today. Thank you for honouring me with this degree and through me, the United Nations and our staff around the world.

The New School is a special place. I am an engineer by training and physics has been the biggest intellectual passion of my life. But I reserve my greatest admiration for artists, philosophers, social scientists and those who explain the world and make it more beautiful.

I thank the New School for helping to uplift us and give meaning to our lives. No place is better than the New School for me to explain our view on women and power, and our very strong commitment to gender equality in everything we do.

As a man born in western Europe, I have enjoyed many privileges. But my childhood under a military dictatorship in Portugal opened my eyes to injustice and oppression.

As a student doing volunteer work in the slums of Lisbon, throughout my political career, and as the leader of the United Nations refugee agency, I have always felt compelled to fight against injustice, inequality and the denial of human rights.

Today, as Secretary-General of the United Nations, I see one overwhelming injustice across the globe; an abuse that is crying out for attention. That is gender inequality and discrimination against women and girls.

Everywhere, women are worse off than men, simply because they are women. Migrant and refugee women, those with disabilities, and women members of minorities of all kinds face even greater barriers.

This discrimination harms us all. Just as slavery and colonialism were a stain on previous centuries, women’s inequality should shame us all in the 21st. Because it is not only unacceptable; it is stupid.

Only through the equal participation of women can we benefit from the intelligence, experience and insights of all of humanity. Women’s equal participation is vital to stability, helps prevent conflict, and promotes sustainable, inclusive development.

Gender equality is the prerequisite for a better world.

Dear friends, dear students,

This is not a new issue. Women have been fighting for their rights for centuries.

Five hundred years ago, Queen Nzinga Mbandi of the Mbundu waged war against Portuguese colonial rule in present-day Angola.

Mary Wollstonecraft, who wrote A Vindication of the Rights of Women in 1792, is often seen as the mother of western feminism.

Sixty years later, Sojourner Truth delivered an impassioned plea for women’s rights while she worked to abolish slavery.

The women’s rights movement came of age in the twentieth century.

Women heads of state dispelled any doubts about women’s ability to lead.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights asserted the equal rights of men and women; and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women outlined a vision of gender equality.

Today, young women like Malala Yousafzai and Nadia Murad are breaking barriers and creating new models of leadership.

But despite these advances, the state of women’s rights remains dire. Inequality and discrimination are the norm, everywhere.

Progress has slowed to a standstill – and in some cases, been reversed.

There is a strong and relentless pushback against women’s rights.

Violence against women, including femicide, is at epidemic levels.

More than one in three women will experience violence in some form during her lifetime. Legal protections against rape and domestic violence are being diluted or rolled back in some places.

Rape within marriage continues to be legal in 34 countries.

Women’s sexual and reproductive rights are under threat from different sides.

Women leaders and public figures face harassment, threats and abuse, online and off. The policing of personal freedom and dress are a daily reality for millions of women and girls.

From governments to corporate boards to awards ceremonies, women are still excluded from the top table.

Policies that penalize women, like austerity and coercive reproduction, are back in fashion. Peace negotiations still exclude women, twenty years after all countries pledged to include them. And the digital age could make these inequalities even more entrenched.

Dear friends and dear students,

Gender equality is fundamentally a question of power. We live in a male-dominated world with a male-dominated culture. We have done so for millennia.

The historian Mary Beard has identified the deep historical roots of patriarchy in western culture.

In the Odyssey, written three thousand years ago, Homer describes Telemachus telling his mother, Penelope, to be quiet and to leave the talking to men. Unfortunately, Telemachus would not be out of place in some of my meetings today.

Patriarchy – a social system founded on inheritance through the male line – continues to affect every area of our lives.

We are all – men and women, girls and boys – suffering the consequences. Male-dominated power structures underpin our economies, our political systems and our corporations.

Even Hollywood fame does not protect women from men who wield physical, emotional and professional power over them. I salute those who have courageously spoken up and fought back.

A hidden layer of inequality is built into the institutions and structures that govern all our lives – but are based on the needs of just half the population.

The writer Caroline Criado Perez calls this “default man” thinking: the unquestioned assumption that men are standard, and women the exception.

This has led to the biggest data gap in the world.

Very often, women are not counted, and their experiences don’t count.

The consequences are everywhere, from toilet facilities to bus routes.

Women are at higher risk of being injured in a car accident, because seats and safety belts fit default man.

Women have a higher fatality rate from heart attacks because diagnostic tools are designed around default man.

Default man thinking even extends into space, which is indeed the final frontier – for women. More than 150 men have walked in space, but just a handful of women, particularly because spacesuits are designed for default man. No woman has walked on the moon – although women mathematicians played an essential part in putting men there. At last, we are finally celebrating the achievements of these women, including Katherine Johnson who passed away this week.

All too often, alongside violence, control, male-dominated power structures and hidden discrimination, women and girls contend with centuries of misogyny and the erasure of their achievements.

From the ridiculing of women as hysterical or hormonal, to the routine judgement of women based on their looks; from the myths and taboos that surround women’s natural body functions, to mansplaining and victim-blaming – misogyny has been everywhere.

Conversely, across centuries and cultures, words like “genius” and “brilliant” are used far more often to describe men than women.

Which is less surprising when men have made the rules and banned women from participating in it. The damage done by patriarchy and inequality goes far beyond women and girls.

Men have a gender too.

It is defined so rigidly that it can trap men and boys into stereotypes that involve risky behaviour, physical aggression and an unwillingness to seek advice or support.

As the writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie puts it: “Masculinity is a hard, small cage, and we put boys inside this cage.”

Around the world, men have shorter life spans than women; they are more likely to be in prison and to use and experience violence; and they are less likely to seek help.

We have defined men’s power in ways that come at great cost – to men themselves.

Gender equality has enormous benefits for men’s personal relationships. Men who share caregiving and spend more time with their families are happier, and have happier children.

On a larger scale, transforming the balance of power is essential, not only as a question of human rights, personal development, health and wellbeing.

It is critical to solving some of the most damaging and intractable problems of our age, from deepening inequality and polarization to the climate crisis.

Friends, dear students,

I see five areas in which achieving gender equality can transform our world. First, conflict and violence. There is a straight line between violence against women, civil oppression and conflict.

Trillions of dollars are spent every year on peace and security. But we should be asking: whose peace? Whose security?

Inter-state conflict makes headlines, but in some of the most violent parts of the world, levels of femicide - the killing of women – are comparable to a war zone. 137 women around the world are killed by a member of their own family every day.

Impunity rates are above 95 percent in some countries.

In other words, we have men waging war on women – but no one is calling for a ceasefire or imposing sanctions. And how a society treats the female half of its population is a significant indicator of how it will treat others.

Rape and sexual slavery are routinely used as a tactic of war, and misogyny is part of the ideology of almost all violent extremist groups.

Conversely, involving women leaders and decision-makers in mediation and peace processes leads to more lasting and sustainable peace.

The United Nations is committed to putting women at the centre of our conflict prevention, peacemaking, peacebuilding and mediation efforts – and to increasing the numbers of our women peacekeepers.

Second, the climate crisis.

The existential emergency we are facing is the result of decisions that were taken mainly by men, but have a disproportionate impact on women and girls.

Drought and famine mean women work harder to find food and water, while heatwaves, storms and floods kill more women and girls than men and boys.

Women and girls have long been leaders and activists on the environment, from Wangari Maathai and Jane Goodall to the Fridays for Future movement. But the impact of gender inequality on climate action goes deeper.

Initiatives to reduce and recycle are overwhelmingly marketed at women, while men are more likely to put their faith in untested technological fixes.

There is plenty of evidence that women are more open than men to reducing their personal environmental impact.

And recent studies show that women economists and parliamentarians are more likely to support sustainable, inclusive policies.

There is a risk that safeguarding our planet is seen as “women’s work” – just another domestic chore.

I am grateful to young people, Generation Z, including many of you here in this room, who are working for climate action and gender equality, while recognizing the reality of non-binary identities and solutions.

Macho posturing will not save our planet.

Gender equality, including men stepping up and taking responsibility, is essential if we are to beat the climate emergency.

The third area in which women’s rights and equal opportunities can create a breakthrough is in building inclusive economies. Worldwide, women still earn just 77 cents for every dollar earned by men.

The latest research by the World Economic Forum says it will take until 2255 to close the gender pay gap.

How can I tell my granddaughters that their granddaughters’ granddaughters will still be paid less than a man for the same work?

The gender pay gap is one reason why 70 percent of the world’s poor are women and girls.

Another is that women and girls do some 12 billion hours of unpaid care work around the world every day – three times more than men.

In some communities, women can spend 14 hours a day cooking, cleaning, fetching wood and water and caring for children and the elderly. Economic models classify these hours as “leisure time”.

Gross Domestic Product puts zero value on anything that happens in the home.

But this flawed metric is the baseline for economic decision-making, distorting policies and denying women opportunities. Women who do have an income are more likely than men to invest in their families and communities, strengthening economies and making them more resilient.

Women also tend to take a longer view. Corporate boards that include them are more stable and profitable.

The recent decision by one of the world’s biggest investment banks not to take a company public unless it has a woman board member was not made on moral grounds. It was financial good sense.

Women’s equal economic rights and opportunities are a global imperative if we are to build a fair globalization that works for all.

Fourth, the digital divide.

When a couple complained last year that the man’s credit limit was 20 times higher than his wife’s, despite her higher credit score, the discrepancy was blamed on an algorithm. But with women occupying just 26 per cent of jobs in Artificial Intelligence, it is no surprise that many algorithms are biased towards men.

Digital technology can be an enormous force for good.

But I am deeply concerned by the male domination of technological professions in the universities, start-ups and Silicon Valleys of this world.

These tech hubs are already shaping the economies and societies of the future, with a huge impact on the evolution of power relations.

Unless women play an equal role in designing digital technologies, progress on women’s rights could be reversed. Lack of diversity will not only expand gender inequality.

It will limit the innovation and scope of new technologies, making them less useful for everyone.

Fifth and finally, political representation.

Women’s participation in parliaments around the world has doubled in the last 25 years – to one quarter. Fewer than one-tenth of states are led by a woman.

But women’s representation in government is not about stereotypical “women’s issues” like opposing sexual harassment or promoting childcare.

Women in government drive social progress and meaningful changes to people’s lives.

Women are more likely to advocate for investment in education and health; and to seek cross-party consensus and common ground.

When the numbers of women reach a critical mass, governments are more likely to innovate, and to challenge established orthodoxies. In other words, women in politics are redefining and redistributing power.

It is no coincidence that the governments that are redefining GDP to include wellbeing and sustainability are led by women. It is simple math.

Women’s participation improves institutions.

Doubling the resources, capacity and expertise we put into decision-making benefits everyone.

One of my first priorities as Secretary-General of the United Nations was to bring more women into leadership positions. On 1st January this year, we achieved gender parity – 90 women and 90 men – in the ranks of full-time senior leadership, two years ahead of the target date I set at the start of my tenure.

We have a roadmap in place to achieve parity at all levels in the years ahead. This long-overdue change is an essential recognition of the equal rights and abilities of women staff.

It is also about improving our efficiency and effectiveness for the people we serve. Dear students, dear friends, The opportunity of man-made problems – and I choose these words deliberately – is that they have human-led solutions.

Thriving matriarchal societies throughout history and around the world show that patriarchy is not inevitable. We have recently seen women, many of them young, demanding transformational change.

From Sudan to Chile to Lebanon, they are calling for freedom from violence, greater representation and urgent climate action, and questioning economic systems that fail to deliver opportunities and fulfilment for many.

We owe these young leaders our voices and our support. Gender equality is part of the DNA of the United Nations. The equal rights of women and men are included in the Charter – our founding document.

As we mark our 75th anniversary this year, along with the 25th anniversary of the Beijing Conference on Women, we are redoubling our efforts to support women’s rights across the board.

Last month, the United Nations launched a Decade of Action to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals – the blueprint for our partnership with governments to build peaceful, prosperous and inclusive societies on a healthy planet.

Gender equality is a goal in itself, and key to achieving the other 16 goals.

