Remarks of Resident Coordinator Thailand on "Women in Leadership: Achieving an equal future in a post COVID-19 world"

It is a pleasure to address this important event on Women’s Leadership in Thailand and Achieving an Equal Future, especially in light of the pandemic and our joint efforts to build back better. I look forward to hearing the insights of the remarkable women on this panel.  

The United Nations identifies gender inequality as the most pervasive human rights violation throughout history, the result of generations of exclusion, discrimination, and injustice. This is a leading priority in every aspect of the Sustainable Development Goals, including our work here in Thailand.

At the recent Human Rights Council meeting in Geneva, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs H.E Don Pramudwinai’s statement was striking, wherein he placed our common core values at the centre, standing up for human dignity and safeguarding human security. In the context of the pandemic, this means integrating human rights in all our recovery efforts, especially helping the furthest behind and the most vulnerable.

Women’s equal participation and leadership is essential, at the foundation of Thailand’s continuing development trajectory and the Sustainable Development Goals. At every level and in every sector, women’s contributions lead to better decision-making, cognitive diversity, and powerful new perspectives.

I would now like to focus on three dimensions of women’s achievements and gender equity in Thailand. First, UN Thailand is committed to our ongoing work with government, the private sector and civil society. Second, Thailand has made remarkable strides in women’s leadership and wellbeing, yet major challenges remain. And last, Thailand is now an upper-middle-income country – the challenges are not the same as they were for previous generations, requiring new thinking and innovation to move forward.

As we celebrate International Women’s Day, the UN’s work on gender equity is based on forging new partnerships and learning from strong women leaders in every walk of life. As just some examples, UN Women works across society, especially addressing gender-based violence; ILO focuses on career training and particularly STEM-related skills for women; and UNESCO, UNICEF and ITU collaborate on education and closing the digital divide for girls and young women.

UN Thailand depends on our capable partners at every level, many of whom are women and young people committed to realizing the country’s potential, both in terms of equity and development. This shared purpose provides the framework for our work going forward – as long as we have the will and commitment to build a truly inclusive society.

As to my second point, Thailand has made remarkable progress in recent decades. The country leads both the region and the world in the representation of women CEOs and CFOs in boardrooms, ably represented by Khun Jittirat here today.

Healthcare has also made enormous gains over the last generation, particularly regarding reproductive health and family planning, transforming the lives of women and their families. Universal Health Coverage has extended protection to millions of formerly vulnerable people.

The quality of the healthcare response has been clearly demonstrated in the past year, in large part to the million health volunteers conducting outreach and contact tracing, almost 90 per cent of whom are women.

Girls and women on average outperform their male peers in school and higher education, which calls for attention to also enable boys to achieve in school. However, these gains are not reflected in careers, where women are often crowded out from senior positions.

We can all see around us the momentous shift in mindsets, in which women and girls are valued equally and rightly recognized for their equal capabilities and contributions. I recently spoke to an 11-year-old Thai girl, a football enthusiast, who has some wise words: People underestimate a lot of girls. If boys can do it, so can I.

For all our progress, we know significant challenges remain. During the pandemic, the informal sector of the economy has suffered the most, disproportionately affecting women, many of whom live day by day. In manufacturing and agriculture, lower-skilled workers, again many of whom are women, face being displaced by automation and economic restructuring.

We need to ramp up education and retraining to equip people with news skills, particularly in ICT and STEM, and also in social and emotional learning.

Discrimination and unequal power relationships persist, as in every other country. In Thailand, especially in the context of the pandemic, gender-based violence in society and at home is of particular concern. A recent ESCAP study on Thailand found that 14 per cent of lower-income women justified their partners beating them, a disturbing finding that was reflected to a lesser degree among women overall. This is a mindset that we must confront, not just girls and women, but also boys and men.

In advocating for gender equity, we must remember that women are not a uniform category. We must partner with people from across society, with a focus on those with overlapping vulnerabilities, including ethnic and linguistic minorities, the disabled, LGBTI, migrants and displaced people, those in the informal economy, and many more.

As to my third point, we are not in the same position as decades ago. As an upper-middle-income country, Thailand needs new solutions and innovation to meet a changing world and achieve the transition to Thailand 4.0. This means stronger engagement with research and design, ICT and STEM, particularly for those who have been marginalized in these fields.

Social transformation is a whole-of-society endeavor with young people, such as Khun Yodwadee here today, at the forefront of change. Starting at the youngest age, we need to educate ourselves about what it means to be a truly global citizen, embracing sustainable development, protection of the environment, and human rights. Gender equity is at the heart of these goals.

Joining this panel today gives me a strong sense of optimism for the future as I look around at the accomplished and capable women who are our partners. We certainly have the capability to build a more inclusive and equitable society, to meet the challenges of the future and prosper in this increasingly globalized world. All of us must find the will to do so.

Thank you for this opportunity to address you and I look forward to learning from the speakers today.