UN Normal Meeting President Dennis Francis paid tribute to Indian reformer and educator Hansa Mehta as he honoured girls diplomats’ “invaluable contributions” on Worldwide Day of Girls in Diplomacy.
Within the second annual occasion commemorating girls in diplomacy right here on Monday, Francis mentioned that all through historical past, girls diplomats have “damaged obstacles and made invaluable contributions to multilateralism”.
“Would the Common Declaration of Human Rights be really common at present if Hansa Mehta had not insisted its opening line be modified from ‘all males’ to ‘all human beings’ are born free and equal?” he mentioned.
Mehta served because the Indian delegate to the UN Fee on Human Rights from 1947 to 1948 and is broadly recognized for guaranteeing a extra gender-sensitive language within the landmark Common Declaration of Human Rights, the UDHR.
She is broadly credited with considerably altering the language of Article 1 of the UDHR, by changing the phrase “All males are born free and equal” with “All human beings are born free and equal.” She died in Mumbai on the age of 97 in 1995.
Francis additionally lauded the roles performed by different girls in diplomacy, together with Eleanor Roosevelt, Begum Shaista Ikramullah and Minerva Bernardino.
He mentioned that gender equality in diplomacy is a “reflection of our societies at giant – a mirror of our progress, or lack thereof, in constructing a world that’s really inclusive and respectful of the rights of ladies and women.”
Asserting that the contributions of ladies who’ve “embodied and elevated the beliefs of equality are too lengthy to listing”, Francis mentioned it’s excessive time the world helps and encourages their “unhindered progress”.
“We should transfer past mere citing of statistics to concrete motion – for a world the place gender equality and ladies’s management in diplomacy are as tried and true as a dawn over the horizon,” he mentioned.
“For this, we should pull gender inequality out from its tenacious roots – by difficult gender stereotypes, ending office harassment, redistributing unpaid care work and making the gender pay hole a vestige of the previous,” he added.
He urged males to get off the sidelines and actively have interaction on this widespread pursuit.
“I eagerly await the day when extra girls assume the place I maintain at present,” he mentioned.
Appreciating the contributions of ladies in diplomacy, he mentioned, “You’re the function fashions – inspiring the arrogance and drive of younger girls and women to realize their fullest potential.”