MaximsNewsNetwork: U.N. ECONOMIC & SOCIAL COUNCIL: BAN KI-MOON, GEENA DAVIS (UNTV)

MaximsNewsNetwork: 28 June 2010 - UNTV: United Nations, New York - The annual high-level segment of the United Nations (UN) Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) opened today (28 June) with speakers, including UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Academy Award-winning actress and women's rights advocate Geena Davis, calling for women and girls to be placed at the centre of the global struggle to achieve the social and economic targets known as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

Referring to the eight goals that world leaders have agreed to try to realize before their 2015 deadline, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, told the meeting that "until women and girls are liberated from poverty and injustice, all our goals -- peace, security, sustainable development -- stand in jeopardy."

Ban noted that this year is the 15th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, and the 10th anniversary of Security Council resolution 1325 on women and peace and security. The Declaration and Platform remain the most comprehensive global policy framework to achieve the goals of gender equality, development and peace.

The Secretary-General spoke about the creation of a new agency, UN Women, which he said "will mark a significant advance towards further strengthening our capacity to work with Member States to coherently meet the needs of women and girls."

The General Assembly approved the Secretary-General's plan for a new consolidated agency to deal with women's issues last year, but talks on getting it off the ground have stalled.

Academy Award-winning actress and activist Geena Davis, spoke to the gathering and said that it will be "critical" to engage Governments, the United Nations, and civil society "if we are to end violence against women and girls and promote their economic empowerment."

At a later press conference Davis, who is the founder of the non-profit organization, the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media, said that "devaluing and disempowering" portrayal of women in media that children consume, "sets the table and acculturates yet another generation of children into seeing women and girls as of a lesser status than boys and men."

In addition to the annual ministerial review, the high-level segment of the ECOSOC substantive session will include the Development Cooperation Forum, that aims to strengthen global partnerships for development.

The declaration will serve as a component to this September's high-level summit convened by Ban to try to urge world leaders to accelerate progress towards the MDGs ahead of 2015.
..... ( UNITED NATIONS TELEVISION: UNTV ) ....
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