Participation

Today, I would like to focus on one key area. It is an area where progress is still very slow. But since it affects ha l f of the world's population and ha l f of the world's human resources, it is of crucial importance. I am referring to maybe the most important human rights failure of all. At least the one that affects the largest number of human beings.

Let me once again welcome the creation of the UN Women, an entity that reflects the firm commitment of our organization to the
struggle for gender equality and to ensure that women have the necessary conditions for a more representative and active

During its chairmanship of the Movement, Egypt seeks to reinforce the Joint Coordinating Committee with the Group of 77 and China.

Following the 2008 general elections, women's participation in politics increased with their election to 12,828 reserved seats in local government and 64 members in the parliament. We also have five women cabinet ministers (in charge of Agriculture, Home, foreign Affairs, Women and Children Affairs, and Labor), a female Opposition Leader, the Deputy Leader, a female Whip, and of course, the Prime Minister is a woman.

Even if she earns a comfortable living, a woman who lives in fear of daily violence and has no say in how her country is run is not truly free.

Lifting the full participation of women and youth in the economies of the developed and developing world, given the findings by Goldman Sachs that closing the gap in workforce participation between women and men in emerging markets could increase projected per capita income by 20 percent by 2030.

Fight against poverty and diseases, gender equality, protection of mothers and children, education, environmental protection and sustainable development represent the main prerequisites for progress and prosperity of our societies and are set high in the Government agenda.

Her Excellency Dilma Rousseff, President of the Federative Republic of Brazil, opened her speech with these words: "For the first time in the history of the United Nations, a female voice opens the General Debate. It is the voice of democracy and equality.

That means 700,000 new jobs every year in Egypt alone. And these jobs shouldn't just be for men. Lets be honest, its not just the men of the region who want a job and a voice. The unemployment rate for Egyptian women is more than three times that for men. And its not only the economy, they are denied the chance to play a fuller role in society, politics and culture too.

Notice, I said people. Not “Men”. Already two and half thousand years ago Aristotle noted that where the state of women is bad “almost half of human life is spoilt.” “This is no less true today and will remain so. The ongoing revolutions could not have occurred and cannot succeed without women.