2024 Women in Leadership Forum

A recording of these remarks can be found on YouTube

Excellencies,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I thank the Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business for the invitation to speak at this event. 

Women and girls represent half of the world’s population and, therefore, also half of its potential.

Throughout history, women have played an essential role in driving economic growth, innovation, and social development around the world, with their leadership visible across various sectors. 

Today, 30 countries have women as Heads of State or Government, while countries such as Cuba, New Zealand and Rwanda see gender parity in their national parliaments.

Despite similar advances, full gender equality remains an ongoing challenge. 

Large gender gaps persist across corporate leadership, with women holding only 19.7% of board seats, 6.7% of board chairs, 5% of CEOs and 15.7% of CFO positions. 

These gaps not only exist in senior management, but across the labour market. There continues to be a 25-percentage point gap in the global labour force participation rate among men and women, with only 47% of women in the labour force, while for men, it is 72%. 

The United Nations is committed to making gender equality and women’s empowerment a reality, with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development offering a blueprint for addressing persistent gender gaps and their related cross-cutting development challenges. 

Among the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Goal 5 targets gender equality and women’s empowerment, aiming to eliminate discrimination, end violence, and promote their full participation in leadership and decision-making processes. 

As UN Secretary-General António Guterres said, "We must support women’s organizations on the front line. And we must invest in programmes to end violence against women, and to drive women’s inclusion and leadership in economies, digital technologies, peacebuilding and climate action."

Over the past decades, China has made meaningful progress in advancing gender equality, by implementing policies in support of women's rights, leading to greater women's education, participation in the workforce and improved income distribution.

However, while progress has been made, more work remains to be done. 

The UN in China’s Cooperation Framework is aligned with the country’s 14th Five-Year Plan to support more family-friendly policies, including parental leave, equal pay, and changing norms in the allocation of household work, while recognizing the care economy as essential for maximizing women’s contributions to the economy. 

This is assisted through the efforts of UN entities in China, such as the UN Global Compact, who, through its Target Gender Equality Accelerator, engage with over 80 companies to support capacity building here while bringing men on board as allies.

Similarly, the UN’s efforts here strongly focus on fostering South-South cooperation efforts to support more progress on gender equality in China and around the world.

Gender equality is not merely a fundamental human right, but an urgent necessity that will support long-term economic prosperity and stability while reducing inequalities. 

Extensive research has shown that women in leadership can support increased productivity, enhance collaboration, and inspire better organizations. 

However, realizing this dividend requires leadership, investments, and comprehensive policy reforms to dismantle the systemic barriers that keep women from such roles.

The private sector must also take a leadership role here, putting gender equality at the centre of its efforts in pushing the economic, social, and governance framework ahead.

The international community and China can also assist by enhancing efforts that ensure women's central role in decision-making processes, allowing us to meet the central promise of the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs, to leave no one behind. 

Together, the UN in China stands ready to work with all to forge a world where every woman and girl thrives, free from the fear of gender-based discrimination and violence, fully empowered to realize her true potential.

Thank you.