Opinion: All the UN secretary-general’s men — and why this must change

In 2015, all of the United Nations member states unanimously agreed to adopt the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Nearly a decade later, those same member states agreed almost unanimously to undermine that commitment on the grandest stage possible by allowing only nine of the 133 speakers at the 79th United Nations General Assembly’s general debates last week to be women — a mere 6.8%. In a stunning irony, the adoption of the Pact for the Future felt more like a relic from the past.

I wish I could say I am surprised, but I am not. The absence of women’s voices undermines the very goals nations pledged to achieve.

In the aftermath, the U.N. endured well-earned backlash, with Secretary-General António Guterres even calling this dearth of women "unacceptable." However, looking beyond the U.N. stage, the exclusion of women’s voices in global leadership reflects a near-universal problem.