Gender Equality: A Global Challenge

Outdated gender misconceptions spread worldwide continue to prevent women from taking on key leadership roles in every aspect of our daily lives. For this reason, we must join efforts to reverse this tendency and make sure their voices are heard.
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It is an honor to contribute to the Women in Parliaments Leadership Campaign. Even though women represent roughly half of the world's population, this has yet to translate into broader female participation in politics. Unfortunately, outdated gender misconceptions spread worldwide continue to prevent women from taking on key leadership roles in every aspect of our daily lives. For this reason, we must join efforts to reverse this tendency and make sure their voices are heard.

Mexico has historically been an active participant in the gender equality and women's empowerment agenda. In 1975, my country hosted the first World Conference on Women where we established the founding principles of today's UN Women. More recently, Mexico promoted gender mainstreaming through the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. As part of this effort, I co-hosted the "Global Leaders' Meeting on Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment: A Commitment to Action" alongside 80 world leaders at the 70th session of the General Assembly.

Building more equitable societies in which gender is not a reason for exclusion, violence or discrimination is a responsibility we all share. Last year, my country joined the UN "He for She" initiative and we are now its second largest supporter with more than 58 thousand adherents. My government is also fostering media campaigns to invite more men to join this initiative and embrace the effort to promote awareness against gender stereotypes.

We are improving our legal framework to ensure that all our programs incorporate gender perspectives and enhance women participation in all aspects of our lives. In 2013, to commemorate the 60th anniversary of women's suffrage in Mexico, I sent an electoral reform initiative to Congress that now requires parties to grant half of their candidacies for federal and local legislators to women. In the 2015 elections, this modification led to a female representation of over 42 percent in the Chamber of Deputies. At the local level, congresswomen now comprise an average of 40 percent of state legislatures. Currently, Mexico is among the ten countries with the most women in the Lower House, surpassing developed nations such as Finland, France, Norway, the United Kingdom and the United States.

In Mexico, women make up 38.5 percent of the labor force and economically support 29 percent of all households. My government has worked alongside civil society, congresswomen and local governments to highlight the vital importance of women in our society. One of our main purposes is to abolish discrimination against girls and women--especially among indigenous communities--and fully empower them to exercise their rights. In this sense, we are improving women's education and employment rates, encouraging their entrepreneurship skills and increasing their access to health care. Most importantly, Mexico has continued to undertake actions to eradicate gender-based violence and ensure that women are born into a threat-free environment.

The growing participation of women in leadership roles is a crucial step towards gender justice as it encourages other women to rise above structural limitations and promotes gender equality as a fundamental part of democracy. The world is late to recognize women's empowerment as a positive force of change and development. The global community can no longer speak of protection of human rights without the full protection of women's rights. There are still barriers ahead that need to be overcome, but Mexico will continue its efforts to promote true gender equality and to ensure that both women and men receive the same opportunities.

Women's empowerment is not a matter of what; we all know what needs to be done. Women's empowerment is a matter of when, and the answer is NOW.

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