UN official pushes for female secretary-general
The president of the UN General Assembly called on Tuesday for more female diplomats and ambassadors - and perhaps the first-ever female UN secretary-general.
Mogens Lykketoft told a UN event commemorating International Women's Day that there must be increased participation of women not just in politics but across society to reach the UN goal of gender equality by 2030.
Ban Ki-moon's term as secretary-general ends on Dec. 31 and some UN member states are pushing for a female successor. Three of the seven current candidates to succeed him are women.
Lykketoft called it "a glass ceiling for women for over 70 years."
She also called for a "head-on" campaign against gender stereotyping, saying violence against women and male control over "the bodies and the futures" of women and girls are unacceptable and must end.
