Did you know that during the 72nd session of the UN General Assembly, only 5 out of the 21 Vice-Presidents are women and all Chairs of the six Main Committees are men ?
On 25 May 2018, President of the 72nd Session of the UN General Assembly and International Gender Champion, Miroslav Lajčák, encouraged Member States to nominate female candidates for the position of Vice-Presidents and Chairs of the Main Committees ahead of the elections on 5 June 2018 with a view to ensure gender balance in the work of the General Assembly.
Only 3 women have served as President of the United Nations General Assembly in the past 72 sessions. Women are also underrepresented among permanent representatives to the United Nations, at only around 21 per cent in New York and 26 per cent in Geneva as of January 2018.
Learn more about how Member States, secretariats of United Nations governing bodies and senior officials like ministers, ambassadors, and heads of organizations, can help raising women's voices in intergovernmental forums.
Check his letter to all Permanent Representatives and Permanent Observers to the UN in New York here:
More on the elections here.