Answer:
Date: Wednesday, 6 April 2011
Keynote address delivered by UN Women Executive Director Michelle Bachelet at the 5th Global Colloquium of University Presidents, University of Pennsylvania, 5 April 2011.
[Check against delivery.]
President Gutmann, distinguished participants, honoured guests,
It is a pleasure to be invited to give this keynote address on “Empowering Women to Change the World: What Universities and the UN Can Do.
The issue could not be more important. Higher education, once the privilege of the elite, is increasingly within reach of the majority — including women and girls — in all countries. Education at all levels, but higher education especially, gives women options, empowers them to be independent thinkers and agents of change.
Because the world is changing. You cannot look at what is happening in North Africa and not see that countries that rely on promises of “stability — based on unchanging leadership and rigid conceptions of social and gender roles - are no longer sustainable. The frustrated dreams and aspirations of those left out have thrust millions into the streets — women alongside men, demanding opportunities to lead and contribute to the revitalization of their societies and economies.
This is an exciting time for women in all countries. Governments are recognizing they cannot continue to develop and prosper without fully engaging one half of their population. The historic decision by UN member states to create UN Women, consolidating four smaller entities into a larger and better resourced organization, is a clear sign of this. It signals a long-sought recognition that achieving gender equality and women's rights is regarded on a par with other pressing global issues, including ending poverty and hunger, reducing infant and maternal mortality and tackling the problems of climate change.
All of these issues also create challenges. As the impact of the worst economic crisis in the last 40 years continues to be felt, one of the most urgent challenges is to address the chronic poverty and insecurity faced by the majority of the world's women. Another is climate change, which women in many countries, particularly low-income countries, already experience as a daily reality. And a third, as the news headlines from Japan daily remind us, is the need to continue to search for safe, reliable and clean energy sources.
Explanation:
Mark me as brainliest answer
