Promise of Gender Equality Is Within Reach, Says UN Women Deputy Director

The global struggle for gender equality is experiencing a historical moment, says Dan Seymour, deputy director of the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women).

Speaking at a well-attended forum on “Gender in International Affairs: from Promise to Practice” on December 3, Seymour said the world has seen significant progress in the fight for women’s rights, as demonstrated by the increasing number of female politicians and legislation that criminalizes violence against women and girls.

“We see in every sphere a degree of improvement even if the result in some areas is a downturn,” he said. “But still for every step backwards there are two step forward.”

The event was jointly organized by the Journal of International Affairs, which devoted its latest issue to gender issues, and SIPA’s new Gender and Public Policy specialization.

Providing introductions were Farha Quadri MIA ’14 and Dean Merit Janow; Janow acknowledged the contribution of  SIPA students and faculty in the establishment of the GPP specialization and the work that the specialization has already undertaken.  The specialization, somewhat analagous to an undergraduate minor, was launched this fall as part of SIPA’s MIA and MPA programs.

The specialization’s director, Yasmine Ergas, said that gender issues are at the core of international affairs. Examples of this centrality, she said, include the discussion of the education of girls as part of development strategies and the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war.

 “The challenge for the specialization is to help to create the educational infrastructure on which gender equality policies can rest,” Ergas said.

One of the goals of the specialization, she added, is to offer perspectives  on gender in the many fields in which SIPA students concentrate, from international finance to human rights.

Seymour, who delivered the keynote speech, said the launch of the specialization and the creation of UN Women in 2010 are two more signs of the increasing relevance of gender equality at the academics and policy levels.

He said that, in the near future, society will see gender inequality as anachronistic and baffling a practice as slavery.

“It is that belief that we have the opportunity now to turn that promise into practice what drives the efforts of UN Women,” Seymour said.

A subsequent panel discussion featured several practitioners involved in the promotion of gender equality, including Liesl Gerntholtz, director of the women’s division of Human Rights Watch,  Kate Gilmore, deputy executive director of UNFPA, Katherine Phillips of  Columbia Business School, and Dorian Warren of SIPA and the Columbia’s political science department.

Panelists — with an assist from Branwen Millar MIA ’14, the moderator — engaged in a lively discussion of the factors that influenced their own engagement with gender and public policy issues. 

— Fernando Peinado MIA ’14