The Decade of Action is aimed at transforming institutions and structures, broadening inclusion and driving sustainability. Repealing laws that discriminate against women and girls; increasing protection against violence; closing the gap in girls’ education and digital technology; guaranteeing full access to sexual and reproductive health services and rights; and ending the gender pay gap are just some of the areas we are targeting.

Women’s equal leadership and participation are fundamental. That is why in the past, I always supported quotas – the most effective way to achieve a radical shift in the balance of power. Now is the time for gender parity in governments, parliaments, corporate boards and institutions everywhere.

Over the next two years, I intend to deepen my personal commitment to highlighting and supporting gender equality in all areas of our work.

I will contact governments that have discriminatory laws on their books to advocate for change and offer our support; and urge each new government to achieve gender parity in senior leadership.

I will explore ways to maximize the influence of the United Nations to make sure women have equal representation in peace processes; and strengthen our work on the links between violence against women and international peace and security.

I will continue to meet women whose lives have been affected by violence. I will also advocate for GDP to include measures of well-being and sustainability and for unpaid domestic work to be given its true value.

I am committed to ending “default male” thinking across the United Nations. We are a data-driven organization; it is essential that our data does not make the ridiculous assumption that men are the norm and women are the exception.

We need women’s voices and contributions at the forefront in peace negotiations and trade talks; at the Oscars and the G20; in board rooms and classrooms; and at the United Nations General Assembly.

Gender equality is a question of power; power that has been jealously guarded by men for millennia.

It is about an abuse of power that is damaging our communities, our economies, our environment, our relationships and our health.

We must urgently transform and redistribute power, if we are to safeguard our future and our planet.

That is why all men should support women’s rights and gender equality. And why I am a proud feminist.

Women have equaled and outperformed men in almost every sphere. It is time to stop trying to change women, and start changing the systems that prevent them from achieving their potential.

Our power structures have evolved gradually over thousands of years. One further evolution is long overdue. The 21st century must be the century of women’s equality. Let us all play our part in making it so.

************************************************************************************ [French version]

Monsieur Van Zandt, Monsieur Aleinikoff, Madame Chang, Chères étudiantes, chers étudiants, chers amis,

C’est un grand plaisir pour moi que d’être ici aujourd’hui. Je vous remercie de l’honneur que vous me faites et à travers moi, à l’Organisation des Nations Unies et à notre personnel dans le monde entier en me nommant docteur honoris causa. La New School est un lieu spécial. Je suis ingénieur de formation et la physique est la grande passion intellectuelle de ma vie. Mais les personnes pour lesquelles j’éprouve le plus d’admiration sont les artistes, les philosophes, les spécialistes des sciences sociales et toutes celles et tous ceux qui expliquent le monde et le rendent plus beau.

La New School contribue à nous élever et à donner un sens à notre vie, et je lui en suis reconnaissant.

Chères étudiantes et chers étudiants, chers amis,

Je suis un homme né en Europe occidentale. À ce titre, j'ai bénéficié de nombreux privilèges. Mais mon enfance passée sous la dictature militaire au Portugal m'a ouvert les yeux sur l'injustice et l'oppression. Déjà quand j’étais étudiant et que je travaillais bénévolement dans les taudis de Lisbonne, puis tout au long de ma carrière politique de Premier Ministre et de Haut-Commissaire des Nations Unies pour les réfugiés, je me suis toujours senti tenu de lutter contre l’injustice, l'inégalité et le déni des droits humains.

Aujourd’hui Secrétaire général de l’Organisation des Nations Unies, je constate l’omniprésence d’une certaine injustice dans le monde entier, d’un préjudice qui réclame toute notre attention : les inégalités de genre et la discrimination envers les femmes et les filles.

Partout, les femmes sont moins bien loties que les hommes, pour la simple et bonne raison qu’elles sont des femmes.

Les migrantes et les réfugiées, les femmes handicapées et celles qui appartiennent à des minorités se heurtent à des obstacles encore plus importants.

Cette discrimination nous fait du tort, à toutes et à tous.

De même que l’esclavage et le colonialisme ont entaché les siècles passés, l’inégalité que subissent les femmes au XXIe siècle devrait faire honte à chacune et à chacun d’entre nous.

Pas seulement parce qu’elle est inacceptable, mais parce qu’elle est absurde.

Renoncer à l’égale participation des femmes et des hommes, c’est renoncer à l’intelligence, à l’expérience et aux connaissances de la moitié de l’humanité.

La rendre possible, c’est la clef de la stabilité. C’est favoriser la prévention des conflits et ouvrir la voie au développement durable et inclusif.

L’égalité des genres est la condition sine qua non d’un monde meilleur.

Mesdames et Messieurs, chères étudiantes et chers étudiants,

Il ne s’agit pas d’un sujet nouveau. Voilà des siècles que les femmes luttent pour leurs droits.

Il y a 500 ans, Nzinga Mbandi, reine des Mbundu, a mené une guerre contre la domination coloniale portugaise dans l’actuel Angola.

Mary Wollstonecraft, qui a écrit Défense des droits de la femme en 1792, est souvent considérée comme la mère du féminisme occidental.

Soixante ans plus tard, Sojourner Truth a plaidé avec passion pour les droits des femmes tout en œuvrant pour l’abolition de l’esclavage.

Le mouvement pour les droits des femmes est arrivé à maturité au XXe siècle. Les femmes chefs d’État n’ont laissé subsister aucun doute quant à la capacité des femmes à diriger. La Déclaration universelle des droits de l’homme a consacré l’égalité des droits entre les femmes et les hommes, tandis que la Convention sur l’élimination de toutes les formes de discrimination à l’égard des femmes a esquissé une manière de concevoir l’égalité des genres.

Aujourd’hui, des jeunes femmes comme Malala Yousafzai et Nadia Murad font tomber les barrières et créent des modèles de leadership inédits.

Malgré ces avancées, la situation des droits des femmes reste désastreuse.

Partout, l’inégalité et la discrimination sont la norme.

Nos progrès sont au point mort. Dans certains cas, nous faisons marche arrière.

La réalisation des droits des femmes est entravée par des forces de réaction puissantes et obstinées.

La violence faite aux femmes, en particulier les féminicides, atteint des proportions épidémiques. Plus d’une femme sur trois subira des violences d’une forme ou d’une autre au cours de sa vie.

Les protections juridiques contre le viol et la violence domestique sont en train d’être assouplies ou revues à la baisse. Le viol conjugal demeure légal dans 34 pays. Les droits des femmes en matière de sexualité et de procréation sont menacés de toutes parts.

Les dirigeantes et les personnalités publiques qui sont des femmes subissent harcèlement, menaces et agressions, sur Internet aussi bien qu’ailleurs.

Pour des millions de femmes et de filles, le contrôle de la liberté individuelle et de la tenue vestimentaire est une réalité quotidienne.

Des gouvernements aux conseils d’administration, en passant par les cérémonies de remise de prix, les femmes restent exclues des places de choix.

Elles sont pénalisées par de nouvelles politiques, qui vont des mesures d’austérité jusqu’aux politiques répressives en matière de reproduction.

Les femmes sont toujours tenues à l’écart des négociations de paix et ce, 20 ans après que tous les pays se sont engagés à les y associer.

Et à l’ère du numérique, ces inégalités risquent de s’enraciner encore plus profondément.

Mesdames et Messieurs,

L’égalité des genres est, fondamentalement, une question de pouvoir.

Notre monde et notre culture sont dominés par les hommes. C’est le cas depuis des millénaires.

L’historienne Mary Beard a mis en évidence les racines historiques profondes du patriarcat dans la culture occidentale.

Dans l’Odyssée, composée par Homère il y a trois mille ans, Télémaque demande à sa mère, Pénélope, de se taire et de laisser les hommes parler.

Malheureusement, l’attitude de Télémaque ne détonnerait pas dans certaines de mes réunions avec des dirigeants mondiaux.

Le patriarcat, système social fondé sur la succession par voie patrilinéaire, reste présent dans toutes les facettes de notre vie. Nous en subissons toutes et tous les conséquences, les hommes comme les femmes, les filles comme les garçons.

Tout comme nos grandes entreprises, nos systèmes économiques et politiques sont bâtis sur des structures de pouvoir dominées par les hommes.

Même lorsqu’elles connaissent la célébrité à Hollywood, les femmes ne sont pas protégées des hommes qui exercent sur elles une domination physique, affective et professionnelle. Je salue celles qui ont courageusement fait entendre leur voix et se sont défendues.

Une inégalité d’un autre type se dissimule dans les institutions et les structures qui gouvernent nos existences, mais qui sont conçues pour répondre aux besoins d’une moitié seulement de la population.

L’auteure Caroline Criado Perez décrit cette inégalité à l’aide de la notion de « l’homme par défaut ». Elle entend par là la tendance jamais remise en cause à considérer les hommes comme la norme et les femmes, comme une anomalie.

Cela est à l’origine de la plus grande lacune dans les données mondiales. Bien souvent, les femmes ne sont pas prises en compte et leur expérience ne compte pas.

On en voit les conséquences partout, des installations sanitaires aux lignes d’autobus. En cas d’accident de voiture, les femmes courent un plus grand risque d’être blessées, car les sièges et les ceintures de sécurité sont conçus pour « l’homme par défaut ». En cas de crise cardiaque, leur taux de létalité est plus élevé parce que les outils de diagnostic ont également été élaborés pour « l’homme par défaut ».

Ce constat s’étend même à l’exploration spatiale, qui est bel et bien la frontière ultime – pour les femmes. Plus de 150 hommes sont allés dans l’espace, contre seulement une poignée de femmes, en partie parce que les combinaisons spatiales sont conçues pour « l’homme par défaut ». Aucune femme n’a marché sur la Lune, bien que des mathématiciennes aient joué un rôle essentiel pour permettre à des hommes d’y parvenir.

Nous rendons enfin hommage aujourd’hui aux accomplissements de ces femmes, notamment à ceux de Katherine Johnson, qui nous a quittés cette semaine.

En plus de la violence, de la domination, des structures de pouvoir iniques et de la discrimination cachée, les femmes et les filles pâtissent trop souvent de la négation de leurs réalisations, résultat de plusieurs siècles de misogynie.

On les accuse d’être hystériques ou instables. On les juge constamment sur leur apparence. On ne cesse d’inventer des mythes et des tabous concernant leurs fonctions corporelles naturelles. S’ajoute encore à tout cela la tendance à jeter le blâme sur les victimes et la manie qu’ont les hommes de vouloir tout expliquer aux femmes : la misogynie est omniprésente.

À l’inverse, à travers les siècles et les cultures, des mots comme « génie » ou « brillant » s’emploient beaucoup plus souvent pour qualifier des hommes que des femmes.

Cela n’est guère surprenant, quand on sait que ce sont les hommes qui ont établi les règles, en excluant les femmes.

Mais les dégâts causés par le patriarcat et l’inégalité sont loin de se limiter aux femmes et aux filles.

Les hommes et les garçons ont eux aussi un genre. Celui-ci est défini de manière si restrictive qu’il peut les enfermer dans des stéréotypes qui se caractérisent par des comportements à risque, des agressions physiques et une réticence à demander des conseils ou de l’aide.

Comme l’a dit l’écrivaine Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, la masculinité est une cage petite et rigide dans laquelle nous mettons les garçons.

Partout dans le monde, les hommes ont une espérance de vie plus courte que les femmes, ils sont plus susceptibles d’être incarcérés, d’employer et de connaître la violence, et ils sont moins enclins à chercher de l’aide.

Le pouvoir des hommes a un prix et ce prix est élevé, même pour les hommes.

L’égalité des genres présente un grand intérêt pour les relations personnelles des hommes. Les hommes qui prennent part aux tâches familiales et qui passent plus de temps avec leur famille sont plus heureux – et leurs enfants aussi.

À plus grande échelle, il est essentiel de transformer les rapports de force, et cela, pas seulement dans la perspective des droits humains, du développement personnel, de la santé et du bien-être.

C’est également indispensable pour régler certains des problèmes les plus graves et les plus difficiles à surmonter de notre temps, de l’aggravation des inégalités et des clivages jusqu’à la crise climatique.

Mesdames et messieurs, chères étudiantes et chers étudiants,

Pour moi, il y a cinq domaines où l’égalité des genres est vouée à transformer notre monde.

Premièrement, le conflit et la violence.

