WOMEN RISE FOR ALL

Like no other time in recent history, women are on the frontlines of COVID-19 and bearing the brunt of this human crisis. They are the first responders in hospitals and clinics, leading in science and research, and on the frontlines of politics and communities. I’ve been truly inspired, and I know others will be too. It is time for us to rise as women leaders taking action to conquer the pandemic and come out stronger.

This is a global crisis. Delay in action means death. We all face the same enemy and we stand to gain by bringing the full force of humanity together to fight it. There cannot be victory over the virus in one, or some countries alone. … I stand in support of the United Nations Secretary General’s appeal for solidarity.

I rise for all, because in this current pandemic of COVID-19, women are in many fields at the forefront of the fight against the disease. Without their dedication and competence, the impact of the pandemic would have been all the more dramatic.

Let us rebuild. Let us retool. Let us repurpose, because this is perhaps the most apt reminder of what we must fight for in the multilateral system, in the global community of nations on the eve of the 75th anniversary of the United Nations. We can do it, working together, but we need to respect each other, to see each other, to hear each other and to work together.

We must address the gender impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic in our response and recovery packages. Make sure that women are represented in all COVID-19 planning and decision-making. Ensure that our recovery is inclusive and sustainable. The Sustainable Development Goals must be our compass.

The corona virus knows no borders. … This pandemic requires urgent efforts in the spirit of multilateralism: a united global response with the United Nations at its core. In our global village, solidarity is the only option … I strongly encourage other countries as well as the private sector and the foundations to step up and contribute to the UN COVID-19 Response and Recovery Fund.

If you don’t intervene, the effects of this crisis will have disastrous education and economic effects on our young people. It will be leading them down a dangerous path of hopelessness and possibly extremism.… Let’s be proactive and think long-term, and instead of working from fear, we must take this opportunity to narrow the digital gap and bring innovative solutions to our children and youth.

I call on governments, developing partners, civil society organizations to work together to remove barriers which prevent women, children, and people in rural areas to enjoy their full rights. Only then, solutions will be sustainable.

Working together to prioritize the needs of the poorest and the most vulnerable people around the world is essential to ending this pandemic once and for all. It’s been remarkable to see the speed with which people around the world have stepped up to do their part. …. Even on our darkest days, they give me hope. Hope that we can rise above this threat if we rise for all.

I call to action, people everywhere to help correct the overload of COVID-19 misinformation by sharing facts-based content to keep our communities safe and informed.

If we keep quiet, the effects of this pandemic will be even more disastrous than what we have already seen. We must all come together to overcome this crisis in order to break structural practices that have been in marginalizing women.

We need to see rapid progress on social protection, so that people can recover with the least possible suffering. … The starkly uneven impacts of COVID-19 have laid bare existing and devastating social and economic inequalities. But if they are made, they can be unmade. Women’s equal participation is essential for that.

Misinformation is spreading faster than the virus and is making the public health response very difficult. We need to flood the internet with science-based information to equip people with verified information. Pause and take care before you share information.

The global response to HIV has taught us that only a rights-based approach rooted in valuing everybody equally will overcome the coronavirus pandemic and others to come. Health care must never be a commodity for sale. It is a right for all and a shared investment in our common safety and wellbeing. … I stand with activists and global leaders in their demand that any vaccine or treatment discovered for COVID-19 is declared a global public good and made available to all countries and all people, free of charge.

Women are the pillars of our societies in COVID-19. They are care givers, protectors and comforters, they feed our families and support our economies. I rise for all of women so they hear of our eternal gratitude and our unwavering commitment to them and all of humanity.

Through COVID-19, the planet has delivered its strongest warning yet that we must change. … As we reboot our planet, it is also clear that we cannot pause on climate action. Economic stimulus packages can deliver economic growth, make the world a more equal place, and reduce our emissions trajectory. We owe it to women to get this right, because women are holding our world together as we speak. Women are the frontline responders to the global pandemic.

Every recovery plan should be an essential element of a green, sustainable and inclusive future. For a healthier and safer world, gender-responsive climate action is crucial. Rapid assessment of how gender gaps have increased due to COVID-19 is critical to ensure climate policy and action is effective and fair.

More than 1 billion people living in slums and informal settlements represent all of us. Women and girls are very much impacted. We rise for them and for all marginalized people.

COVID-19 is a crisis of health. But it’s also a children’s crisis, affecting their education, their protection, and their futures. … The UN’s COVID-19 Response and Recovery Fund is the chance to unite the world around our common goal to support the world’s most vulnerable people as they face this challenge, to help children, families, communities and countries through and beyond this current crisis.

