 And now I give the floor to the distinguished relative of International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance. You have the floor. Thank you, Chair. Excellencies, strengthening democratic institutions and processes is key for accelerating the achievements of gender equality and empowerment of all women and girls. Democracy is a political system best equipped to achieve these goals. Equally, gender equality is essential for democracy as well as for sustainable development more broadly. According to International Ideas Global State of Democracy Indices, levels of gender equality are higher in democracies than in non-democratic regimes. Relative to other forms of government, democracies provide more equal access to political power, produce more inclusive and representative decision-making, and develop more effective, accountable, and transparent institutions with lower levels of corruption. All of these elements are critical for the empowerment of women and girls. Data from International Idea Global State of Democracy reports have shown that only 3% of democracies perform very poorly on gender equality measures. For authoritarian regimes, the proportion is 50%. And since we know that the achievement of not just SDG5 but the SDGs overall depends upon further progress on gender equality, this means that democracy drastically improves the likelihood of success in achieving the 2030 agenda. Unfortunately, despite some advances, gender inequalities remain deeply entrenched in many parts of the world, particularly in non-democratic contexts. Even where equal rights exist in law, they can be denied in practice, with women facing limitations on their ability to pursue elected positions of power due to political violence and harassment, as well as conflict and cultural barriers. Despite recent progress, less than one quarter of members of parliament globally are women. The situation is no better for heads of government, where at the current rate of progress, gender parity will not be reached until 2150. If we let this sink in, that's 126 years from today. And the figures as sub-national representative organs and within political parties are even worse. International Idea has long championed the use of gender quotas in legislatures and such measures remain important. Yet, transformative change also requires attention to broader institutions, processes and systemic injustices that prevent women and girls from fully exercising their political rights. Advancing gender equality also strengthens various aspects of democracy and citizen participation captured in STG-16 and monitored through the STG-16 data initiative, including electoral integrity, combating corruption, political participation and representation, access to information and communication technologies, and media freedom. We would like particularly to highlight the following three elements in line with the principles laid out by the gender cohorts of the Summit for Democracy. First, gender equality is fundamental to the electoral process because it enables women to influence public policy and advocate for their interests. Second, combating corruption effectively requires a gender perspective. Women are affected by corruption in distinct and disproportionate ways, but they often bring unique approaches to anti-corruption efforts. Third, if access to ICTs is equal, these technologies can help close gender gaps in women's political participation. They can serve as tools for women to influence policy agendas, increase women's access to campaign resources, strengthen networks of solidarity and increase women's representation in democratic agendas and processes. Women and girls play a key role in advancing and achieving both democracy and sustainable development. As the GS-5 and 16 does go hand-in-hand and must be pursued in tandem if the agenda 2030 is to succeed. Thank you very much. I thank the representative of International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance