Director General/Executive Director
Excellencies,
Ladies and gentlemen,
Thank you for joining us for this important event.
We at UNOV and UNODC just launched our very first Strategy for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women. We are proud to share this to you today.
The Strategy is in keeping with the priorities of the Secretary-General, who presented the UN System-wide Strategy on Gender Parity last September, as part of continuing reforms.
It is in line with the new framework of UN System-wide Action for implementation of its Policy on Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women.
We also benefitted greatly from the guidance of our UN Women colleagues. I wish to thank Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka for her message, and Ms. Katja Pehrman for joining us today.
The Strategy will help to ensure that UN standards to achieve gender equality are met at UNOV and UNODC, with a systematic framework that sets institutional standards and defines commitments for the next four years.
It will also advance UNODC efforts to strengthen further our support to Member States to mainstream gender in drug control, crime prevention and criminal justice activities, and work towards the SDGs.
It is very fitting that we are holding this presentation during a session of one of our governing commissions.
The CND, as well as the CCPCJ, has long recognized the importance of mainstreaming a gender perspective and ensuring the involvement of women in all stages of the development, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of relevant policies and programmes.
CND resolutions have highlighted challenges from addressing the involvement of women and girls in drug trafficking to taking into account the specific needs of women with respect to drug demand reduction and alternative development.
UNODC research has found that globally, women account for one out of three drug users but only one out of five users in treatment. The negative health impact of drug use has increased more rapidly among women than among men.
The importance of gender mainstreaming and addressing the specific needs of women and girls is clear across our mandate.
UNODC is working to strengthen crime prevention and criminal justice responses to eliminate violence against women, and to provide essential services to women and girls subject to violence.
We also focus on improving protection in our work to stop human trafficking, a crime with women and girls accounting for seventy-one per cent of victims.
UNODC is also providing high-quality, gender-responsive drug- and crime-related research and analysis.
The new Strategy will help reinforce these efforts by providing a clear roadmap for progress.
Importantly, it will also help to ensure that we live up to our commitments in our own workplaces.
I fully stand behind the Secretary-General's commitment to leading by example and fostering an enabling, inclusive and diverse work environment.
The Strategy will guide our efforts to improve the representation of women at all levels to reach gender parity.
It further commits all staff to confronting and challenging gender-based discrimination, harassment and stereotyping, with the aim of promoting an organizational culture where every one of us can contribute.
The Strategy also includes a robust accountability mechanism to help keep our efforts on track.
This remains a personal priority, and I rely on every UNOV and UNODC staff member to do their part.
I have furthermore tasked senior management with regularly reviewing results, identifying challenges and agreeing solutions.
Ladies and gentlemen,
We have made progress but we remain committed to continuous improvement.
Martina Hanke will tell you about the Strategy in more detail.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank Ambassador Eduards and the government of Sweden for their generous support.
I hope we may count on Member States to support us in carrying out this essential work, by providing regular resources and by helping to attract, develop and retain qualified female staff members.
Thank you.