Conflits, violence contre les femmes et oppression des civils sont directement liés.

Chaque année, des milliards de dollars sont consacrés à la promotion de la paix et de la sécurité. Mais la paix de qui ? La sécurité de qui ?

Pendant que les conflits entre États font les gros titres, certaines régions connaissent des taux de féminicide comparables à la mortalité constatée dans les zones de guerre. À l’échelle mondiale, 137 femmes sont tuées chaque jour par un membre de leur famille. Dans certains pays, plus de 95 % des meurtres de femmes restent impunis.

En d’autres termes, il y a des hommes qui font la guerre aux femmes. Mais personne ne réclame un cessez-le-feu ou n’impose de sanctions.

La façon dont une société traite la moitié féminine de sa population est révélatrice de la façon dont elle traite les autres sociétés.

Le viol et l’esclavage sexuel servent couramment de tactique de guerre, et la misogynie fait partie de l’idéologie de presque tous les groupes extrémistes violents.

Inversement, la participation de dirigeantes et de décideuses aux processus de médiation et de paix conduit à une paix plus durable, plus pérenne.

L’ONU s’emploie à placer les femmes au centre de son action de prévention des conflits, de rétablissement de la paix, de consolidation de la paix et de médiation – et à augmenter le nombre de femmes affectées au maintien de la paix.

Deuxièmement, la crise climatique.

La menace pressante qui pèse sur notre existence est la conséquence de décisions qui ont été prises pour l’essentiel par des hommes, mais qui touchent tout particulièrement les femmes et les filles.

La sécheresse et la famine font que les femmes travaillent plus dur pour trouver de la nourriture et de l’eau, tandis que les vagues de chaleur, les tempêtes et les inondations tuent plus de femmes et de filles que d’hommes et de garçons.

Voilà longtemps que les femmes jouent un rôle de premier plan dans la lutte pour l’environnement : que l’on pense à Wangari Maathai, à Jane Goodall ou encore au mouvement Fridays for Future.

Mais les inégalités de genre ont des répercussions bien plus profondes sur l’action climatique.

Les campagnes en faveur du recyclage et de la réduction des déchets ciblent avant tout les femmes, tandis que les hommes paraissent plus enclins à faire confiance à des solutions technologiques qui n’ont jamais été testées.

Tout indique que les femmes sont plus disposées que les hommes à réduire leur propre impact environnemental.

Récemment, des études ont fait ressortir que parmi les économistes et les parlementaires, les femmes étaient plus susceptibles de soutenir des politiques durables et inclusives.

La sauvegarde de la planète risque d’être considérée comme un « travail de femme ». Autrement dit, comme une tâche ménagère parmi d’autres.

Je suis reconnaissant aux jeunes, celles et ceux de la génération Z, à laquelle appartiennent nombre d’entre vous, qui œuvrent en faveur de l’action climatique et de l’égalité femmes-hommes sans perdre de vue la réalité des identités et des solutions non binaires.

Les postures machistes ne nous permettront pas de sauver notre planète.

Sans égalité des genres, il sera impossible de répondre à l’urgence climatique. Cela signifie aussi que les hommes doivent agir et prendre leurs responsabilités.

Chères étudiantes, chers étudiants, chers amis,

Le troisième domaine où les droits des femmes et l’égalité des chances pourraient nous permettre de faire un grand pas en avant, c’est l’édification d’économies inclusives.

En moyenne dans le monde, quand un homme gagne 1 dollar, une femme ne touche que 77 cents. Selon les dernières recherches du Forum économique mondial, cet écart de rémunération ne sera pas comblé avant 2255.

Comment expliquer à mes petites-filles que les petites-filles de leurs petites-filles seront toujours moins bien payées que les hommes, pour faire le même travail ?

L’écart de rémunération est l’une des raisons pour lesquelles 70 % des pauvres dans le monde sont des femmes et des filles.

Une autre raison est que, à l’échelle mondiale, les femmes et les filles effectuent chaque jour quelque 12 milliards d’heures de tâches familiales non rémunérées, soit trois fois plus que les hommes.

Dans certains endroits, les femmes passent jusqu’à 14 heures par jour à cuisiner, à nettoyer, à chercher du bois et de l’eau et à s’occuper des enfants et des personnes âgées.

D’après les modèles économiques, ce travail relève du « temps libre ».

À l’aune du produit intérieur brut, rien de ce qui se passe à la maison n’a de valeur. Cette mesure erronée sert pourtant de base aux décisions économiques, ce qui fausse les politiques et prive les femmes de possibilités.

Les femmes qui ont des revenus sont plus susceptibles que les hommes d’investir dans leur famille et leur communauté, ce qui renforce l’économie et la rend plus résiliente.

Les femmes ont également tendance à envisager les choses à plus long terme. Les entreprises sont plus stables et plus rentables quand des femmes siègent au conseil d’administration.

Récemment, l’une des plus grandes banques d’investissement au monde a décidé de ne pas introduire en bourse les sociétés qui ne comptent pas de femme parmi les membres de leur conseil d’administration. Ses motivations n’étaient pas d’ordre moral, mais financier. C’était tout simplement du bon sens.

Si nous voulons une mondialisation équitable qui profite à tous, l’égalité des droits et des chances économiques doit devenir réalité dans le monde entier.

Quatrièmement, le fossé numérique.

Lorsqu’un couple s’est plaint l’année dernière que la limite de crédit de monsieur était 20 fois supérieure à celle de madame bien que la cote de crédit de celle-ci fût meilleure, l’anomalie a été imputée à un algorithme.

Sachant que les femmes n’occupent que 26 % des emplois dans le secteur de l’intelligence artificielle, il n’est guère surprenant que de nombreux algorithmes soient biaisés en faveur des hommes.

La technologie numérique peut être une grande source de bienfaits. Mais je suis profondément préoccupé par le fait que ce sont les hommes qui occupent la plupart des emplois dans le secteur de la technologie, que ce soit dans les universités, dans les start-ups ou encore dans les Silicon Valleys du monde entier.

Ces pôles technologiques façonnent déjà les économies et les sociétés du futur, ce qui a des répercussions considérables sur l’évolution des rapports de force.

Si les femmes ne participent pas au même titre que les hommes à la conception des technologies numériques, les avancées obtenues en matière de droits des femmes pourraient bien être remises en question.

Non seulement le manque de diversité accentuera les inégalités de genre, mais il limitera l’innovation et la portée des nouvelles technologies, et les rendra moins utiles.

Cinquièmement et dernièrement, la représentation politique.

La part des femmes qui siègent au parlement dans le monde entier a doublé au cours des 25 dernières années et atteint désormais un quart. Moins d’un État sur 10 est dirigé par une femme.

Mais la représentation des femmes dans les instances de l’État n’a rien à voir avec les questions dites féminines, comme l’opposition au harcèlement sexuel ou la promotion des services de garde d’enfants. Les femmes au pouvoir sont les moteurs du progrès social et font véritablement changer la vie des gens.

Les femmes sont plus enclines à faire campagne pour l’investissement dans l’éducation et la santé, et à rechercher le consensus et un terrain d’entente entre les partis.

Plus les gouvernements comptent de femmes, plus ils innovent et remettent en question l’ordre établi.

Autrement dit, les femmes en politique réinventent et redistribuent le pouvoir.

Ce n’est pas un hasard si les États qui redéfinissent le PIB en prenant en considération le bien-être et la durabilité sont dirigés par des femmes.

C’est bien simple : la participation des femmes améliore les institutions.

Quand on multiplie par deux les ressources, les capacités et les compétences mises au service de la prise de décisions, tout le monde y gagne.

L’une de mes priorités en tant que Secrétaire général de l’Organisation des Nations Unies a été de faire en sorte que plus de femmes occupent des postes de direction. Le 1er janvier 2020, nous sommes parvenus à la parité femmes-hommes – 90 femmes et 90 hommes – aux postes de plus haut rang occupés à temps plein, deux ans avant la date que j’avais fixée au début de mon mandat. Et nous avons un plan d’action pour arriver à la parité à tous les niveaux dans les années à venir.

Ce changement tant attendu est une reconnaissance essentielle de l’égalité des droits et des aptitudes des femmes qui travaillent pour l’Organisation. Il s’agit aussi pour nous d’être plus efficaces et plus utiles pour toutes celles et tous ceux que nous servons.

Les problèmes qui ont été créés par l’homme – je dis bien par l’homme – ne pourront être réglés que par l’humanité tout entière.

Les sociétés matriarcales qui ont fleuri à travers l’histoire et prospèrent dans le monde entier montrent que le patriarcat n’est pas inévitable.

Nous avons récemment entendu des femmes, dont beaucoup de jeunes, exiger un changement radical.

Du Soudan au Chili en passant par le Liban, elles réclament la fin de la violence, une meilleure représentation et une action immédiate en faveur du climat, et elles remettent en question les systèmes économiques qui n’offrent ni débouchés ni satisfaction pour le plus grand nombre.

Nous devons faire entendre notre voix pour ces jeunes dirigeantes, nous leur devons notre soutien.

L’égalité des genres fait partie de l’ADN de l’ONU. L’égalité des droits des femmes et des hommes est inscrite dans la Charte, notre texte fondateur. Alors que nous célébrons cette année le 75e anniversaire de l’Organisation et le 25e anniversaire de la Conférence de Beijing sur les femmes, nous redoublons d’efforts pour soutenir les droits des femmes dans tous les domaines.

Le mois dernier, l’ONU a lancé la Décennie d’action en faveur des objectifs de développement durable, un modèle de partenariat avec les États pour l’édification de sociétés pacifiques, prospères et inclusives sur une planète en bonne santé.

L’égalité des genres est un objectif à part entière, et elle est indispensable pour atteindre les 16 autres.

La Décennie d’action vise à transformer les institutions et les structures, à aller plus loin dans l’inclusion et à favoriser la durabilité.

Abroger les lois discriminatoires envers les femmes et les filles, améliorer la protection contre la violence, combler les écarts en matière d’éducation, de rémunération et de technologies numériques : voilà quelques-uns des domaines dans lesquels nous œuvrons.

Il est fondamental que les femmes dirigent et participent, à égalité avec les hommes.

C’est pourquoi, par le passé, j’ai été favorable aux quotas : c’est le meilleur moyen de parvenir à un changement radical dans l’équilibre des forces. L’heure est à la parité dans les gouvernements, les parlements, les conseils d’administration et les institutions, partout dans le monde.

Au cours des deux prochaines années, j’ai l’intention de m’engager plus encore, personnellement, en faveur de l’égalité des genres dans tous les domaines de notre travail.

Je prendrai contact avec les gouvernements qui ont des lois discriminatoires pour plaider en faveur du changement et offrir notre soutien et j’exhorterai tout nouveau gouvernement à parvenir à la parité femmes-hommes aux postes de direction.

J’étudierai les moyens d’accroître au maximum l’influence de l’ONU pour faire en sorte que les femmes soient représentées, à égalité, dans les processus de paix ; je renforcerai notre travail sur les liens entre violence contre les femmes et paix et sécurité internationales. Je continuerai à rencontrer des femmes dont la vie a été marquée par la violence.

Je plaiderai en faveur de la prise en compte du bien-être et de la durabilité dans le PIB, ainsi que de la reconnaissance de la valeur réelle du travail domestique.

Je m’engage à faire en sorte que l’homme ne soit plus la référence par défaut à l’ONU. Le travail de l’Organisation repose sur les données ; il faut absolument cesser de fonder les chiffres sur le principe ridicule selon lequel l’homme serait la norme et la femme, l’exception.

Nous avons besoin que les femmes fassent entendre leur voix et qu’elles jouent un rôle de premier plan dans les pourparlers de paix comme dans les négociations commerciales ; aux Oscars comme au G20 ; dans les conseils d’administration comme dans les salles de classe ; et à l’Assemblée générale des Nations Unies.

Mesdames et Messieurs, Chères étudiantes, chers étudiants, chers amis,

L’égalité des genres est une question de pouvoir. C’est la question du pouvoir jalousement gardé par les hommes depuis des millénaires.

Nous sommes face à un abus de pouvoir qui porte préjudice à nos communautés, à nos économies, à notre environnement, à nos relations et à notre santé.

