Report: Only fewer than 12% of those to stand at the UN assembly lectern were women

In the past week, the annual high-level meeting of the United Nations General Assembly in New York featured addresses from 130 world leaders and over 50 ministers, but a striking observation is that less than 12 percent of those who took the lectern were women.

UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed expressed the need for courage in addressing this gender disparity, emphasizing the importance of calling out individuals, delegation by delegation, for this issue. She noted that from the podium, one can clearly see the lack of female representation, and she stressed the necessity for improvement.

Out of the 193-member General Assembly, only four countries did not deliver speeches: Niger, Myanmar, Afghanistan, and Madagascar.

Among the 189 member countries that spoke, there were 88 heads of state and 42 heads of government, while the rest included deputy leaders, ministers, and six ambassadors. In terms of gender representation among the speakers, there were 21 women, consisting of six heads of state, four heads of government, one vice president, nine ministers, and one vice minister.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa garnered applause when he highlighted that women make up 50 percent of South Africa’s cabinet and that he had brought an all-female delegation to New York. He expressed concern over the predominantly male composition of the assembly and called for the inclusion of women from around the world.

Within the United Nations, there is gender parity at the highest level of under-secretaries-general, according to UN data. Across the entire UN system, women constitute 44 percent of international staff.

Some additional statistics from the event include the longest speech, lasting 38 minutes, delivered by Burkina Faso’s Minister of State and Civil Service, Bassolma Bazie, while the shortest, about 10 minutes, was given by Rwandan President Paul Kagame. Notably, while around 190 countries addressed the COVID-19 pandemic during the high-level General Assembly in 2021, this year only about 40 countries did so.