UNCTAD Chief remembers Sushma Swaraj in International Women's Day address

The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) Secretary-General Rebeca Grynspan talked about India's former External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj while addressing the International Women's Day event held by the Indian Permanent Mission in Geneva.

UNCTAD is a permanent intergovernmental body established by the United Nations General Assembly in 1964 to support developing countries to access the benefits of a globalized economy more fairly and effectively.

"Just 3 years ago, India's esteemed foreign service was led by an eminent woman, Sushma Swaraj. Today, as we mark International Women's Day, I would like to offer this statement in recognition of her work and the work of women like her, who have led the way in the pursuit of gender equality," Grynspan said.

Talking further about the need to promote gender neutrality in the society at large, she said, "Like Sushma Swaraj (had) pointed out, gender equality must truly become a movement of the people, a movement from the bottom up, that brings together men and women from all ages and walks of life, only then will we be able to close the terrible gaps, (that) this pandemic has revealed and widened."

She further talked about UNCTWD's work in the field of gender neutrality.

"We must move from recognition to action, we will do this through more efforts such as the 'e-trade for women' initiative. We will do this through more cross-cutting gender statistics in our flagship reports and we will do this through stronger consensus building on issues at the top of the trade and gender agenda," the UNCTAD Secretary-General said.

She further said that India can count on UNCTAD as an ally in the pursuit of gender equality while also extending her thanks to the Indian Mission for the invitation to the event.

( With inputs from ANI )

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