UN officials stressed gender equality at the Global Leaders' Meeting on Women in Beijing on Monday, saying that bridging gender digital divide could lift 30 million people from extreme poverty.
Speaking at the opening ceremony of the leaders' meeting, UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed said the progress of woman is still very slow.
"Progress for women and girls is moving at a glacial pace. In many areas, it is not just stalled, it is reversing. We stand just five years from the deadline of our 2030 Sustainable Development Goals. The hour is late. We are running out of time to make good on the promise we made three decades ago," she said.
Amina said the world must place women and girls at the very heart of the green and digital transitions, creating more opportunities for them in the new era of technology.
"Our UN Gender Snapshot reveals that bridging the gender digital divide could lift 30 million people from extreme poverty and inject 1.5 trillion dollars into the global economy in just five years. But let me be clear, no economy can reach its full potential while sidelining half of its population an indispensable asset base," she said.
UN Women Executive Director Sima Bahous said the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, adopted at the Fourth World Conference on Women in 1995, is a visionary blueprint for gender equality which remains one of the most ambitious frameworks for realizing women's rights.
Thirty years later, the world is standing at a pivotal time in the collective journey towards gender equality, she said.
"Six hundred and seventy six million women and girls live amidst conflict, their opportunities, their health, their safety and their lives in constant jeopardy. If current global trends continue, 351 million women and girls will still live in poverty, in extreme poverty by 2030, and 708 million will remain excluded from the labor force due to unpaid care," she said.
Themed "One Shared Future: New and Accelerated Process for Women's All-round Development", the leaders meeting has gathered many heads of state, government officials, leaders of international organizations and friendly personnel from various continents.
Bridging gender digital divide could lift 30 mln people from extreme poverty: UN official
