Huffington Post: Equality for Women Is Progress for All
Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director, U.N. Women

“…I am taking the lessons I learned from our struggle to end apartheid and establish democracy in South Africa to advance equality for the world’s girls and women as the head of U.N. Women. We are fortified by evidence that equality for women is progress for all. Countries with higher levels of gender equality perform better in education, health, and economic growth. Companies with more women managers have higher returns for shareholders. Peace agreements and national institutions that include women’s voices and concerns are more durable and democratic. In fact, the U.N. General Assembly has now acknowledged that alleviating poverty and disadvantage, securing peace, and achieving progress on all of the Millennium Development Goals depends upon the promotion of gender equality…” (3/18).