India Urges UN Gender Parity at Security Council Debate
Parvatheaneni Harish advocated for increased women's political leadership and UN workforce parity during a Security Council debate on Women Peace and Security.
India's Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Parvatheaneni Harish, called for increased women's representation in political leadership and decision-making during a UN Security Council Open Debate on Women Peace and Security. He highlighted India's domestic success with legislated gender quotas, noting that the 1993 reservation of one-third of seats for women in local government brought over a million women into leadership roles.
Harish detailed how the Women’s Reservation Act of 2023 now extends these provisions to national and state legislatures. He also pointed to the systemic restructuring of the Indian armed forces, which now grants permanent commissions to women and inducts them into combat streams.
Addressing the international community, Harish reported that conflict-related sexual violence has more than doubled in a year. He urged the United Nations to lead by example by implementing Resolution 1325 and achieving full gender parity across its own workforce by 2030.