Nous devons de toute urgence transformer et redistribuer le pouvoir si nous voulons préserver notre avenir et notre planète.

C’est pourquoi tous les hommes devraient soutenir les droits des femmes et l’égalité des genres.

Et c’est pourquoi je suis fier d’être féministe.

Les femmes ont égalé et surpassé les hommes dans presque tous les domaines.

Le moment est venu d’arrêter de vouloir changer les femmes et de commencer à changer les systèmes qui les empêchent de réaliser leur potentiel.

Nos structures de pouvoir évoluent progressivement depuis des millénaires. Une autre évolution se fait attendre depuis trop longtemps.

Le XXIe siècle doit être le siècle de l’égalité femmes-hommes.

Chacun a un rôle à jouer pour qu’il en soit ainsi.

Je vous remercie.

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Read Hillary Rodham Clinton’s ‘Women’s Rights’ Speech From 1995

“Now it is time to act on behalf of women everywhere.”

Former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton delivered the following address to the United Nations’ Fourth World Conference on Women, in Beijing, 25 years ago. Then the first lady of the United States, Clinton famously declared that “women’s rights are human rights,” while criticizing the Chinese government’s coercive family-planning policy and the hardships faced by women around the world. You can read her reflections about this speech upon its 25th anniversary here .

Below, the full text of Clinton’s speech as delivered.

Thank you very much, Gertrude Mongella, for your dedicated work that has brought us to this point. Distinguished delegates and guests, I would like to thank the secretary-general for inviting me to be part of this important United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women. This is truly a celebration—a celebration of the contributions women make in every aspect of life: in the home, on the job, in the community, as mothers, wives, sisters, daughters, learners, workers, citizens, and leaders.

It is also a coming together, much the way women come together every day in every country.

We come together in fields and factories. In village markets and supermarkets. In living rooms and boardrooms. Whether it is while playing with our children in the park or washing clothes in a river or taking a break at the office watercooler, we come together and talk about our aspirations and concerns. And time and again, our talk turns to our children and our families.

However different we may appear, there is far more that unites us than divides us. We share a common future. And we are here to find common ground so that we may help bring new dignity and respect to women and girls all over the world—and in so doing, bring new strength and stability to families as well.

By gathering in Beijing, we are focusing world attention on issues that matter most in our lives, the lives of women and their families: access to education, health care, jobs, and credit, the chance to enjoy basic legal and human rights and participate fully in the political life of our countries.

There are some who question the reason for this conference. Let them listen to the voices of women in their homes, neighborhoods, and workplaces.

Hillary Clinton: How far have women come?

There are some who wonder whether the lives of women and girls matter to economic and political progress around the globe. Let them look at the women gathered here and at Huairou, the homemakers and nurses, the teachers and lawyers, the policy makers and women who run their own businesses.

It is conferences like this that compel governments and peoples everywhere to listen, look, and face the world’s most pressing problems.

Wasn’t it, after all, after the women’s conference in Nairobi 10 years ago that the world focused for the first time on the crisis of domestic violence?

Earlier today, I participated in a World Health Organization forum. In that forum, we talked about ways that government officials, NGOs, and individual citizens are working to address the health problems of women and girls.

Tomorrow, I will attend a gathering of the United Nations Development Fund for Women. There, the discussion will focus on local and highly successful programs that give hardworking women access to credit so they can improve their own lives and the lives of their families.

What we are learning around the world is that if women are healthy and educated, their families will flourish. If women are free from violence, their families will flourish. If women have a chance to work and earn as full and equal partners in society, their families will flourish. And when families flourish, communities and nations do as well. That is why every woman, every man, every child, every family, and every nation on our planet does have a stake in the discussion that takes place here.

Over the past 25 years, I have worked persistently on issues relating to women, children, and families. Over the past two and a half years, I have had the opportunity to learn more about the challenges facing women in my own country and around the world.

I have met new mothers in Indonesia who come together regularly in their village to discuss nutrition, family planning, and baby care.

I have met working parents in Denmark who talk about the comfort they feel in knowing that their children can be cared for in safe and nurturing after-school centers.

I have met women in South Africa who helped lead the struggle to end apartheid and are now helping to build a new democracy.

I have met with the leading women of my own hemisphere who are working every day to promote literacy and better health care for children in their countries.

I have met women in India and Bangladesh who are taking out small loans to buy milk cows, or rickshaws, or thread in order to create a livelihood for themselves and their families.

I have met the doctors and nurses in Belarus and Ukraine who are trying to keep children alive in the aftermath of Chernobyl.

The great challenge of this conference is to give voice to women everywhere whose experiences go unnoticed, whose words go unheard.

Women comprise more than half the world’s population, 70 percent of the world’s poor, and two-thirds of those who are not taught to read and write. We are the primary caretakers for most of the world’s children and elderly. Yet much of the work we do is not valued—not by economists, not by historians, not by popular culture, not by government leaders.

At this very moment, as we sit here, women around the world are giving birth, raising children, cooking meals, washing clothes, cleaning houses, planting crops, working on assembly lines, running companies, and running countries.

Women also are dying from diseases that should have been prevented or treated; they are watching their children succumb to malnutrition caused by poverty and economic deprivation; they are being denied the right to go to school by their own fathers and brothers; they are being forced into prostitution; and they are being barred from the bank-lending offices and banned from the ballot box.

Those of us who have the opportunity to be here have the responsibility to speak for those who could not. As an American, I want to speak for women in my own country—women who are raising children on the minimum wage, women who can’t afford health care or child care, women whose lives are threatened by violence, including violence in their own homes.

I want to speak up for mothers who are fighting for good schools, safe neighborhoods, clean air, and clean airwaves; for older women, some of them widows, who find that after raising their families, their skills and life experiences are not valued in the marketplace; for women who are working all night as nurses, hotel clerks, or fast-food chefs so that they can be at home during the day with their children; and for women everywhere who simply don’t have time to do everything they are called upon to do each and every day.

Speaking to you today, I speak for them, just as each of us speaks for women around the world who are denied the chance to go to school, or see a doctor, or own property, or have a say about the direction of their lives, simply because they are women. The truth is that most women around the world work both inside and outside the home, usually by necessity.

We need to understand there is no one formula for how women should lead our lives. That is why we must respect the choices that each woman makes for herself and her family. Every woman deserves the chance to realize her own God-given potential.

We also must recognize that women will never gain full dignity until their human rights are respected and protected.

Our goals for this conference—to strengthen families and societies by empowering women to take greater control over their own destinies—cannot be fully achieved unless all governments, here and around the world, accept their responsibility to protect and promote internationally recognized human rights.

The international community has long acknowledged—and recently reaffirmed at Vienna—that both women and men are entitled to a range of protections and personal freedoms, from the right of personal security to the right to determine freely the number and spacing of the children they bear.

No one should be forced to remain silent for fear of religious or political persecution, arrest, abuse, or torture. Tragically, women are most often the ones whose human rights are violated. Even now, in the late 20th century, the rape of women continues to be used as an instrument of armed conflict. Women and children make up a large majority of the world’s refugees. And when women are excluded from the political process, they become even more vulnerable to abuse.

I believe that, now on the eve of a new millennium, it is time to break the silence. It is time for us to say here in Beijing, and for the world to hear, that it is no longer acceptable to discuss women’s rights as separate from human rights.

These abuses have continued because, for too long, the history of women has been a history of silence. Even today, there are those who are trying to silence our words.

But the voices of this conference and of the women at Huairou must be heard loudly and clearly:

It is a violation of human rights when babies are denied food, or drowned, or suffocated, or their spines broken, simply because they are born girls.

It is a violation of human rights when women and girls are sold into the slavery of prostitution for human greed, and the kinds of reasons that are used to justify this practice should no longer be tolerated.

It is a violation of human rights when women are doused with gasoline, set on fire, and burned to death because their marriage dowries are deemed too small.

It is a violation of human rights when individual women are raped in their own communities and when thousands of women are subjected to rape as a tactic or prize of war.

It is a violation of human rights when a leading cause of death worldwide among women ages 14 to 44 is the violence they are subjected to in their own homes, by their own relatives.

It is a violation of human rights when young girls are brutalized by the painful and degrading practice of genital mutilation.

It is a violation of human rights when women are denied the right to plan their own families, and that includes being forced to have abortions or being sterilized against their will.

If there is one message that echoes forth from this conference, let it be that human rights are women’s rights and women’s rights are human rights, once and for all.

And among those rights are the right to speak freely and the right to be heard. Women must enjoy the right to participate fully in the social and political lives of their countries if we want freedom and democracy to thrive and endure. It is indefensible that many women in nongovernmental organizations who wished to participate in this conference have not been able to attend or have been prohibited from fully taking part.

Let me be clear: Freedom means the right of people to assemble, organize, and debate openly. It means respecting the views of those who may disagree with the views of their governments. It means not taking citizens away from their loved ones and jailing them, mistreating them, or denying them their freedom or dignity because of the peaceful expression of their ideas and opinions.

In my country, we recently celebrated the 75th anniversary of women’s suffrage. It took 150 years after the signing of our Declaration of Independence for women to win the right to vote. It took 72 years of organized struggle before that happened on the part of many courageous women and men. It was one of America’s most divisive philosophical wars. But it was a bloodless war. Suffrage was achieved without a shot being fired.

But we have also been reminded, in V-J Day observances last weekend, of the good that comes when men and women join together to combat the forces of tyranny and to build a better world. We have seen peace prevail in most places for a half century. We have avoided another world war. But we have not solved older, deeply rooted problems that continue to diminish the potential of half the world’s population.

Now it is time to act on behalf of women everywhere.

If we take bold steps to better the lives of women, we will be taking bold steps to better the lives of children and families too. Families rely on mothers and wives for emotional support and care; families rely on women for labor in the home; and increasingly everywhere, families rely on women for income needed to raise healthy children and care for other relatives.

As long as discrimination and inequities remain so commonplace everywhere in the world, as long as girls and women are valued less, fed less, fed last, overworked, underpaid, not schooled, subjected to violence in and out of their homes, the potential of the human family to create a peaceful, prosperous world will not be realized.

Let this conference be our—and the world’s—call to action.

Let us heed that call so that we can create a world in which every woman is treated with respect and dignity, every boy and girl is loved and cared for equally, and every family has the hope of a strong and stable future.

That is the work before you; that is the work before all of us who have a vision of the world we want to see for our children and our grandchildren. The time is now. We must move beyond rhetoric; we must move beyond recognition of problems to working together to have the common efforts to build that common ground we hope to see.

God’s blessings on you, your work, and all who will benefit from it. Godspeed and thank you very much.

For equality, respect and dignity we must ‘speak as one’ against racism: Guterres

People march against racial discrimination in North Carolina, USA.

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Racism continues to poison institutions, social structures, and everyday life across all societies, the UN chief said on Friday at a dedicated meeting against what he referred to as a catalyst that “normalizes hate, denies dignity, and spurs violence”.

“It continues to be a driver of persistent inequality…to deny people their fundamental human rights”, added Secretary-General António Guterres in an address to the General Assembly , marking the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination .

Racism continues to poison institutions, social structures & everyday life in every society.Realizing the vision of a world free of racism & racial discrimination demands action every day, at every level, in every society. pic.twitter.com/IK12F99X47 António Guterres, UN Secretary-General antonioguterres

He argued that racism destabilizes communities worldwide, “undermines democracies, erodes the legitimacy of governments, and stymies an inclusive and sustainable recovery from COVID-19 .”

Commemorated annually on 21 March, he described the day as “both a day of recognition and an urgent call to action”.

Unequivocal links

The top UN official drew attention to the links between racism and gender inequality, pointing to overlapping and intersecting discrimination suffered by women of colour and minority groups.

Moreover, he continued, “no country is immune from intolerance, nor free of hate.”

“Africans and people of African descent, Asians and people of Asian descent, minority communities, indigenous peoples, migrants, refugees, and so many others – all continue to confront stigmatization, scapegoating, discrimination, and violence”.

‘Bedrock’ of societies

This year’s theme – “Voices for Action against Racism” – calls on everyone to listen closely, speak out loudly, and act decisively.

“ We all have a responsibility to engage in solidarity with movements for equality and human rights everywhere . And we must extend solidarity to everyone fleeing conflict,” said the UN chief, urging the world to “speak out against hate speech – offline and online.”

