Annual Discussion on Integration of a Gender Perspective
Human Rights Council – 54th Session
Statement as Prepared
Statement by the Delegation of the United States of America
Equality is still a work in progress. Today, we reflect on steps we can collectively take to increase opportunities for the participation of women and girls in all their diversity, particularly those from marginalized and underserved groups, in the global decisions of our time.
The United States recently celebrated Women’s Equality Day on August 26, when we annually commemorate the anniversary when women in the United States obtained the right to vote. In 1920, following years of persistence and struggle by brave women, and all those who took up their cause, the United States adopted the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which prohibits the denial of the right to vote on the basis of sex.
In so doing, the United States prohibited the exclusion of women’s voices in the decisions of our nation. This step, taken more than 100 years ago, was just the first in a long and continuing journey to advance gender equity and equality based on the ideal that all individuals are created equal.
As President Biden stated, “Equality also means ensuring women’s economic security.” We know that globally, we are more prosperous when women, in all their diversity, take active roles in the economy.
From our own experience, we know that a commitment to equality will outlast and outreach efforts to roll back advancements and undermine progress. We are confident that equality will prevail, because the benefits to all individuals are too great to ignore.
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