“Gender equality and women’s empowerment has been a marathon, but I hope we are now in sight of the finish line” – Executive Director

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Thank you so much for being here today.

I thank the Member States that are represented here, our colleagues from civil society, ladies and gentlemen,

The wonderful thing about this panel is that we are going to talk about possibilities, about triumph, about the excellence that women and girls bring to the field. It is one of those sessions that will uplift us.

I want to start by acknowledging Sania Mirza, who is our UN Women Goodwill Ambassador for Southeast Asia. She is a tennis player, a strong woman on court and off court. She battles being a young Muslim woman in a world that sometimes judges her unfairly for the choices she has made. She really is a champion for women and girls.

I also want to offer a special “thank you” to Michelle, a remarkable athlete whom we are delighted to have with us today, and to add of course our warm thanks to you, Alan.

Gender equality and women’s empowerment has been a marathon, but I hope we are now in sight of the finish line.  Everybody has to be a sprinter now.

Here at the CSW, we’re starting the final sprint to gender equality before 2030.

This year is the 20^th anniversary of the Beijing Platform for Action, as you know. It is also when we are on our marks and getting ready for this last lap to the finish, when we will have achieved significant gender equality in every country.

The Beijing Platform for Action recognized the many benefits of sports and physical education for women and girls.

The importance of sports for girls also affirms their excellence, and helps to uplift them in situations where they are fighting against heavy odds. Their talent shines through and they are able to conquer adversity.

Yet with all of the achievements made by girls all around the world, gender stereotypes still exist. Many of those stereotypes—not just in sports, but across the board—keep women down.

We are hoping that, in a discussion like this, we can see how sports can help to lift girls up in sports, and to lift girls and women up in society.

We are committed to being a strong partner. We are already partners with the International Olympic Committee (IOC). Through this partnership we see the possibility for us together to lift the game of women and girls.

Together we will push to reach the equality and empowerment goals that are essential to all of us.

In the review of the 20 years since the adoption of the Beijing Platform for Action, one thing that the 168 responding countries have in common is the fact that in all countries we have improved the legislative landscape.

Most countries have now got the right legislation, but its implementation has been universally weak, and the stereotypes in most countries remain strong.

The norms that work against women are strong, and the traditions that work against women are strong.   

The one thing that I know and I have experienced that helps to fight gender stereotypes and reaffirm girls - is success in sports.

I have seen in my own country, how a father, a man with the worst gender stereotypes, can see a girl perform and just switch opinion.

We would like to make sure that we harness this exceptional capacity that sports has to educate and to change attitudes.

Through engaging in sports and living its values, women and girls can develop leadership skills, overcome bias, improve their health and become empowered.

We insist that sports must feature in the post-2015 development agenda, and that Heads of State and Government adopt a progressive outlook in the presentations they will make in September 2015, when they will be indicating what they intend to do in the post-2015 development agenda.

We hope that this session will provide us with lots of ideas that we can share with Member States.

Thank you so much IOC for being the torchbearers in this area.