He upheld the need to defend civic space by protecting free expression and assembly, describing it is “the bedrock of pluralist, peaceful and inclusive societies”.

‘Dismantle discriminatory structures’

Mr. Guterres called for a rights-based social contract “to tackle poverty and exclusion, invest in education, and rebuild trust and social cohesion.”

“We must listen to those experiencing injustice and ensure their concerns and demands are at the centre of efforts to dismantle discriminatory structures,” he insisted.

He made a case for “reparatory justice” to realize racial equality and atone in a substantive way for centuries of enslavement and colonialism.

“Historical injustices manifest themselves in poverty, underdevelopment, marginalization, and social instability for entire communities and countries,” he reminded. “It is time to recognize and repair longstanding wrongs”.

It is time to recognize and repair longstanding wrongs -- UN chief

Repairing the past

A just future, requires mending a discriminatory past, in line with international human rights obligations and commitments, he said.

The UN chief encouraged States to accelerate racial justice and equality through the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action; the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination ; the Agenda Towards Transformative Change for Racial Justice and Equality ; and the UN’s Permanent Forum of People of African Descent .

He called for concrete action through policies, legislation, and “more granular data collection” to support efforts at national and global levels.

The UN has launched its own internal strategic action plan on addressing racism, he reminded, that outlines concrete measures to tackle racism in the workplace through accountability – for which a Special Adviser and Steering Group are due to be appointed.

“Together, we are committed to making sure people of every race, ethnicity, colour, gender, religion, creed and sexual orientation, enjoy a sense of belonging and safety , and have an equal opportunity to contribute to the success of our United Nations,” he stated

Action every day, at every level, in every society is demanded to achieve a world free of racism and racial discrimination. “Let us unite around our common humanity and speak as one for equality, respect, justice and dignity for all,” concluded the UN chief.

Paying tribute to Ukraine

Hosting the event, General Assembly President Abdulla Shahid, began by expressing his “deepest concerns” over the violence waged against civilians, and particularly women and girls, in Ukraine.

As families continue to seek refuge and security in new locations, he said, “our thoughts are with the people of Ukraine.”

A goal not realized

Since the day was established more than half a century ago, the elimination of racial discrimination has continued to elude us, Mr. Shahid reminded the participants.

Despite that the International Convention has reached near universal ratification, he observed, “we continue to see an increase in hate speech, intolerance, and racism, especially against minorities.”

“ Our moral failure to eliminate racial discrimination is a failure against everything we stand for in the Hall of this Assembly”, he declared.

‘Overt stereotyping’

The Assembly President drew attention to the long-lasting consequences of racial discrimination, noting that the COVID pandemic has served to exacerbate underlying and long-standing inequalities that plague societies at large, including racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia, and other forms of intolerance.

Many marginalized and vulnerable people have lost decades of precious gains, especially in their social, economic, civil, and political lives, he said.

We have a moral obligation to tackle racism in all its forms -- UN Assembly President

“Let me be clear: Racial discrimination is an overt stereotyping and prejudice that arises from hate speech and hate propaganda ,” Mr. Shahid spelled out.

A moral obligation

Rather than acknowledging the beauty of diversity, he maintained that racism gives birth to violence and strengthens inequalities.

“We can and we must do better,” said the Assembly president. “We have a moral obligation to tackle racism in all its forms.”

Going forward, he encouraged national governments, civil society organizations, and the private sector to “work together to eliminate racial discrimination.”

International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination

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An excerpt of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s speech at Stanford: Genuine equality

On April 14, 1967, Martin Luther King, Jr. spoke at Memorial Auditorium about racism and civil rights in American society. He touched on many of the issues that resonate today: racism, poverty and violence versus nonviolent social activism.

Go to the web site to view the video.

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Sojourner Truth

By: History.com Editors

Updated: February 20, 2024 | Original: October 29, 2009

Sojourner Truth was an African American evangelist, abolitionist, women’s rights activist and author who was born into slavery before escaping to freedom in 1826. After gaining her freedom, Truth preached about abolitionism and equal rights for all. She became known for a speech with the famous refrain, "Ain't I a Woman? " that she was said to have delivered at a women's convention in Ohio in 1851, although accounts of that speech (and whether Truth ever used that refrain) have since been challenged by historians. Truth continued her crusade throughout her adult life, earning an audience with President Abraham Lincoln and becoming one of the world’s best-known human rights crusaders.

Who Was Sojourner Truth?

Sojourner Truth was born Isabella Baumfree in 1797 to enslaved parents James and Elizabeth Baumfree, in Ulster County, New York . Around age nine, she was sold at an auction to John Neely for $100, along with a flock of sheep.

Neely was a cruel and violent master who beat the young girl regularly. She was sold two more times by age 13 and ultimately ended up at the West Park, New York, home of John Dumont and his second wife Elizabeth.

Around age 18, Isabella fell in love with an enslaved man named Robert from a nearby farm. But the couple was not allowed to marry since they had separate owners. Instead, Isabella was forced to marry another enslaved man owned by Dumont named Thomas. She eventually bore five children: James, Diana, Peter, Elizabeth and Sophia.

Walking from Slavery to Freedom

At the turn of the 19th century, New York started legislating emancipation, but it would take over two decades for liberation to come for all enslaved people in the state.

In the meantime, Dumont promised Isabella he’d grant her freedom on July 4, 1826, “if she would do well and be faithful.” When the date arrived, however, he had a change of heart and refused to let her go.

Incensed, Isabella completed what she felt was her obligation to Dumont and then escaped his clutches, infant daughter in tow. She later said, “I did not run off, for I thought that wicked, but I walked off, believing that to be all right.”

In what must have been a gut-wrenching choice, she left her other children behind because they were still legally bound to Dumont.

Isabella made her way to New Paltz, New York, where she and her daughter were taken in as free people by Isaac and Maria Van Wagenen. When Dumont came to reclaim his “property,” the Van Wagenens offered to buy Isabella’s services from him for $20 until the New York Anti-Slavery Law emancipating all enslaved people took effect in 1827; Dumont agreed.

Sojourner Truth, First Black Woman to Sue White Man–And Win

After the New York Anti-Slavery Law was passed, Dumont illegally sold Isabella’s five-year-old son Peter. With the help of the Van Wagenens, she filed a lawsuit to get him back.

Months later, Isabella won her case and regained custody of her son. She was the first Black woman to sue a white man in a United States court and prevail.

Sojourner Truth's Spiritual Calling

The Van Wagenens had a profound impact on Isabella’s spirituality and she became a fervent Christian. In 1829, she moved to New York City with Peter to work as a housekeeper for evangelist preacher Elijah Pierson.

She left Pierson three years later to work for another preacher, Robert Matthews. When Elijah Pierson died, Isabella and Matthews were accused of poisoning him and of theft but were eventually acquitted.

Living among people of faith only emboldened Isabella’s devoutness to Christianity and her desire to preach and win converts. In 1843, with what she believed was her religious obligation to go forth and speak the truth, she changed her name to Sojourner Truth and embarked on a journey to preach the gospel and speak out against slavery and oppression.

'Ain’t I A Woman?' Speech and Controversy

In 1844, Truth joined a Massachusetts abolitionist organization called the Northampton Association of Education and Industry, where she met leading abolitionists such as Frederick Douglass and effectively launched her career as an equal rights activist.

Among Truth's contributions to the abolitionist movement was the speech she delivered at the Ohio Women’s Rights Convention in 1851, where she spoke powerfully about equal rights for Black women. Twelve years later, Frances Gage, a white abolitionist and president of the Convention, published an account of Truth’s words in the National Anti-Slavery Standard . In her account, Gage wrote that Truth used the rhetorical question, “Ar’n’t I a Woman?” to point out the discrimination Truth experienced as a Black woman.

Various details in Gage's account, however, including that Truth said she had 13 children (she had five) and that she spoke in dialect have since cast doubt on its accuracy. Contemporaneous reports of Truth’s speech did not include this slogan and quoted Truth in standard English. In later years, this slogan was further distorted to “Ain’t I a Woman?”, reflecting the false belief that as a formerly enslaved woman, Truth would have had a Southern accent. Truth was, in fact, a proud New Yorker.

There is little doubt, nonetheless, that Truth's speech—and many others she gave throughout her adult life—moved audiences. Another account of Truth's 1851 speech, published in a newspaper about a month later, reported her saying, "I have plowed and reaped and husked and chopped and mowed, and can any man do more than that?"

Truth's powerful rhetoric won her audiences with leading women’s rights activists of her day, including Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony .

Sojourner Truth During the Civil War

Like another famous escaped enslaved woman, Harriet Tubman , Truth helped recruit Black soldiers during the Civil War . She worked in Washington, D.C. , for the National Freedman’s Relief Association and rallied people to donate food, clothes and other supplies to Black refugees.

Her activism for the abolitionist movement gained the attention of President Abraham Lincoln , who invited her to the White House in October 1864 and showed her a Bible given to him by African Americans in Baltimore.

While Truth was in Washington, she put her courage and disdain for segregation on display by riding on whites-only streetcars. When the Civil War ended, she tried exhaustively to find jobs for freed Black Americans weighed down with poverty.

Later, she unsuccessfully petitioned the government to resettle formerly enslaved people on government land in the West.

Sojourner Truth Quotes

“If the first woman God ever made was strong enough to turn the world upside down all alone, these women together ought to be able to turn it back, and get it right side up again! And now they is asking to do it, the men better let them.”

“Then that little man in Black there, he says women can't have as much rights as men, 'cause Christ wasn't a woman! Where did your Christ come from? Where did Christ come from? From God and a woman! Man had nothing to do with Him.”

And what is that religion that sanctions, even by its silence, all that is embraced in the 'Peculiar Institution'? If there can be any thing more diametrically opposed to the religion of Jesus, than the working of this soul-killing system - which is as truly sanctioned by the religion of America as are her ministers and churches—we wish to be shown where it can be found.”

“Now, if you want me to get out of the world, you had better get the women votin' soon. I shan't go till I can do that.”

Sojourner Truth’s Later Years

In 1867, Truth moved to Battle Creek, Michigan , where some of her daughters lived. She continued to speak out against discrimination and in favor of woman’s suffrage . She was especially concerned that some civil rights leaders such as Frederick Douglass felt equal rights for Black men took precedence over those of Black women.

Truth died at home on November 26, 1883. Records show she was age 86, yet her memorial tombstone states she was 105. Engraved on her tombstone are the words, “Is God Dead?” a question she once asked a despondent Frederick Douglass to remind him to have faith.

Truth left behind a legacy of courage, faith and fighting for what’s right and honorable, but she also left a legacy of words and songs including her autobiography, The Narrative of Sojourner Truth , which she dictated in 1850 to Olive Gilbert since she never learned to read or write.

Perhaps Truth’s life of Christianity and fighting for equality is best summed up by her own words in 1863: “Children, who made your skin white? Was it not God? Who made mine Black? Was it not the same God? Am I to blame, therefore, because my skin is Black? …. Does not God love colored children as well as white children? And did not the same Savior die to save the one as well as the other?”

Sojourner Truth: Ain’t I A Woman? National Park Service.

Sojourner Truth: A Life of Legacy and Faith. Sojourner Truth Institute.

Sojourner Truth Meets Abraham Lincoln—On Equal Ground. Biography.

Sojourner Truth. National Park Service.

Sojourner Truth. WHMN: National Women’s History Museum.

Sojourner’s Words and Music. Sojourner Truth Memorial Committee.

Truth, Sojourner. American National Biography.

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2 Minute Speech On The Equality In English

Good morning everyone present here, today I am going to give a speech on equality. The state of being equal, particularly in terms of position, rights, or opportunities, is known as equality. In other words, it is the characteristic or state of being equivalent to another thing in terms of amount or worth.

Equality plays a significant role in our lives. It keeps society in balance and contributes to a decrease in crime. Additionally, it promotes justice and fairness while lowering socioeconomic disparity. Since equality is the cornerstone of any just society, it is important. Everyone should have an equal chance to strive and prosper in a just society.

