October 15, 2015 - 41 diplomatic missions and 22 international organizations based in Geneva are unveiling the commitments they have made for the coming year. All of the Champions have taken the GGC Panel Parity Pledge, which puts gender parity at the forefront as they consider invitations to participate in panel discussions. Each Champion has also committed to at least two additional measures destined to advance gender equality within their organizations and throughout their work. The Champions’ commitments take immediate effect. Michael Møller, Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva, Ambassador Pamela Hamamoto, United States Permanent Representative to the United Nations in Geneva, and Caitlin Kraft-Buchman, Executive Director of Women@TheTable, are proud to announce the leadership that forms this network dedicated to making gender equality a priority throughout the multilateral diplomatic work in Geneva.
GGC stems from The Future She Deserves, Ambassador Hamamoto’s initiative launched earlier this year, which aims to use Geneva’s international platform to foster new forms of collaboration and unleash new opportunities for women and girls around the world. It galvanizes International Geneva initiatives to reinforce the United Nations System-wide Action Plan on Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN-SWAP).
Examples of the commitments under GGC being announced today include, among others:
- Advocating in favor of women’s rights in multilateral discussions.
- Implementing clearly defined and measurable gender targets for staffing, delegation composition and procurement.
- Addressing challenges that may discourage women from occupying leadership positions and, if necessary, providing individualized support for career and professional development.
- Establishing norms for meetings that prevent unintentional discrimination against employees who need to provide care for others in the early morning or evening.
- Leveraging data from the UN System-wide Action Plan on Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN-SWAP) to address gender disparities in the UN system.
- Monitoring and reporting results of gender equity-related indicators in strategic frameworks, programs and projects.
Director-General Møller, Ambassador Hamamoto, and Executive Director Kraft-Buchman salute the Geneva Gender Champions and recognize the important contribution made by partners and International Geneva to move this initiative forward.
The Geneva Gender Champions network will be opening on December 1st to non-governmental organizations and the private sector to continue to build on Geneva’s multilateral diplomatic platform, break down gender barriers and advance gender equality, one commitment at a time.
To learn more about these commitments, please visit: http://www.genderchampions.com
The inaugural list of Geneva Gender Champions is as follows:
- Michael Møller
Director-General | United Nations Office at Geneva
- Ambassador Pamela Hamamoto
Permanent Representative | U.S. Mission to the United Nations in Geneva
- Ambassador Alexandros Alexandris
Permanent Representative | Mission of Greece to the United Nations in Geneva
- Zeid Ra’ad Al-Hussein
High Commissioner | United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
- Elhadj As Sy
Secretary General | International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies
- Christian Friis Bach
Secretary-General | United Nations Economic Commission for Europe
- Ambassador Veronika Bard
Permanent Representative | Mission of Sweden to the United Nations in Geneva
- Ambassador Vesna Batisti? Kos
Permanent Representative | Mission of Croatia to the United Nations in Geneva
- Jan Beagle
Deputy Executive Director | UN AIDS
- Seth Berkley, MD
Chief Executive Officer | GAVI, The Vaccine Alliance
- Ambassador Julian Braithwaite
Permanent Representative | Mission of the United Kingdom to the United Nations in Geneva
- Ambassador Mehmet Ferden Çar?kç?
