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| Deputy Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro. UN Photo/JC McIlwaine |
14 February 2012 – United
Nations Member States must boost economic empowerment for women to help them
realize the global community’s common goals, Deputy Secretary-General Asha-Rose
Migiro urged today, warning that gender discrimination around the world was
still too widespread.
“Too many countries still have discriminatory laws on the books.
Laws that prevent women from inheriting property, laws that restrict women’s
freedom, and laws that undermine women’s rights are all laws that must be
repealed,” Ms. Migiro said in her closing remarks to the
Non-Aligned Movement’s (NAM) ministerial meeting on the advancement of women in
Doha, Qatar.
Spotlighting the struggles faced by women in rural communities
around the world, Ms. Migiro also urged governments to economically empower
women living in the countryside, noting that the issue was particularly
“critical” in NAM states.
“All too often, we find the worst poverty in the countryside.
And women are too often the poorest of the poor. Rural women really need our
attention,” she told the gathered delegates, noting that discrimination against
rural women “hurts everyone.”
“Millions of rural women do not have equal access to the tools
they need to create better living conditions for all. They are shut out when it
comes to credit, to information, to services and to technology,” she said.
Ms. Migiro called on all governments to expand women’s access to
credit, tools and resources in order to help “unleash women’s economic power.”
The UN has recently argued that unleashing women’s economic
potential can promote economic growth and recovery faster and more equitably
while also paving the way for other women’s rights – a necessary step in
achieving the anti-poverty targets known as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)
by their 2015 deadline.
“This progress will be critical in helping reach larger global
targets, especially the Millennium Development Goals,” the Deputy Secretary-General
added. “And women’s achievement is essential for the success of this year’s
Rio+20 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development. We absolutely must
empower women to create the future we want.”
Ms. Migiro also pointed to the progress made by the UN’s
youngest agency, UN Women, noting that as it entered its second year, it was
determined to do even more to deliver on the Organization’s promises to advance
women’s issues, including leadership and political participation, the expansion
of economic opportunities, working for an end to gender-based violence, and
increasing women’s contributions to peace.
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