For the victims who are seen and unseen, who are known and unknown, for the heroes who we applaud and who we sing, and the unsung heroes -- that’s why we rise. At UNFPA, we rise because we can and because we must. It is our duty to stand with health workers, 70 per cent of whom are women, and to ensure that their voices are heard and that their needs are met.

Women who live under lockdown are also locked in with their abusers. We need to make sure that they have access to the services that prevent violence against women and children. …. I am therefore calling on governments in every country in the world to stand up and declare upfront that the services needed by women who are experiencing violence are essential services.

During the pandemic we have seen that countries, communities, people who were vulnerable, less fortunate, poorer before the pandemic have become even poorer, less fortunate with less access to possibilities of health protection or even just to simple fresh water. So as a result of this crisis, we understand that we need more efforts to rise for all. We need more efforts to fight for reaching the Sustainable Development Goals.

We have lived through the worst of times but we have also seen the best of humanity. I believe that with innovative solutions and a genuine commitment to equality and inclusion, we can achieve a sustainable future for everyone, everywhere.

Every day, young people around the world contribute to the COVID-19 response as scientists, entrepreneurs and innovators. But too often they are left out when decisions are being made. … With ten years to realize the Sustainable Development Goals we must ensure that no young person is left behind. I call on all of us to ensure that the world’s largest generation of young people is placed front and center of our recovery from the current crisis.

If we protect the nature, nature will protect us back, because nature is our pharmacy. Protecting the biodiversity is protecting our health back as humans. We need to fight now for people and for the planet.

My optimism, my belief in humanity and my faith in us during this shared experience is that we will overcome this pandemic and work towards building a more sustainable world by not just ensuring we adopt and follow through on the Paris Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals, but find individual action and individual ways to become better citizens of our planet.

We need to ensure that all of us are afforded the same opportunity to thrive, succeed and prosper. Without championing women and girls, it will be impossible to fully recover from COVID-19 and from the very clear economic fallout.

I rise for all because there is only one human family, one planet and one ecosystem. The pandemic of the COVD-19 is proving us today that we are each other ‘s keepers, that if we care only for ourselves we won’t make it, and that only together, in solidarity, by strengthening our communities, we can beat the COVID-19… My call to action is gender equality at every level.

Being a wheelchair user myself, I’ll put my sentiments into words today. People who are differently abled, people who are special and unique, have been experiencing social distancing and self-isolation since forever because of lack of empathy, lack of inclusion, lack of accessibility and acceptability. I hope and I pray that when the whole world heals from this pandemic, we’ll become more inclusive towards one another, we’ll become more kind and less judgmental towards one another.

We stand in solidarity with every person in refugee camps. We stand with every local NGO and activist organization working for gender justice and racial justice. We stand in solidarity with every single worker that is on the front line.

Let us see more women in more roles of leadership. We must ensure that the Corona virus pandemic does not wipe out any progress that has been made in recent years toward greater gender equality.

Women are teachers, professors, students, graduates. Education is our driving force to transform the world. Let’s go together, all of us, all of you.

Resilience is the other way of naming a woman.

Know the world. Read books. Embrace knowledge and information, because knowledge is power.

Don’t ever feel ashamed about your strength, independence and power. Never stop being your bold, brilliant and beautiful self. Never forget that this world belongs to you.

Eritrean women, soaring to greater heights!

African women - you are agents for transformational change, your strength, empathy and resilience have sustained communities.

My mother has been my role model as she taught me how to focus, manage my life and listen to the voices of the people in need. How to be kind, polite, still determined.

In these most challenging times, women leaders continue to be a source of inspiration to a succeeding generation of women.

Standing together, with courage and determination, we can break glass ceilings and be the change we all need.

We have to look for ways to empower each other. We will succeed only by helping and supporting one another.

For us women, impossible is not an option...the future is a fearless woman.

There are way too many women suffering around the world. I wish everyone would remember that without women, there is no humanity.

Because young women do not only shape the future, they define the now.

Now is the time to make a change for the better. To make our recovery based upon values, not value.

We must rise and do all we can to ensure girls remain educated during the Covid-19 pandemic.

This pandemic underscored the critical importance the female perspective plays in problem solving.

Empowerment of young women and girls is a key to breaking the vicious cycle of poverty and violence. Their education is the answer to building better and sustainable future.

We cannot afford to exclude fifty percent of the world’s population. We must all make sure that we all as human beings have the same rights, resources, and representation.

If we want to tackle the challenges of tomorrow’s world, if we want to build bridges, women have to stand up together.

To the incredible women on the frontline of COVID-19 pandemic: You are an inspiration for us all and we have been cheering for you every single day and will continue to support you.