New york: The Permanent Representative of Cyprus, Ambassador Maria Michail, reiterated at the 80th session of the UN General Assembly’s Third Committee, the country’s strong commitment to advancing gender equality and eliminating discrimination and violence against women and girls. Expressing appreciation to the briefers from UN Women, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), the Working Group on Discrimination against Women and Girls, and the Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women and Girls, she emphasized that while ‘positive steps and progress have been made in recent years, the global community is falling short of achieving gender equality by 2030.’
According to Cyprus News Agency, she noted that progress remains insufficient, warning that ‘backlashes on women’s and girls’ rights across the world are persisting’. She stressed that ‘historic inequalities, stereotyped gender roles and prejudices deeply rooted in societies continue to impede the full realization of gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls’.
Reaffirming Cyprus’s dedication to addressing these challenges, she underlined that the country ‘is fully committed to intensifying all efforts towards achieving gender equality, eliminating all forms of discrimination against women and girls, and promoting, protecting, and fulfilling their rights.
Cyprus’s approach, she pointed out, is guided by international law and conventions, notably CEDAW, and anchored in the Beijing Platform for Action and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
Ambassador Michail highlighted that Cyprus’s national gender equality policy reflects these international commitments and seeks to ensure women’s ‘full, equal and meaningful participation in all spheres of life’.
As a newly elected member of the Human Rights Council for 2025-2027, she said, gender equality, women’s empowerment, and the elimination of violence against women and girls are among Cyprus’s top priorities.
In a show of concrete support, she announced that Cyprus has doubled its 2024 voluntary contribution to UN Women’s core resources and to the UN Women Fund for the Elimination of Violence Against Women.
She praised the organization’s work, stating that ‘Cyprus wishes to express its full support to UN Women and commends its efforts in promoting gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls worldwide’.
Concluding her remarks, she posed a question to the UN Women official: ‘From your assessment, what are the main challenges for fully implementing the Beijing Declaration and for achieving full equality by 2030, taking into consideration that SDG5 is off track?’