At an event organized in Mexico under the auspices of the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, gender activists from around the world highlighted that the COVID-19 pandemic has shown that more diverse and inclusive leadership is required to tackle global problems.
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"If we had more diverse leadership, we would make better decisions," Iceland's Prime Minister Katrin Jakobsdottir said.
Libyan activist Alaa Murabit pointed out that the new coronavirus has exacerbated inequalities and showed once again that women, especially those who come from low-income social groups or ethnic communities, lack adequate mechanisms of social protection.
UN Women Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka lamented that in many places women are not trusted to manage the pandemic, for they have to prove they can deal with matters of public interest.
The “Me Too” Movement Founder Tarana Burke stressed that more women are needed in decision-making processes.
She also explained that it is required more economic, political, and religious diversity among women who reach public offices.
Finally, besides recalling her career as a gender activist, Mexico's Interior Secretary Olga Sanchez pointed out that high-level officials should develop "an empathic position with women's movements" to find lasting solutions to problems such as gender violence.