We need equality before we can have a just and fair society. There cannot be fairness or justice without equality. This is due to the fact that people who are not afforded the same possibilities in society will always be at a disadvantage. The haves and the have-nots would form two classes in our society if there was no equality. The have-nots would be the class of people who are impoverished and helpless, whereas the haves would be the wealthy and powerful class. This is unstable in addition to being unfair.

To sum up, equality is an important factor in democracy. It makes sure that everyone in a society has an equal chance to prosper and lead a happy life. In both our personal and professional lives, we should work for the vital goal of equality. It guarantees that everyone has an equal opportunity to prosper and supports a stable and just society. Thank you.

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Emma Watson’s UN speech: what our reaction says about feminism

Research Fellow, Centre for Memory, Imagination and Invention, Deakin University

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It is now more than a week since actress Emma Watson delivered what has repeatedly been described as a “game-changing” speech about sexism at the United Nations New York headquarters. The response to the speech, which launched the UN’s HeForShe campaign for gender equality, has been massive, but not universally positive.

Watson’s speech , which extended a “formal invitation” to men to participate in conversations about gender equality, has been highly praised, radically critiqued, and acted as a spur to a bizarre hoax involving a threat to publish nude photographs of Watson.

Just how can young feminists get their message across in such a complicated climate?

Did Watson really change the game?

Much of Watson’s speech contained fairly basic points about feminism that have nevertheless been distorted in light of the increasing normalisation of anti-feminism, as is evident in the #womenagainstfeminism hashtag. Watson is right that feminism is not innately about “man hating”. Nevertheless, a number of feminists have clarified that not hating men does not necessarily equate to needing the direct involvement of men to advance women’s rights.

As Mia McKenzie points out at Black Girl Dangerous, it is simplistic to assume men have not been involved in work toward gender equality simply because they haven’t been “invited”. McKenzie argues that the more logical reason why men have not been extensively involved is because they “benefit HUGELY (socially, economically, politically, etc. infinity) from gender inequality and therefore have much less incentive to support its dismantling”.

A number of feminists, including Australian journalist Clementine Ford , took issue with Watson’s emphasis on “men being imprisoned by gender stereotypes” and men’s “freedom” being the key to changing the situation for women. As Ford notes, while patriarchal structures do have some negative consequences for men, their affect on men is different and not as “drastically violent” as their toll on women. Moreover, men systematically benefit from the power conferred on them by those gender stereotypes.

In contrast, girls and women are more likely to find themselves unable to receive an education, being subject to violence or sexual assault, being paid less than men, or unable to make their own life decisions.

For example, it’s now almost six months since 270 Nigerian schoolgirls were captured by Boko Haram, who oppose girls’ education and are likely using the girls as domestic and sexual slaves. The international #BringBackOurGirls campaign has not been able to free a single one.

Watson’s speech has also been critiqued for ignoring the issue of intersectionality. The gender inequality that she describes as part of her experiences (being called “bossy” as a child, being sexualised by the media, and having friends who abandon sport because they don’t want to become “too muscly”) is the kind that affects comparatively privileged, white, middle-class, Western women.

Blackfeministkilljoy and The Middle Eastern Feminist , among others, explain that women of colour experience different kinds of discrimination to those that Watson has felt. Yet her speech made no reference to how other women’s lives might differ, or might be more difficult because the effects of gender, race, class, sexuality, class and disability discrimination can magnify each other.

The voices of women who lack the privilege of a wealthy, white woman like Watson – those who suffer most at the hands of gender inequality – have not been given the same platform or the same global attention.

In addition, Watson has also been criticised for reinforcing the gender binary , thereby dismissing the issues facing transgender people – though transgender model Geena Rocero has spoken out in support of Watson’s definition of gender as “a spectrum”.

Could Watson ever please everyone?

Many of the points raised by feminists about Watson’s speech, including questioning just how effective an online pledge will be in changing the violence and discrimination enacted on women, have merit. But there is little about Watson and her speech, including her highly feminine appearance, her nervous delivery, and her heterosexuality that has escaped criticism.

Feminists have been careful to explain they are not aiming to tear Watson down and to acknowledge that elements of her speech could provide an accessible introduction to feminism. Yet the ability of white, privileged celebrity to act as a spokesperson for women’s rights on a global scale is immensely fraught.

It is Watson’s fame and image that make her the kind of person who can inspire widespread interest in the topic of women’s rights. Yet those same qualities are also seen as detrimental to the cause because they work to present a concept of gender equality that is palatable to men, as does the HeForShe campaign.

The question is whether a marketable and non-threatening brand of feminism founded on the most acceptable model of femininity could every really dislodge the power structures that make such an approach necessary in the first place.

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Emma Watson gives powerful UN speech about gender equality

By Jessica Derschowitz

September 22, 2014 / 12:50 PM EDT / CBS News

Emma Watson was named a UN Women Goodwill Ambassador earlier this summer, and now the actress and recent college graduate is speaking out about gender equality.

Watson gave a powerful speech at the United Nations headquarters in New York over the weekend to launch the HeforShe campaign, aimed at getting men and boys to become advocates against the inequalities faced by women and girls around the world.

In her address, the 24-year-old actress spoke passionately about the misconceptions surrounding feminism.

"I decided that I was a feminist. This seemed uncomplicated to me. But my recent research has shown me that feminism has become an unpopular word. Women are choosing not to identify as feminists. Apparently, I am among the ranks of women whose expressions are seen as too strong, too aggressive, isolating, and anti-men, unattractive even," she said.

"Why has the word become such an uncomfortable one?" Watson asked. "I think it is right I am paid the same as my male counterparts. I think it is right that I should be able to make decisions about my own body. I think it is right that women be involved on my behalf in the policies and decisions that will affect my life. I think it is right that socially, I am afforded the same respect as men."

The HeForShe campaign aims to get 100,000 men to pledge their commitment to ending gender inequality. " Men, I would like to give this opportunity to extend your formal invitation. Gender equality is your issue, too," Watson said.

She continued, "I've seen my father's role as a parent being valued less by society. I've seen young men suffering from mental illness, unable to ask for help for fear it would make them less of a man ... I've seen men fragile and insecure by what constitutes male success. Men don't have the benefits of equality, either. We don't often talk about men being imprisoned by gender stereotypes but I can see that they are."

Watson's association with the "Harry Potter" films will always follow her, and she acknowledged that those who know her from the films may not take her advocacy work seriously.

"You might think, 'Who is this "Harry Potter" girl? What is she doing at the UN?' I've been asking myself the same thing," she said. "All I know is that I care about this problem and I want to make it better. And having seen what I've seen and given the chance, I feel it is my responsibility to say something. Statesman Edmund Burke said all that is needed for the forces of evil to triumph is for good men and women to do nothing."

You can watch Watson's entire speech below:

Speech on Human Rights Day for Students

Every human being is deserving of the right to live in a safe place and earn a living. Even then in today’s global climate, many people are threatened to be robbed of their homes and basic rights. And in this pursuit, to inflict pain through various means one never feels safe. And for the very reason of injustices like this Human Rights Day is observed to allow these people the power to seek opportunities they are deserving of without feeling threatened. Human Rights Day speech can be given in different ways. This article entails a Long Speech on Human Rights Day and a Short Human Rights Day Speech.

Long Human Rights Day Speech

This format of a long 5-minute speech can be useful for students in grades 8-12 as they can discuss in detail the importance of this day and convey the message.

Good Morning, everyone, I am here to speak on a very crucial topic that is gaining even more attention today than ever before Human Rights and Human Rights Day. 73 years ago in 1948 on December 10th UN (United Nations), General Assembly adopted the UDHR (Universal Declaration of Human Rights). The proper implementation was not until they passed the official invitation to all the States and interested organisations after the approval of the Assembly in 1950. Since then, this day is annually commemorated for the celebration of Human Rights.

Today the world that we live in is divided by so many opinions and discriminations against gender, race, caste, and religion. The ones who are at the brunt of the receiving end of this harshness are the innocent children. Every child and human being deserves equal treatment in any room they enter regardless of their ethnicity and colour or gender.

Since we don’t live in an ideal world, the human rights of these discriminated people are under threat and they are only struggling and in doing so many have lost their lives as well. So to safeguard their interests and review the complaints of Human Rights Violation, the NHRC (National Human Rights Commission) is a body in India. It functions with similar objectives and aims to accomplish these missions like institutions for Human Rights in the world. It is a recommendatory body of constitution formed with the conformity of Principles of Paris. It acts according to the guidelines passed by the Government for the PHRA (Protection of Human Rights Act).

The main objective is to end human rights violations where some people are deprived of basic requirements like food, shelter, education, hygiene, and a safe place to grow and create opportunities for growth. This is a step in the direction to maintain peace and sanity in this ever-growing greedy and violent world. And it takes part in the Global Event wherein people celebrate the goodness in differences of the human beings and people who make an effort and an extra step to fight for this right also get awarded. It is a 5-yearly tradition that they award the United Nations Peace Prize in the Field of Human Rights and the Nobel Peace Prize. One such brave recipient of this award is Malala Yousafzai, a young girl who stood up against the Taliban who were depriving young children, especially girls of education. And during her fight, she managed to survive a gunshot and is still taking over the world and raising funds for educating girls.

Her efforts and achievements are truly noteworthy and deserving of all the praises and awards. Whenever we encounter any such violation of human rights in our lives, let’s be inspired enough to take a step to end this and celebrate the rights to be in peace and harmony.

Short Speech on Human Rights Day

This form of a Short Human Rights Day Speech is helpful for students in grades 4-7 to convey the importance of this day in brief.

Good morning everyone, I Abc (mention your name) feel honoured to be here today and talk about Human Rights Day. We are very fortunate to have a home, a roof over our heads, food, and are able to come to school safely. These are basic human rights and every being is deserving of this. But in so many places around the world people are robbed of their right to shelter, food, and even education, the most concerning being the safety of girls.

The United Nations is a body that has taken the responsibility to safeguard the rights of the victims of this violation on 10th December 1948, 73 years ago the UN General Assembly approved Article 423 (V) and declared the celebration of Human Rights Day. It was in 1950 that the invitation was officially extended to other States and organisations whose values and aims matched the objectives of UDHR (Universal Declaration of Human Rights).

Bringing harmony and peace into the world by observing and trying to eliminate the problems and complaints received from people who are facing the brutalities of violation of Human Rights. This day is celebrated worldwide to commemorate the proclamation made by the UN in 1948 on December 10.

The Indian Government confers the Protection of Human Rights Act (PHRA) and under the conformity of Principles of Paris, NHRC (National Human Rights Commission) is formed.

It’s important to be aware of the state in our country and take a step to fight against what’s wrong so human rights are intact and served right for the purpose.

10 Line Speech on Human Rights Day

This is a 2-minute Speech on Human Rights helpful to convey the idea and meaning to students in grades 1-3.

Human Rights Day is observed and celebrated on 10th December every year worldwide.

It is on this day in the year 1948, the United Nations acknowledged and proclaimed in their General Assembly to observe the celebration of human rights.

Other states and interested organisations who also work for safeguarding human rights and ending the violations were extended the invitations.

And the work actively started in the year 1950.

The Indian body that works extensively in this regard with the United Nations is NHRC (National Human Rights Commission).

It was formed following the Principles of Paris.

NHRC also abides by the ideologies of the Protection of Human Rights Act (PHRA) stated by the Government of India.

The primary objective is to keep safe from discrimination with regards to any type of differences like race, religion, caste, and creed.

The rights are basic and universal like the right to life, free from discrimination, torture, slavery, and degrading treatment.

Any type of violation is a harm and threat to humankind and each step taken in the direction to protect these rights is in the interest of peace which is the need of the hour.

FAQs on Speech on Human Rights Day

1. What is the “Universal Declaration of Human Rights”?

The “Universal Declaration of Human Rights” is an international document adopted by the UN assembly on the date of December 10, 1948, as Resolution 217 during its third session. The document entails the basic rights and freedoms of all human beings. At that time, from the 58 members present at the United Nations at the time, 48 voted in favour, none voted against it, eight abstained, and two did not vote. The declaration consists of a complete 30 articles explaining in detail the "basic rights and fundamental freedoms" of human beings.

