NEW YORK, 10 JANUARY – Italy was elected today by acclamation to the Vice Presidency of the Executive Board of UN Women, the world’s leading women’s rights agency within the UN system. The election marked a first time for the Country which joined the Board in 2022 with a two years mandate. The Vice Presidency was entrusted to Ambassador Maurizio Massari, Permanent Representative of Italy to the United Nations, and will last until January 2024. The 2023 Executive Board Presidency went to the Ukrainian Ambassador to the UN Sergiy Kyslytsya. Together with Italy, three Vice-Presidents were elected today, in representation of the respective geographical groups: Colombia, Cameroon and Thailand.
“The Vice Presidency of the UN Women Executive Council will be one of the highlights of Italy’s multilateral action this year, and women’s rights will be a ‘cross-cutting priority’ that we will promote in all relevant fora, even beyond our management of the Board, including in our current functions as ECOSOC Vice President, Incoming President of the ECOSOC Humanitarian Affairs Segment and incoming members of the UN Peacebuilding Commission”, stressed Massari.
The Ambassador recalled the constant growth of Italian support for UN Women, from a political, financial and technical point of view. In addition to the 20% increase in our core contributions in 2022, Italy was also the first EU country to invest in UN Women in the context of the “Team Europe” approach with specific projects in Africa, thanks to a new initiative on women’s rights and leadership in Sudan.
“There is still much work to be done to achieve gender equality women’s empowerment, as emerged from the UN Commission on the Status of Women and the High Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development – HLPF in 2022”, highlighted Massari recalling the negotiations between 170 countries led by Italy last year, including the revision of the SDG 5 on gender equality: “We cannot accept further delays or setbacks. We need to step up actions to achieve gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls everywhere. The Women’s Status Commission, HLPF and this year’s SDGs Summit, along with other key summits, will be crucial to accelerate global action and not leave behind any women and girls”. (@OnuItalia)
