IYF Assistant Secretary-General Statement on International Women’s Day, 8 March 2018.
“A woman completes a man, an honorable man treats women with honor and integrity, and only a vile and dishonorable man humiliates and degrades women.”
It is due to our incontestably strong belief that women are equal to men, and that our global communities would only advance should we empower the other 50 percent of the population.
We do not deny the many successes women had recognized these past years but this should not be the closure to our fight to bringing women’s rights to central discussion. These successes are milestones in the journey of achieving a better world, for our girls, men and women.
In line with Goal 5 of the Sustainable Development Goals, which refers to achieving gender equality and empower all women and girls, the world has achieved progress towards gender equality and women’s empowerment under the MDGs, women and girls continue to suffer discrimination and violence in every part of the world.
The road to achieving equity between men and women is still long and perhaps laborious. But we ask you all to be patient and always ask yourself: “Do I want to live in a better world?”. It is because we believe that by lifting up women and girls around us, we ensure a prosperous, inclusive, and peaceful world.
We, at International Youth Federation, pledge to serve this cause and we take it upon us to improve the lives of girls and women. We are trustful that today’s youth are responsible and have more than honorable intentions, they have the greatest determination to creating a better world.
Let us assert once again that each woman and girls are a unique and valuable human being who is entitled to equal opportunities and universally adopted human rights, no matter where she is born or where she lives. Now is the time to energize efforts to put gender equality at the top of the international peace and development agenda. On this International Women’s Day, the International Youth Federation reaffirms its commitment to ensuring that we help to provide women with the capacity to make this goal a reality.
Today, we invite you all to join us in honouring the women in your life, appreciate and respect and their fights. We ask you to consciously be part of the solution, not a part of the problem.