2. What are the basic human rights provided by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights?

There are a total of 30 articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which included the "basic rights and fundamental freedoms" of a human being. A simplified version of these rights, which are included in these 30 articles are given below:

All human beings are born Free and Equal, everyone has the right to be treated in the same way.

Don’t discriminate against any human beings, whatever our differences.

Everybody has the right to live in freedom and safety.

Having or making slaves is not accepted.

Nobody has the right to hurt or torture anybody.

All the rights written in the declaration should be respected everywhere.

Everybody should be treated equally before the law.

Nobody can put a person in jail or detain him/her without any good reason. Neither one can send the person away from his/her country.

You should be able to ask the law and law agencies to help if any of your human rights are threatened.

The person under trial has the right to have a free and fair public trial. The judges of the trial should not tell anyone what to do or not.

Everyone should respect this statement “Proven till guilty”. A person under trial is not a criminal until he/she is proven to be guilty of a wrong deed.

Everyone has their right to privacy, one can’t interfere with the other person’s privacy, nobody can bother you or your family without good reason.

A person can live wherever he/she wants to in their country and travel to wherever they want to.

If a person’s country can’t provide a safe place to live, then the person can seek asylum in other countries.

We also have the right to belong to a country and have a Nationality.

3. When is Human Rights Day celebrated?

Human Rights Day is celebrated on the occasion of the adoption of the “Universal Declaration of Human Rights” by the UN assembly as Resolution 217 during its third session on the date of December 10, 1948. This “Universal Declaration of Human Rights” entails the fundamental rights of human beings who live on the planet. This document “Universal Declaration of Human Rights” is translated into more than 500 languages, hence holding the Guinness World Record for the most translated document throughout the world.

4. Why is 10th December celebrated as Human Rights Day?

Human Rights Day is celebrated on 10 December annually across the world to celebrate the adoption of the “Universal Declaration of Human Rights” by the UN assembly as Resolution 217. 48 out of 58 countries that were present at the United Nations, voted in favour of this document named “Universal Declaration of Human Rights”.

It is celebrated in order to acknowledge this “Universal Declaration of Human Rights” as to acknowledge the rights that are provided to every human being living on mother earth. To discuss the issues which harm these basic rights of human beings in any or sense anywhere around the globe.

5. What is the theme for Human Rights Day 2021 and 2020?

The theme of Human Rights Day 2021 was “equality”. As in today's world, the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer. The Human Rights Day of 2021, is to discuss how to deal with inequality.

In the year 2020, the theme of Human Rights Day was "Recover Better - Stand Up for Human Rights". The year 2020 was the year of COVID-19 and hence, the Human Rights Day theme was how to recover from the pandemic.

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A Proclamation on Transgender Day of Visibility, 2024

On Transgender Day of Visibility, we honor the extraordinary courage and contributions of transgender Americans and reaffirm our Nation’s commitment to forming a more perfect Union — where all people are created equal and treated equally throughout their lives.

I am proud that my Administration has stood for justice from the start, working to ensure that the LGBTQI+ community can live openly, in safety, with dignity and respect. I am proud to have appointed transgender leaders to my Administration and to have ended the ban on transgender Americans serving openly in our military. I am proud to have signed historic Executive Orders that strengthen civil rights protections in housing, employment, health care, education, the justice system, and more. I am proud to have signed the Respect for Marriage Act into law, ensuring that every American can marry the person they love.

Transgender Americans are part of the fabric of our Nation. Whether serving their communities or in the military, raising families or running businesses, they help America thrive. They deserve, and are entitled to, the same rights and freedoms as every other American, including the most fundamental freedom to be their true selves. But extremists are proposing hundreds of hateful laws that target and terrify transgender kids and their families — silencing teachers; banning books; and even threatening parents, doctors, and nurses with prison for helping parents get care for their children. These bills attack our most basic American values: the freedom to be yourself, the freedom to make your own health care decisions, and even the right to raise your own child. It is no surprise that the bullying and discrimination that transgender Americans face is worsening our Nation’s mental health crisis, leading half of transgender youth to consider suicide in the past year. At the same time, an epidemic of violence against transgender women and girls, especially women and girls of color, continues to take too many lives. Let me be clear: All of these attacks are un-American and must end. No one should have to be brave just to be themselves.

At the same time, my Administration is working to stop the bullying and harassment of transgender children and their families. The Department of Justice has taken action to push back against extreme and un-American State laws targeting transgender youth and their families and the Department of Justice is partnering with law enforcement and community groups to combat hate and violence. My Administration is also providing dedicated emergency mental health support through our nationwide suicide and crisis lifeline — any LGBTQI+ young person in need can call “988” and press “3” to speak with a counselor trained to support them. We are making public services more accessible for transgender Americans, including with more inclusive passports and easier access to Social Security benefits. There is much more to do. I continue to call on the Congress to pass the Equality Act, to codify civil rights protections for all LGBTQI+ Americans.

Today, we send a message to all transgender Americans: You are loved. You are heard. You are understood. You belong. You are America, and my entire Administration and I have your back.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim March 31, 2024, as Transgender Day of Visibility. I call upon all Americans to join us in lifting up the lives and voices of transgender people throughout our Nation and to work toward eliminating violence and discrimination based on gender identity.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-ninth day of March, in the year of our Lord two thousand twenty-four, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-eighth.

JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR.

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A Summary and Analysis of Martin Luther King’s ‘I Have a Dream’ Speech

By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)

‘I Have a Dream’ is one of the greatest speeches in American history. Delivered by Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-68) in Washington D.C. in 1963, the speech is a powerful rallying cry for racial equality and for a fairer and equal world in which African Americans will be as free as white Americans.

If you’ve ever stayed up till the small hours working on a presentation you’re due to give the next day, tearing your hair out as you try to find the right words, you can take solace in the fact that as great an orator as Martin Luther King did the same with one of the most memorable speeches ever delivered.

He reportedly stayed up until 4am the night before he was due to give his ‘I Have a Dream’, writing it out in longhand. You can read the speech in full here .

‘I Have a Dream’: background

The occasion for King’s speech was the march on Washington , which saw some 210,000 African American men, women, and children gather at the Washington Monument in August 1963, before marching to the Lincoln Memorial.

They were marching for several reasons, including jobs (many of them were out of work), but the main reason was freedom: King and many other Civil Rights leaders sought to remove segregation of black and white Americans and to ensure black Americans were treated the same as white Americans.

1963 was the centenary of the Emancipation Proclamation , in which then US President Abraham Lincoln (1809-65) had freed the African slaves in the United States in 1863. But a century on from the abolition of slavery, King points out, black Americans still are not free in many respects.

‘I Have a Dream’: summary

King begins his speech by reminding his audience that it’s a century, or ‘five score years’, since that ‘great American’ Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This ensured the freedom of the African slaves, but Black Americans are still not free, King points out, because of racial segregation and discrimination.

America is a wealthy country, and yet many Black Americans live in poverty. It is as if the Black American is an exile in his own land. King likens the gathering in Washington to cashing a cheque: in other words, claiming money that is due to be paid.

Next, King praises the ‘magnificent words’ of the US Constitution and the Declaration of Independence . King compares these documents to a promissory note, because they contain the promise that all men, including Black men, will be guaranteed what the Declaration of Independence calls ‘inalienable rights’: namely, ‘life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness’.

King asserts that America in the 1960s has ‘defaulted’ on this promissory note: in other words, it has refused to pay up. King calls it a ‘sacred obligation’, but America as a nation is like someone who has written someone else a cheque that has bounced and the money owed remains to be paid. But it is not because the money isn’t there: America, being a land of opportunity, has enough ‘funds’ to ensure everyone is prosperous enough.

King urges America to rise out of the ‘valley’ of segregation to the ‘sunlit path of racial justice’. He uses the word ‘brotherhood’ to refer to all Americans, since all men and women are God’s children. He also repeatedly emphasises the urgency of the moment. This is not some brief moment of anger but a necessary new start for America. However, King cautions his audience not to give way to bitterness and hatred, but to fight for justice in the right manner, with dignity and discipline.

Physical violence and militancy are to be avoided. King recognises that many white Americans who are also poor and marginalised feel a kinship with the Civil Rights movement, so all Americans should join together in the cause. Police brutality against Black Americans must be eradicated, as must racial discrimination in hotels and restaurants. States which forbid Black Americans from voting must change their laws.

Martin Luther King then comes to the most famous part of his speech, in which he uses the phrase ‘I have a dream’ to begin successive sentences (a rhetorical device known as anaphora ). King outlines the form that his dream, or ambition or wish for a better America, takes.

His dream, he tells his audience, is ‘deeply rooted’ in the American Dream: that notion that anybody, regardless of their background, can become prosperous and successful in the United States. King once again reminds his listeners of the opening words of the Declaration of Independence: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.’

In his dream of a better future, King sees the descendants of former Black slaves and the descendants of former slave owners united, sitting and eating together. He has a dream that one day his children will live in a country where they are judged not by the colour of their skin but by the content of their character.

Even in Mississippi and Alabama, states which are riven by racial injustice and hatred, people of all races will live together in harmony. King then broadens his dream out into ‘our hope’: a collective aspiration and endeavour. King then quotes the patriotic American song ‘ My Country, ’Tis of Thee ’, which describes America as a ‘sweet land of liberty’.

King uses anaphora again, repeating the phrase ‘let freedom ring’ several times in succession to suggest how jubilant America will be on the day that such freedoms are ensured. And when this happens, Americans will be able to join together and be closer to the day when they can sing a traditional African-American hymn : ‘Free at last. Free at last. Thank God almighty, we are free at last.’

‘I Have a Dream’: analysis

Although Martin Luther King’s speech has become known by the repeated four-word phrase ‘I Have a Dream’, which emphasises the personal nature of his vision, his speech is actually about a collective dream for a better and more equal America which is not only shared by many Black Americans but by anyone who identifies with their fight against racial injustice, segregation, and discrimination.

Nevertheless, in working from ‘I have a dream’ to a different four-word phrase, ‘this is our hope’. The shift is natural and yet it is a rhetorical masterstroke, since the vision of a better nation which King has set out as a very personal, sincere dream is thus telescoped into a universal and collective struggle for freedom.

What’s more, in moving from ‘dream’ to a different noun, ‘hope’, King suggests that what might be dismissed as an idealistic ambition is actually something that is both possible and achievable. No sooner has the dream gathered momentum than it becomes a more concrete ‘hope’.

In his ‘I Have a Dream’ speech, King was doing more than alluding to Abraham Lincoln’s signing of the Emancipation Proclamation one hundred years earlier. The opening words to his speech, ‘Five score years ago’, allude to a specific speech Lincoln himself had made a century before: the Gettysburg Address .

In that speech, delivered at the Soldiers’ National Cemetery (now known as Gettysburg National Cemetery) in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania in November 1863, Lincoln had urged his listeners to continue in the fight for freedom, envisioning the day when all Americans – including Black slaves – would be free. His speech famously begins with the words: ‘Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.’

‘Four score and seven years’ is eighty-seven years, which takes us back from 1863 to 1776, the year of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. So, Martin Luther King’s allusion to the words of Lincoln’s historic speech do two things: they call back to Lincoln’s speech but also, by extension, to the founding of the United States almost two centuries before. Although Lincoln and the American Civil War represented progress in the cause to make all Americans free regardless of their ethnicity, King makes it clear in ‘I Have a Dream’ that there is still some way to go.

In the last analysis, King’s speech is a rhetorically clever and emotionally powerful call to use non-violent protest to oppose racial injustice, segregation, and discrimination, but also to ensure that all Americans are lifted out of poverty and degradation.

But most of all, King emphasises the collective endeavour that is necessary to bring about the world he wants his children to live in: the togetherness, the linking of hands, which is essential to make the dream a reality.

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“Sport has huge potential to empower women and girls” — Lakshmi Puri

Date: Tuesday, 16 February 2016

[Check against delivery]

Secretary-General Mr. Ban Ki-Moon, Excellencies, Distinguished delegates, Colleagues and friends,

I am pleased to be part of this important discussion and I agree with the previous speakers that sport has enormous power to generate real social, economic and environmental change and contribute to sustainable development, social cohesion and even to challenge mind sets and prejudice.

Let me talk briefly about the contribution of sports to gender equality and in the context of the SDGs.

First, sport has huge potential to empower women and girls.

