PRESS RELEASE
New York, January 10, 2023. Italy was elected today by acclamation to the Vice-Presidency of UN Women’s Executive Board, the main world agency advocating for women rights within the UN system. This is a first for Italy, which joined the Executive Board in 2022 with a two-year term. Italy’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador Maurizio Massari will hold office until January 2024. Ambassador Kyslytsya, Permanent Representative of Ukraine to the United Nations, has been chosen as President of the Executive Board.
“The Vice-Presidency of UN Women’s Executive Board will be a cornerstone of Italy’s multilateral action this year”, remarked Massari. “Women rights will be a priority of our cross-cutting engagement in all relevant fora and also in our capacity of Vice-President of ECOSOC and of its Humanitarian Affairs segment, and as members of the UN Peacebuilding Commission we recently joined”.
Ambassador Massari also mentioned the steady increase in the political, financial and techincal support Italy has granted to UN Women. Besides raising its core contribution by 20% in 2022, Italy was also the first EU Member State to invest in UN Women within the “Team Europe” approach through targeted projects in Africa, with a new initiative on women rights and leadership in Sudan.
“We still have a lot to do for gender equality and women empowerment to be fully achieved, as pointed out by the UN Commission on the State of Women (CSW) and by the High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) in 2022”, stressed Amb. Massari, also underscoring that last year’s negotiations led by Italy and involving 170 countries also reviewed the SDG5 on Gender Equality. “We cannot afford any further delays or setbacks. We need to step up actions to achieve gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls, everywhere. This year’s CSW, HLPF and the SDG Summit, alongside other key summits, will be crucial to accelerate global action and make sure no woman or girl is left behind”.
Italy is joined at the Vice-Presidency by Colombia, Thailand, and Cameroon, each representing the remaining regional groups.
