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What an honour to hear our new Under Secretary General of UN Women speak in London at the Royal Society of Arts on Tuesday. The meeting was facilitated by UN Women UK.One of the speakers was was the UK Home Secretary, Theresa May. But the person we had all come to hear was Michelle Bachelet. She said that the foundation of UN women is a real turning point.This has realised the dreams of women and girls all over the world for a stronger and more untited approach to gender issues and women's equality and empowerment. She emphasised that women are agents of change and capable of changing whole societies. To build a better society we need to empower women. She also pointed out that there is a clear correlation between women’s equality and the GDP of a country. 

 She set out key priorities for the new agency.

·       Increasing women’s leadership and participation

·       Ending violence against women and girls

·       Engaging women in all aspects of peace and security processes

·       Enhancing women’s economic empowerment

·       Making gender equality central to national development planning and budgeting

In conclusion, she said that there is no limit to what a woman can achieve. We all came away inspired and feeling that we are part of a real historic moment in time and that UN Women will be a real champion of global change for women and girls. SI looks forward to seeing how this new entity develops over the coming months.

Hilary Ratcliffe 

SIGBI Programme Director