In many countries, it has been recognized that sport can be a force to amplify women's voices and tear down gender barriers and discrimination. Women in sport defy the misperception that they are weak or incapable. Every time they clear a hurdle or kick a ball, demonstrating not only physical strength, but also leadership and strategic thinking, they take a step towards gender equality.

There is good evidence that participation in sports can help break-down gender stereotypes, improve girls’ and women’s self-esteem and contribute to the development of leadership skills.

Second, women and girls continue to face discrimination in access to sports as athletes and spectators, and inequalities in professional sports, media coverage, sports media and sponsorships.

Women are far more visible in sports today than at any previous point in history. The Olympics of the modern era started as an all-male event, with women making gradual inroads to compete in different disciplines. As such, women competed for the first time at the 1900 Games in Paris. Of a total of 997 athletes, 22 women competed in five sports: tennis, sailing, croquet, equestrianism and golf. Incredibly enough, women were only allowed to run the marathon in the Olympics in 1988. Also, with the addition of women’s boxing to the Olympic programme, the 2012 Games in London were the first in which women competed in all the sports featured.

Interesting to note that since 1991, any new sport seeking to join the Olympic programme must have women’s competitions. Yet even at mega events, women still face challenges. At the last FIFA Women’s World Cup in 2015, women were required to play on artificial turf, which is often regarded as more physically punishing than natural grass. It is impossible to imagine a men’s world cup on this type of surface.

Media attention to women´s sport in general is extremely low in comparison to men’s. Just have a look at the sports section of The New York Times on any day of the week. Chances are there are no photos and no stories of women athletes. That has a very negative effect in sports women’s salaries and the access to sponsorships, tournaments, leagues and the capacity of showcasing their capacity and skills.

Across professional sports, in fact, one of the most obvious and quantifiable manifestations of gender-based discrimination is that women athletes face a huge pay gap. The total pay-out for the Women’s World Cup was 15 million United States dollars, compared with 576 million United States dollars for the last men’s World Cup — nearly 40 times more for men. The exception is tennis, which since 2007 has awarded equal prize money at all four Grand Slam tournaments.

While sports events aim to promote values of fairness, there is also a dark side. Violence against women and girls occurs in all countries and happens in many situations, including in relation to sports events. Evidence from the UK suggests that domestic violence increases during world cups or when the home team loses. Trafficking in women and children for sexual exploitation vastly increases during sporting ‘mega events’ such as the Olympics and World Cups.

Thirdly, let me point to UN Women’s work with sports organizations, especially the International Olympic Committee.

In Brazil, a joint UN Women and IOC programme works with the National Youth School Games and targets adolescents to advocate for the messages of equality and non-discrimination, non-violence, girls’ empowerment and to positive masculine traits among boys. The programme is reaching out to girls aged 12-14, using quality sports activities to build leadership skills. It aims to foster self-esteem, support positive and healthy decisions, and help prevent gender-based violence. The programme also engages boys and girls aged 12-17 to challenge negative gender stereotypes and be partners for positive change.

Sport is an area in which we can leverage our partnerships and engagement with different audiences to teach everyone that gender-based violence has no place in it, on or off the field, anywhere in our lives and that a future where all playing fields are truly level for all women and girls can be achieved. During the World Cup in Brazil, UN Women launched a mobile application “Clique 180” to help women victims of violence access information and services.

Together with the UN system and as part of the Secretary-General’s UNiTE to End Violence against Women campaign, UN Women promoted the distribution of stickers during the FIFA World Cup that read “The brave are not violent” to educate soccer fans about the responsibility men should take to end violence against women and to combat gender stereotypes.

UN Women has established a great partnership with the Valencia Club de Fútbol (VCF) through which we are working to change stereotypes, challenge misconceptions of masculinity and VCF is becoming a gender equality champion and mobilizing resources for UN Women’s mandate. We have been able to voice our gender equality message from a different speaker — a football club — and share the gender equality and women’s empowerment message in a new way and with an audience not necessarily familiar with our work — the football stars, players and football fans. This is UN Women’s first global partnership with a sports club and VCF is a key partner in the sports sector and industry to communicate the gender equality and women’s empowerment agenda to its particular audience while contributing to the core resources of the organization. The partnership aims to promote gender equality and features the UN Women logo on players’ jerseys, stadium banners and in the club’s social media. It also includes special matches and soccer clinics all over the world. Together we are onside for gender equality.

Fourthly, mega sport events can be used to spread messages that support the 2030 Agenda, including its messages of a world free of poverty and free of violence.

Mega sports events bring billions of people together. These events have the potential to leave social and economic legacies. They can contribute to universal values of equality and non-discrimination, they can empower people and challenge long-seated stereotypes. This can be done through their enormous outreach, and the visibility of role models they create.

Let us remember today Cathy Templeton, who made a name for herself in the motorcycle racing world. In 1997, she said: “I am the first ever female AMA pro hill-climb racer. I’m rather excited by all the attention I am getting because of this, but I’m also a little disappointed that it has taken so long for women to step into this position.”

And we all are disappointed and can wait no longer.

It is our challenge to ensure the achievement of gender equality in the sports world. Mega sports events are also our opportunity to promote the values espoused in the 2030 Agenda and embodied in the 17 sustainable development goals.

This brings us back full circle to the fact that gender equality and women’s empowerment are essential to the achievement of the SDGs.

Realizing gender equality in sports is therefore a great tool in the arsenal of sustainable development. Let sports empower all people, women and men, for a sustainable future for people and planet, our planet 50-50 by 2030 latest.

I thank you!

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11 superb speeches to inspire us to keep fighting for gender equality
Here are 11 speeches to inspire you to keep fighting for equality, no matter how challenging or hopeless things may feel. 1. Hillary Clinton's "Women's Rights are Human Rights" speech
Gender Equality Speech
Speech on Gender Equality - Gender equality starts from home. In many households, boy children and girl children are treated differently. This practice makes people think that treating people differently is normal. ... Individuals who opt for a career as a video game designer may also write the codes for the game using different programming ...
Speech: Looking forward to a future of gender equality
[As delivered.] Distinguished delegates, I would like to thank the President of the Executive Board, H.E. Ambassador Fatima Rabab—my good friend, your good friend—for leading us through the annual session so effectively. And we look forward, like we said earlier in the opening, to continuing to work with her in her new capacity as our best ally for gender equality within the system.
PDF Full Transcript of Emma Watson's Speech on Gender Equality at the UN
pledge to join the feminist fight for gender equality. In the speech Ms. Watson makes the very important point that in order for gender equality to be achieved, harmful and destructive stereotypes of and expectations for masculinity have got to change. Below is the full transcript of her thirteen-minute speech.
Speech: Taking stronger action to keep the promises of Generation Equality
Generation Equality is our bold collective promise to the world's women and girls. If we succeed, Generation Equality will accelerate the world's progress on the Sustainable Development Goals and transform lives for generations to come. And we must succeed. Our ambitions are urgent. Women and girls continue to face the aftershocks of the pandemic, and all over the world we see rising ...
11 superb speeches to inspire us to keep fighting for gender equality
In October 2012, Julia Gillard, a former Australian politician who served as Australia's 27th prime minister from 2010 to 2013, delivered a powerful parliamentary speech on misogyny.. In response to opposition leader Tony Abbott's request to have Peter Slipper removed as Speaker over texts sent to an aide, Gillard took the mic and called Abbott out for his own sexist, misogynistic behavior.
Speech: Transform education
Education lies at the heart of that call to action. As we have heard so eloquently today, education is critical to building agency, equality, voice and power—yes, power—for the world's women and girls, in all their diversity. As we heard Malala say, we need to ensure that we are not working in silos, with a short-term vision. We need to ...
Secretary-General António Guterres' remarks at the New School: "Women
Gender equality is a goal in itself, and key to achieving the other 16 goals. The Decade of Action is aimed at transforming institutions and structures, broadening inclusion and driving ...
Read Hillary Rodham Clinton's Women's-Rights Speech
Read Hillary Rodham Clinton's 'Women's Rights' Speech From 1995. "Now it is time to act on behalf of women everywhere.". By Hillary Rodham Clinton. Associated Press. September 1, 2020 ...
For equality, respect and dignity we must 'speak as one ...
Rather than acknowledging the beauty of diversity, he maintained that racism gives birth to violence and strengthens inequalities. "We can and we must do better," said the Assembly president. "We have a moral obligation to tackle racism in all its forms.". Going forward, he encouraged national governments, civil society organizations ...
Martin Luther King Jr.'s speech at Stanford: Genuine equality
An excerpt of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s speech at Stanford: Genuine equality On April 14, 1967, Martin Luther King, Jr. spoke at Memorial Auditorium about racism and civil rights in American ...
Speech: Gender equality
Speech: Gender equality - just, prudent, and essential for everything we all aspire to Closing remarks by UN Under-Secretary-General and UN Women Executive Director Sima Bahous to the 68th session of the Commission on the Status of Women, UN headquarters, 27 March 2024.
MLK's I Have A Dream Speech Video & Text
The "I Have a Dream" speech, delivered by Martin Luther King, Jr. before a crowd of some 250,000 people at the 1963 March on Washington, remains one of the most famous speeches in history ...
Sojourner Truth
Sojourner Truth (1797-1883) was an African American evangelist, abolitionist, women's rights activist, author who was born into slavery. After escaping to freedom in 1826, Truth traveled the ...
2 Minute Speech On The Equality In English
The state of being equal, particularly in terms of position, rights, or opportunities, is known as equality. In other words, it is the characteristic or state of being equivalent to another thing in terms of amount or worth. Equality plays a significant role in our lives. It keeps society in balance and contributes to a decrease in crime.
Emma Watson's UN speech: what our reaction says about feminism
Watson's speech, which extended a "formal invitation" to men to participate in conversations about gender equality, has been highly praised, radically critiqued, and acted as a spur to a ...
Emma Watson gives powerful UN speech about gender equality
Emma Watson was named a UN Women Goodwill Ambassador earlier this summer, and now the actress and recent college graduate is speaking out about gender equality.. Watson gave a powerful speech at ...
Speech: "The world has to fight gender inequality ...
Speech: "The world has to fight gender inequality together"—Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka Remarks by UN Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of UN Women, Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka at the W7 Women's Forum on Inequality and Sustainable Growth in Rome, Italy on 7 April, 2017.
Speech on Human Rights Day in English for Students
Short Speech on Human Rights Day. This form of a Short Human Rights Day Speech is helpful for students in grades 4-7 to convey the importance of this day in brief. Good morning everyone, I Abc (mention your name) feel honoured to be here today and talk about Human Rights Day. We are very fortunate to have a home, a roof over our heads, food ...
Remarks by President Biden at Signing of an Executive Order on Racial
State Dining Room. THE PRESIDENT: Good afternoon, folks. I thank the Vice President for being with me today as well. In my campaign for President, I made it very clear that the moment had arrived ...
A Proclamation on Transgender Day of Visibility, 2024
You are America, and my entire Administration and I have your back. NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by ...
Speech: "To promote gender equality and women's rights, we need peace
Speech: "To promote gender equality and women's rights, we need peace"—Lakshmi Puri Closing remarks by UN Women Deputy Executive Director Lakshmi Puri at the Panel discussion on Women Girls Gender Equality in Action, during the Helsinki Conference on Syria. Date: Thursday, 2 February 2017.
A Summary and Analysis of Martin Luther King's 'I Have a Dream' Speech
By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University) 'I Have a Dream' is one of the greatest speeches in American history. Delivered by Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-68) in Washington D.C. in 1963, the speech is a powerful rallying cry for racial equality and for a fairer and equal world in which African Americans will be as free as white Americans.
Speech: "We must be united to end racism as well as ...
This time has come again. We must be united to end racism as well as gender inequality in the world. Remarks by Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, UN Under-Secretary-General and UN Women Executive Director, at the urgent debate on current racially inspired human rights violations, systemic racism, police brutality and the violence against peaceful protest ...
"Sport has huge potential to empower women and girls"
Let me talk briefly about the contribution of sports to gender equality and in the context of the SDGs. First, sport has huge potential to empower women and girls. In many countries, it has been recognized that sport can be a force to amplify women's voices and tear down gender barriers and discrimination. Women in sport defy the misperception ...