“Take action to create the world we want” – Lakshmi Puri
At the first-ever UN Environment Assembly meeting for the High-Level Gender and Environment Forum, UN Women Deputy Executive Director Lakshmi Puri attended a Tree-planting Ceremony in Commemoration of World Environment Day and the Beijing Platform for Action+20.Date:
Wangari Maathai said: “Until you dig a hole, you plant a tree, you water it and make it survive; you haven't done a thing. You are just talking.”
Today, we are not talking, we are doing. And by planting this tree, we call on the world’s attention to the issue of women and the environment.
Women are environmental leaders and actors. They are enablers and beneficiaries of sustainable development in its three dimensions – economic, social, and environmental. They are agents of change for environmental sustainability.
I commend the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) for organizing the Gender and Environment Forum as part of the UN Environment Assembly. To achieve environmental sustainability, gender equality, and sustainable development, now is the time to put women and girls at the center of our efforts.
The months ahead are leading up to the 20th anniversary of the adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action – the landmark international agreement for the promotion of gender equality and women’s rights.
Our campaign “Empowering Women, Empowering Humanity: Picture It!” is a call to action to world leaders and to all citizens of the planet to accelerate implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action in order to realize a world where gender equality is a reality for all women and girls.
This month, we are focusing on the issue of women and the environment. I call on you to join our campaign, join the conversation and, as we are doing today, take action to create The World We Want.
Related links:
Opening statement of UN Women Deputy Executive Director Lakshmi Puri at the High-Level Gender and Environment Forum, 23 June 2014, in Nairobi, Kenya