Permanent Representative | Mission of Turkey to the United Nations in Geneva
- Margaret Chan
Director-General | World Health Organization
- Ambassador Kyong-lim Choi
Permanent Representative | Mission of the Republic of Korea to the United Nations in Geneva
- Ambassador Baba Cisse
Permanent Representative | Mission of Senegal to the United Nations in Geneva
- Ambassador Bertrand de Crombrugghe de Picquendaele
Permanent Representative | Mission of Belgium to the United Nations in Geneva
- Ambassador Regina Maria Cordeiro Dunlop
Permanent Representative | Mission of Brazil to the United Nations in Geneva\
- Ambassador Christian Dussey
Director | Geneva Center for Security Policy
- Ambassador Martin Eyjólfsson
Permanent Representative | Mission of Iceland to the United Nations in Geneva
- Ambassador Alexandre Fasel
Permanent Representative | Mission of Switzerland to the United Nations in Geneva
- Ambassador Kok Jwee Foo
Permanent Representative | Mission of Singapore to the United Nations in Geneva
- Ambassador Jonathan Fried
Permanent Representative | Mission of Canada to the World Trade Organization
- Rolf Heuer & Fabiola Gianotti
Director-General & Director-General Designate | European Organization for Nuclear Research
- Arancha González
Executive Director | International Trade Centre
- Ambassador Ricardo González Arenas
Permanent Representative | Mission of the Eastern Republic of Uruguay to the United Nations Office in Geneva
- Francis Gurry
Director General | World Intellectual Property Organization
- António Guterres
High Commissioner | United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
- Ambassador Keith Harper
S. Representative | U.S. Mission to the Human Rights Council
- Selina Jackson
Special Representative to the UN and WTO | World Bank Group Office in Geneva
- Michel Jarraud
Secretary General | World Meteorological Organization
- Simon Jones
Director | United Nations International Computing Centre
- Ambassador Päivi Kairamo
Permanent Representative | Mission of Finland to the United Nations in Geneva
- Ambassador J?nis K?rkli?š
Permanent Representative | Mission of Latvia to the United Nations in Geneva
- Mukhisa Kituyi
Secretary-General | United Nations Conference on Trade and Development
- Ambassador Filloreta Kodra
Permanent Representative | Mission of Albania to the United Nations in Geneva
- Ambassador Steffen Kongstad
Permanent Representative | Mission of Norway to the United Nations in Geneva
- Ambassador Elisabeth Laurin
Permanent Representive | Mission of France to the United Nations in Geneva
- Ambassador Jorge Lomonaco
Permanent Representative | Mission of Mexico to the United Nations in Geneva
- Ambassador Eviatar Manor
Permanent Representative | Mission of Israel to the United Nations in Geneva
- Ambassador Marta Maurás Pérez
Permanent Representative | Mission of Chile to the United Nations in Geneva
- Peter Maurer
President | International Committee of the Red Cross
- Ambassador Rosemary McCarney
Permanent Representative | Mission of Canada to the United Nations in Geneva
- Ambassador Patricia O’Brien
Permanent Representative | Mission of Ireland to the United Nations in Geneva
- Ambassador Marie-Thérèse Pictet-Althann
Permanent Observer | Sovereign Order of Malta Mission to the United Nations in Geneva
- Deputy U.S. Trade Representative Michael Punke
Permanent Representative | U.S. Mission to the World Trade Organization
- Ambassador John Quinn
Permanent Representative | Mission of Australia to the United Nations in Geneva
- Consul-General Carl Reaich
Consul-General | New Zealand Mission of to the United Nations in Geneva
- Ambassador Cecilia B. Rebong
Permanent Representative | Philippine Mission to the United Nations in Geneva
- Ambassador Joachim Rücker
Permanent Representative | Mission of Germany to the United Nations
- Guy Ryder
Director General | International Labour Organization
- Jarmo Sareva
Director | United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research
- Ambassador Maurizio E. Serra
Permanent Representative | Mission of Italy to the United Nations
- Ambassador, Dr. Syed Tauqir Shah
Permanent Representative | Mission of Pakistan to the World Trade Organization
- Ambassador Nazhat Shameem Khan
Permanent Representative | Mission of Fiji to the United Nations
- Ambassador Peter Sorensen
Permanent Representative | European Union to the United Nations
- Ambassador Carsten Staur
Permanent Representative | Mission of Denmark to the United Nations in Geneva
- Ambassador Vojislav Šuc
Permanent Representative | Mission of Slovenia to the United Nations in Geneva
- William Lacy Swing
Director General | International Organization for Migration
- Ambassador Thani Thongphakdi
Permanent Representative | Mission of Thailand to the United Nations in Geneva
- Margareta Wahlstrom
Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction | UNISDR
- Ambassador Elayne Whyte Gómez
Permanent Representative | Mission of Costa Rica to the United Nations in Geneva
- Ambassador Robert Wood
Permanent Representative | U.S. Mission to the Conference on Disarmament
- Houlin Zhao
Secretary-General | International Telecommunication Union
These additional people have signed the GGC Parity Pledge:
- Alanna Armitage
Director | United Nations Population Fund
- Ambassador Rhoda Jackson
Permanent Representative | Mission of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas to the United Nations in Geneva
This release is a joint effort by the United Nations in Office in Geneva, the U.S. Mission to UNOG, and Women @ The Table.